Australia’s new ‘green’ city to take on global warming

It might look like just another city, but this new development in Sydney’s west could hold the key to taking on future emergencies.

Construction of a new “green and connected” city in Sydney’s outer west is currently underway.

Bradfield City Centre is the NSW government’s latest billion-dollar investment presently in the works with the goal of becoming “Australia’s newest city for the 22nd century”.

Located 56 kilometres west of Sydney’s CBD and adjacent to the new Western Sydney international airport, the city is being built on government land near Badgerys Creek Road.

A number of parks, plazas and water features spanning across 36 hectares are included in the development plans as well as a national security quarter, advanced manufacturing skills centre, hi-tech research facility and visitor centre.

There will also be commercial and community facilities including retail, childcare and carparks, a new metro station just minutes from the international airport and dining, entertainment and leisure space around public waterways.

It’s hoped the development will “supercharge the creation of jobs and economic opportunities”, with technology companies, universities and schools to be constructed alongside hundreds of living spaces.

Bradfield City Centre will be 56 kilometres from Sydney's CBD. Picture: NSW Government

But while it may sound like every other major city around the state, its location poses a number of challenges most CBDs across the country are yet to face.

Situated within the Western Sydney Aerotropolis, the new city is being developed in an extreme heat prone area where temperatures can already climb up to 10 degrees higher than the Sydney CBD.

“Western Sydney is among the most affected regions of Australia when it comes to extreme heat,” the Australia Institute said in a report last year, HeatWatch: Extreme Heat in Western Sydney.

“Its inland position at the foothills of the Blue Mountains prevents the cooling impact of a coastal breeze and works to trap heat. Human influence compounds this through the removal of heat-reducing green spaces, replacing them with materials such as concrete and asphalt. As a result, some suburbs of western Sydney are already experiencing temperatures between 8 degrees and 10.5 degrees hotter than eastern Sydney.”

The report warned that climate change will increase the frequency and severity of extreme heat days in the western Sydney region.

“Under a high emissions scenario, western Sydney could experience up to 46 days of extreme heat (defined as over 35C) annually by 2090,” it said.

“This is a fivefold increase from the historical average of just under nine days of extreme heat per annum.”

It is being built in an extreme heat prone area. Picture: NSW Government

That means Bradfield will need to be designed with heat-reduction measures in mind.

Western Parkland City Authority chief executive Sarah Hill said such measures will be revealed in the first Bradfield City building which is set to be completed by the end of this year the earliest.

“Our first building really reflects how we want to design our city going forward,” Dr Hill said.

“It has a very high level of environmental design, and it has been designed to ensure that it can operate off the grid using its own solar panels, designed to use recycled water, but also it’s been designed with low carbon embodied materials. Materials that are generated and brought together here in Australia.”

To reduce heat, commercial and residential buildings would need to have light-coloured roofs made out of materials that deflect the heat generated by the sun.

The state government’s goal of cutting emissions by 70 per cent before 2035 were also kept in mind for the city’s development with Dr Hill stating its plan came with a “high level of environmental design”.

“It has been designed to ensure that it can operate off the grid using its own solar panels, designed to use recycled water, but also it‘s been designed with low carbon embodied materials,” she said.

She added the materials will be Australian-made and the buildings will reflect “country” and connect with the Aboriginal culture.

The city will generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Picture: NSW Government

The city will be split into different sectors. Picture: NSW Government

Heat reduction will be a key design focus. Picture: NSW Government

Keep the conversation going. Get in touch – [e-mail]