The City of Sydney Has Revealed Plans for Three New Public Squares

The City of Sydney has unveiled an ambitious plan to create a more liveable and sustainable city over the next thirty years. The plan builds upon the Sustainable Sydney 2030 strategy that the City of Sydney has been working towards since 2017. The plan promises a better-connected and more open city with increased public spaces, town squares and greenery, improved public transport and greater cultural identity.

Now labeled Sustainable Sydney 2030-2050 Continue the Vision, the new plan includes already announced projects like the completion of the Yananurala foreshore walk, boosting green cover across the city to 40-percent and creating a harbour that facilitates swimming, alongside infrastructure innovations including the permanent and temporary transformation of roads into public spaces, and transport improvements to the Metro train line and Green Square town centre.

"All successful cities have long-term plans to ensure their economies and communities prosper, business invests with confidence and all governments work together providing essential infrastructure and services," said Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.

Town Hall Square render

By far the most ambitious of the announced plans are three linked public squares the City of Sydney wants to create at Circular Quay, Town Hall and Central. The squares will be connected by the new and improved George Street and the light rail, radically changing these sections of the CBD.

The plan for Circular Quay suggests removing the Cahill Expressway, creating an openair civic space in front of Customs House, while the vision for Town Hall features a far-reaching green space linking Hyde Park, Sydney Square and Town Hall Station.

The future of the Cahill Expressway has been a focus of the current NSW Government on several occasions, with the road being used to host a week-long music and arts festival over New Year's and current NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet naming it one of ten iconic buildings he'd bulldoze.

The City of Sydney's plan also prioritises cultural and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The cities that will recover and thrive most effectively are the ones that provide affordable housing, working and cultural space, a myriad of cultural offerings, walking, cycling and excellent late-night public transport, green, cool calm streets, laneways, small bars and late-night activity," says Moore.

Central render

Sustainable Sydney 2030-2050 Continue the Vision will be presented to the council on Monday, April 11.

Top image: Circular Quay render supplied by the City of Sydney.