Overview
Western Sydney is set to score an ambitious new academic precinct, with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announcing plans for a second University of Sydney campus to be built in Westmead.
Part of the University's promise to invest a cool $500 million towards the region's future, the new campus is expected to host over 6000 students by 2030, and potentially up to 25,000 by the year 2050.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the campus would be located on the site of Cumberland Hospital, and right near Westmead Hospital. As such, the new campus would have a focus on research and health. The university's Vice-Chancellor and Principal Dr Michael Spence AC said in a statement that the Westmead campus will focus on "the opportunities and challenges posed by disruptive changes at the intersection of technology and the human experience", which means things like advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and data would be some of the main topics studied.
The University of Sydney has the Berejiklian Government's support, so it will now enter into a two-year negotiation period with Health Infrastructure NSW and UrbanGrowth NSW Development Corporation. A master plan should be released after that.
The new campus is part of a huge push to boost Sydney's Western infrastructure and services to allow it to act like Sydney's 'second CBD'. As part of the State Government's $1 billion Westmead Hospital Redevelopment, plans for the site also include a research-led education facility backing the Westmead Health and Education Precinct, affordable housing options and public services including a new school. The new uni will join join Western Sydney University, which had campuses in Bankstown, Parramatta and Campbelltown, among others.
Other significant plans for the area include a second Sydney airport to be built at Badgerys Creek by 2026, major improvements to transport infrastructure (like the Parramatta Light Rail and the Sydney Metro West project, which includes a high-speed underground tunnel linking the two CBDs) and the $2 billion mixed-use redevelopment they're calling Parramatta Square.