SYDNEY’s light rail project carries with it a range of initiatives which will help move away from motor vehicle-dominated cityscapes to a more peaceful and pedestrian-friendly approach.

An artist's impression of Sydney's light rail extensions.

The City of Sydney and Transport for NSW, the State Government’s transport department, have signed an agreement setting out the standards under which the new Sydney light rail project will be built through the NSW Local Government Area (LGA) division.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the agreement was a major milestone for the project and would ensure Sydney has an efficient light rail system with world-class design. 

“This agreement sets out the binding conditions for the project that will transform the city centre and Surry Hills,” Ms Moore said. “The city had been working with design experts and with Transport for NSW to ensure our vision and design standards were delivered along the full route from Circular Quay to Moore Park.

“The light rail project will return 40 percent of George St to pedestrians and make it a beautifully designed space for people, free of the noise of the hundreds of buses that now choke it every day.

“The NSW Government has made clear that Devonshire Street is its preferred route so we have worked to ensure the project will give residents and businesses the best possible outcome,” the Lord Mayor said.

Sydney City is contributing $220 million towards the light rail project. In 2012 the NSW Government began the extension of the Inner West Light Rail line and announced the $1.6 billion CBD and South East Light Rail project.

These light rail lines form the new Sydney Light Rail network services running north from Central to Circular Quay along George St, west to Pyrmont and Dulwich Hill, and south east through Surry Hills to Moore Park, Randwick and Kingsford.

The Lord Mayor said over the past 10 years Sydney has actively encouraged quality development and pursued design excellence in urban design. Since 2004 city projects have won more than 40 national and international design awards.

Ms Moore said the agreement confirmed that the Surry Hills route would be built in accordance with the same leading design standards used for all the city’s village main streets, including high-quality paving, furniture and trees. It also guarantees footpath upgrades, new plazas and pocket parks.

The development agreement requires a functioning light rail service extending from Circular Quay to the University of NSW and to Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick. It specifies high design standards for paving, lighting, trees, smartpoles, street furniture and light rail stops.

The light rail brings with it an upgrading of both footpaths along the length of Devonshire St in Surry Hills, with high-quality concrete tile pavers and there are new plazas and pocket parks, with street closures required adjoining Devonshire St.

There is also a new park for Surry Hills to be dedicated to the City as community lands on the current Olivia Gardens site.

Part of the redevelopment minimises above-ground infrastructure in Moore Park to maximise accessible open space and there is a pedestrian and cycleway connection incorporated into a new bridge crossing Eastern Distributor to Moore Park.

Integrated into the light rail redevelopment is the pedestrian precinct for part of George St, from Bathurst St to Hunter St; and there is wire-free light rail for the new pedestrian area of George St between the Town Hall and Wynyard stops.

Lord Mayor Moore said opportunities were being explored to mitigate the loss of on-street parking without affecting open space so that pedestrian and property access was maintained and all reasonably practicable steps were made to minimise construction impact.

She said there was also potential for the future expansion of the light rail network to Walsh Bay/Barangaroo and Green Square.

www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

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CIRCULAR QUAY may play an even bigger  role in the future of Sydney than it has in the past, with grand designs for it to ‘re-connect' with the city itself and boost the visitor experience.

Sydney transport hub Circular Quay to become more of a 'lifestyle hub'.

Reconnecting Circular Quay to the city, improving public access to the harbour and creating more open spaces around the foreshore are all on the ‘to do' list at tonight's University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Zunz Lecture on the future of Sydney.

Sponsored by engineering consultants Arup and the City of Sydney, the ‘Re-imagining the City's gateway' event is part of the University of Technology's Zunz annual lecture series aimed at stimulating high-quality public dialogue on the future of the city.

As it happens, this year's Zunz lecture  marks the end of the month-long Sydney Opera House 40th birthday celebrations.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said improving people's experience of Circular Quay by reconnecting the harbour to the rest of the city was crucial to Sydney's future liveability.

"The opportunity to reconnect Circular Quay to the rest of the city for millions of visitors is one of the greatest challenges, and opportunities, of our city's future," the Lord Mayor said.

"The harbourfront - as Jorn Utzon recognised so well - provides a natural focus for people, and Circular Quay has some of our city's strongest cultural assets like the Sydney Opera House, the MCA, Customs House and the Museum of Sydney.

"Sadly it is being held back by mistakes of the past that cut it off from the rest of the city. At the moment Circular Quay is a congested space, made worse by the lack of clear wayfinding and visible visitor information.

"The introduction of light rail and transformation of George Street provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to re-work Circular Quay as our foremost cultural hub, while also being the city's grand entry point.

"I am keen to hear from the Zunz lecture's expert panel and look forward to beginning a conversation to help people imagine a better future for Circular Quay."

Ms Moore  will join with civic leaders, planning, tourism and transport experts who will share their vision for a more accessible and engaging Circular Quay at a panel discussion at the Sydney Opera House this evening.

The City of Sydney's Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision proposes removing the Cahill Expressway to improve access and views to the water, as well as renewing the public square in front of Customs House with more spaces for people.

There are also plans for creating a cultural ribbon to better connect public art, museums, galleries, theatres and other creative institutions along the harbour foreshore.

Hosted by Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron, the Zunz Lecture will include panel members: 

• Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore - Lord Mayor of Sydney, with a vision and passion for what the gateway to the city can become and what that means for its residents;
• Bruce Baird - Chairman of the Tourism & Transport Forum, on the opportunity to better connect the precinct with Sydney's community and its visitors;
• Malcolm Smith - leader of Arup's Masterplanning practice worldwide, bringing a global perspective on urban development and reinvigoration and its application to this key precinct;
• Prof. Roy Green - Dean of the Business School at UTS, on what the city's transformation into a creative, digital, entrepreneurial powerhouse, can contribute to its gateway; and
• Louise Mason - managing director of AMP Capital Office & Industrial, bringing a view on the role of business and commerce in transforming the city's key precincts.

The UTS Zunz Lecture ‘Re-imagining the City's gateway' opens at the Sydney Opera House Playhouse at 5.30pm for a 6pm start. Entry costs $30 for adults, $20 for students and $20 for UTS alumni.

www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/reimagining_the_quay.aspx

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THE Queensland Government has presented legislation enabling the handover of Sunshine Coast Airport, which is built on State Government land, to Sunshine Coast Council.

Jetstar takes off from Sunshine Coast Airport - and so will the aviation and tourism industries through the 2013-2033 strategy.

Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney this week unveiled the Queensland Government Airport Directions Statement, which outlines the future for airports throughout the state, and which will enable Sunshine Coast Airport to more easily attract investment.

The airport has been developing as a hub of aviation excellence, already established as a base for training pilots for carriers such as Singapore Airlines -- and it has been attracting significant new holiday season air services, including from New Zealand.

Currently Jetstar, Virgin Australia, Tigerair and Air New Zealand have scheduled services to the Sunshine Coast.

Also prominent at the airport is the Aeromil organisation, which is known for its versatile pilot training services, aircraft leasing, servicing, components and as the national representative for Cessna.

Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson welcomed the State Government's news, saying it was a launchpad for significant new development at the airport and a planned new runway.

“This announcement acts as an enabler for council to seek financial investment capital to fund the construction of the new runway, and backs up what is already designated a State Significant Project,” Cr Jamieson said.

“It represents a major contribution to our efforts to have the new runway operating at Sunshine Coast Airport by 2020, simplifying the land tenure arrangements at the Airport.”

Sunshine Coast Council will now also be able to execute leases to tenants, he said, which will encourage further jobs growth in the important high-quality aviation sector.

“Aviation and aerospace is one of the seven high-value industries council has identified in the Economic Development Strategy 2013-2033,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“I would like to thank the State Government for taking this step to assist Sunshine Coast Airport’s future development.”

Cr Jamieson said the benefits flowing from the new runway included additional passenger capacity; access to growing markets and new domestic and international destinations; increased freight capacity; stimulus to the Sunshine Coast’s tourist and commercial base; diversification of the Sunshine Coast’s economic and jobs base; provision of around 5,000 new jobs; injection of around $1.6 billion in regional economic benefit between 2015 and 2050; and improved safety and capacity of the airport to operate in varying weather conditions.

www.sunshinecoastairport.com.au

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RARELY is the tumult in Australia's commercial property market adequately explained. Digital Business insights CEO John Sheridan's research reveals the commercial property industry in Australia has not understood that the digital revolution has brought about a fundamental shift in the commercial property landscape.

High commercial property vacancy rates may be the 'new norm' for Brisbane and other Australian cities, attributable to the digital revolution. Image: Ken Keefer, SkyCamera.

A raft of recent newspaper articles and commissioned reports by industry experts offers a range of ‘traditional' explanations that point towards some sort of 'light at the end of the tunnel'.

These range from a mining boom investment phase transition, in the cases of Queensland and Western Australia, to residual effects of the international Great Recession in the case of the Sydney and Melbourne markets and various other influences such as rising bond rates and even the transition of the Australian dollar.

But Mr Sheridan's research indicates that the commercial property tunnel is being extended for the foreseeable future, because of the effects of the digital revolution on business in Australia. In a recent blog, Mr Sheridan said he was intrigued by the ongoing commentary in major newspapers about the ‘soft' state of the commercial property market.

"Week after week, office vacancy rates are published for the major cities - Melbourne 10 percent empty, Brisbane 14 percent empty, Sydney 10 percent, Perth 8 percent and so on," Mr Sheridan said. "The general view is that things are unlikely to improve soon.

"Each week I now search in vain for some reference to the impact on commercial property of the digital revolution. There is no mention.

"In article after article, and interview after interview with industry experts not one of them raises the issue at all. Maybe they are frightened of lifting it onto the radar? I would have thought it was obvious."

Mr Sheridan said the digital revolution was having an enormous impact on commercial property and its prospects for recovery. He said even such an obvious factor such as the rapid growth in ‘teleworking' has not rated a mention among industry commentators.

This surprised him as the Federal Government has been promoting teleworking over the past year and is staging another Telework Week this November.

"Businesses and organisations are teleworking already," Mr Sheridan said. "Forget the Telework Week. It is happening right now.

"In all of our recent surveys roughly half of organisations have one or more members of staff that work from home for some part of the week. Some for all of the week."

Digital Business insights research has found teleworking present in "58 percent of professional services, 67 percent of public administration, 72 percent of rental, hiring and real estate, 51 percent of wholesale, 50 percent of Information media businesses", Mr Sheridan said.

John Sheridan, Digital Business insights CEO.

"Which means less demand for office space. And as more and more organisations become comfortable with teleworking, what possible evidence is there that vacancy rates are going to drop some time in the future?

"They won't. Vacancy rates will soar and the situation will get much worse. And businesses will become increasingly selective as a result.

"Every organisation we speak with is reducing their demand for office space and in some cases getting rid of it completely."

DBi's research was showing that the types of commercial spaces that will be in demand in the future are markedly different to those on offer now.

He said indications were that mixed use spaces offering WiFi and fast broadband, combined with comfortable and flexible meeting spaces - "and lots of them" - would increasingly become the order of the day

"And what businesses and other organisations will want from a commercial office in the future is very different to today."

Importantly, Mr Sheridan's research is already suggesting: "It's the same thing with retail space."

www.db-insights.com

* John Sheridan is CEO of Digital Business insights, an organisation based in Brisbane which focuses on helping organisations and communities adapt to, and flourish in, the new digital world. He is the author of Connecting the Dots and getting more out of the digital revolution. Digital Business insights has been researching and analysing the digital revolution for more than 12 years and has surveyed more than 50,000 businesses, conducting in-depth case study analysis on more than 350 organisations and digital entrepreneurs.

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