Even for those of us who will fight to the end for Sydney’s crown as the best city in the world (reporting for duty), there are – of course – a couple of changes that could make life here even more sparkly. From better cycle routes to faster trains to extended happy hours, there are myriad changes that could be made to improve life in the Harbour City. For better or worse, we’re generally not the people calling the shots. Once a year though, the Sydney Summit rolls around to change that – with the Committee for Sydney calling on Sydneysiders to share their pitches for the one big change that could be made to change the city for the better. This year’s summit wrapped up earlier this month – here’s what went down.
The Sydney Summit’s “big ideas” format works by allowing the public (often groups of people working in the urban design and social-reform worlds) to present ideas that they think would positively reshape Sydney. The top four ideas are presented at the summit to policy makers and city leaders, and though there’s no guarantee that the suggestions will be actioned, it’s a good step. The team from The Committee for Sydney explained that a lot of the ideas that have been put forward by Sydneysiders have “flowed through into real world policy conversations or reform”.
In 2022, Sydneysiders called on the government to introduce more swimming spots across the city – since then, we’ve seen a harbour swimming spot open in Barangaroo, a beach the size of Bondi open in Penrith and a new $88.6 million aquatic centre open in Parramatta. At Sydney Summit 2023, a group of Sydneysiders presented their concept for an app to facilitate cross-generational house shares – an idea which is yet to influence policy but which gained the support of the Premier.
The first idea presented at this year’s summit concerned social housing, calling on carbon credits to be allocated for retrofitting social housing to make Sydney’s social housing more sustainable.
Next up was a concept presented by Colin Finn, who is undertaking a PhD in urban studies, and is in support of a project that would involve the rewilding of Rushcutters Bay. Finn urged that the harbourside park should be transformed into a natural wetland before rising sea levels destroy the area.
The third idea also took sustainability into consideration – suggesting that our city’s buses could be powered by futuristic wireless charging systems lining our bus lanes. Based on Transport for NSW’s moves towards net zero emissions, we have a feeling this one might get some traction (pun intended).
The final idea put forward this year was to allow pets on public transport, with a reported 77 per cent of Sydneysiders happy to see canine passengers welcomed aboard our trains. This idea was presented by Jennifer Kent, a senior research fellow in urbanism at the University of Sydney, who cited environmental and social reasons for the change. Kent argued that allowing dogs on public transport would limit the amount of dog-related car trips made across the city (estimated at 2.4 million trips per week), and would help remove barriers to entry for people with lower incomes to own and benefit from owning a pet. And while the concerns around allowing dogs to ride trains across the city were acknowledged, it sounds like there was a lot of support for this notion – so watch this space.
If you’ve got an idea that you think could change our city for the better, you can learn more about the Sydney Summit here – you’ve got almost a year to work on your pitch.