Notes

Geography Essay: Barangarooo
Barangaroo, located in the heart of Sydney’s Central Business District, is rejuvenating into Australia’s largest urban renewal project. With the New South Wales Governments’ determination to transform the site into an astounding and ambitious new waterfront area, the modernized suburb is now divided into three distinct development districts- Barangaroo South, the key site of the development, Barangaroo Central, the ‘public heart’ of the precinct and Barangaroo Headland, also known as Barangaroo Reserve. Although the area is to be developed according to modern architecture and appears to be diverted to attract the wealthy, it consists of various methods that are ecologically sustainable to our environment, and majority of the areas are communal, also the renewed suburb is advanced to promote equity within the community of Barangaroo.

Barangaroo, a district that has a span of 22 hectares, is named after Bennelong’s wife, who belonged in the Cammeraygal tribe; she was viewed as a powerful woman amongst her tribal members and was also a significant individual towards the local Aboriginal culture and community. During the Great Depression in the late 1920’s, the site which was once bustling with port facilities, progressively fell into disuse and suffered through urban decay. With the area being abandoned, it eventually became unsustainable to facilitate stevedoring ports during the last 20th century to the early 21st century. However, in 2003, the New South Wales Government decided to redevelop the suburb, seeing it as an opportunity to accommodate the increasing population of Sydney. With the development of Barangaroo rapidly progressing throughout the years, the district will undeniably become one of Sydney’s most popular tourist attractions.

For Barangaroo to be entitled as ‘Australia’s first large scale carbon neutral precinct’, they have included multiple ecologically sustainable innovations. As the ‘International Towers Sydney’ in Barangaroo South aim to be carbon neutral, the exterior of the three high-rise buildings has automated solar shading systems; they also include 6000m² of solar panels that can power 137 houses. Moreover, the alignments of the buildings are considered to minimize energy usages, they also each attain 9000L rainwater tanks and 95 percent of the timbers used to construct the skyscrapers are from sustainably certified sources. As a result, the three premium grade office buildings are now ultra-efficient green rated buildings and have achieved 6 Star Green star ratings. In Barangaroo Central, they also have multiple methods to promote ecological sustainability. With the reduction of 97 percent of waste going into landfill by being resourceful with recyclable materials during construction, to including a recycled water and waste service that is also provided to the CBD, and also having drinking water facilities open to the public to reduce plastic and bottle waste. In Headland Park, the area also advocates conservation of natural surroundings by planting more than 75,000 native species on the reserve, installing more than 10,000 individually crafted sandstones to create a more natural looking location, and also restoring the once damaged and polluted coastline. These ecologically sustainable aspects that have been included in the development of Barangaroo, are what makes the district such an ideal area to live in.

Although the Barangaroo Delivery Authority (BDA), an agency established to manage and develop Barangaroo, has used many methods to endorse ecological sustainability in Barangaroo, many of which still cannot diminish the fact that the suburb is still a high energy use area with high energy functions, also the site is not an authentic and natural habitat for the flora and faunas. Thus, the district has not and cannot be restored into its natural state. Though the positive aspects of the development outweighs the negative impacts and the development of site has not caused any direct damage to the environment, it is vital for the government to take into consideration of the environment to become more ecologically sustainable and maintain this in benefit for the native species and our future generations. Hence, why the government needs to improve on their ways of making Barangaroo a more environmentally friendly and sustainable area.

As the reestablished district has been expanded and advanced, the aim of the government is to populate the suburb, expand the community and most importantly, advocate and credit the Indigenous people of Australia. The BDA was able to achieve this by the availability of new employment skills to increase job opportunities all of this adding to the boost of the economy. Due to the development, 2000 people who work in Barangaroo are beneficial to the economy, and 10, 000 people have new qualifications to apply for jobs at Barangaroo. In 2015, the Public Arts and Cultural Plan were established to characterize the Barangaroo precinct with historic public arts, provide significance of the site’s history that monumentalizes and acknowledges the significance of Barangaroo and the Indigenous Australians. The proposal to make Barangaroo the landmark to execute the Public Arts and Cultural Plan shows that the precinct shows no racial discrimination towards the Aboriginal people and social justice is prominent within the area.

Barangaroo may be the ideal precinct to exhibit Aboriginal culture and accommodate the increasing population of Sydney; however, the government has decided that there will no longer be public housing properties being sold in the area. Furthermore, a provoking sum of boarding houses that used to shelter many low income workers has also closed. This causing major negative impact towards the past residents and can potentially discourage future residents to move in. Another problem that concerns the Barangaroo community is the extraction of the sandstones in Barangaroo Headland, as this long process will involve an increasing amount of dust, loud noises and constant vibrations causing undesirable disruption to the residential neighborhood, affecting their health and mental wellbeing. These inconsiderate decisions of the government proves how Barangaroo lacks of social justice towards their old and present residents of Barangaroo Headland as their current living conditions should be recognized and adjusted but not ignored.

It is fundamental and essential for majority of the areas in Barangaroo to be open to the public and have equal rights for every individual within the community in order to fulfill the criteria’s of being equitable. During the construction phase, current residents are provided with housing until the construction is complete; over 50 percent of Barangaroo South is dedicated to publically accessible space. In addition, 143, 000m² is used for residential space where 750-900 apartments will be built and can accommodate 2,000 residents and a total of 3.6 hectares of space is open to the public. The public domain will attract many workers, residents and visitors to interact, creating a more diverse community. One of the most prominent features of Barangaroo South is the 275 metre tall Crown Hotel and Resort complex which comprises of 350 rooms and suites, entertainment venues, and many more leisure facilities at the podium level that is easily accessible for the public.
More than 23, 000 people will be working in the district and over 500 of them are Indigenous persons. The district also has its own dedicated metro railway station built in the central of Barangaroo, to provide readily available transport for the community. Benefits for the residents and public are evident as the government has provided them with many residential benefits and large quantities of public space.

However, the Crown Resorts is Sydney’s first six star international luxury hotel and is also a world-class complex with luxury retail outlets and VIP gaming facilities. This implying that the hotel obviously favors the wealthy as it is a six star hotel and has an abundance of luxurious facilities, which means that their consumers are expected to spend large numbers of expenses. Hence why the development of this complex is diverted to wealthy consumers, and displays inequality towards majority of the community as the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort can only cater for a small portion of society. Thus, Barangaroo South does not fulfill the requirements of being an area that possesses a sense of equity.

Although the process of rejuvenating Barangaroo may still include many flaws that may affect the environment and is not necessarily the appropriate district to inhabit for majority of the society due to its high expenses, despite the governments’ effort to develop it to make the area more communal and affordable, we mustn’t disregard the fact that Barangaroo is an area within the heart of Sydney’s CBD, Australia’s main financial and economic centre. It will be absurd for anyone to expect the precinct to not be a costly area to live in and to not direct their facilities to the wealthy. Thus, the renewed suburb is ‘Australia’s first large scale carbon neutral precinct’, this title alone is enough to credit the government and the many individuals and groups who’ve contributed into creating such advanced and economically sustainable developments to prevent any further harm towards our environment. Conclusively, the advances and current developments of Barangaroo is assuredly the correct approach in making Sydney a better city to abide in.