The Gatherer - Volume 9

THE SYDNEY SCIENCE PARK An exci t ing new smart ci ty headed for Sydney’s West

L ike something out of a science fiction movie, Celestino’s $5B Sydney Science Park is set to be a world first in the scientific community. In partnership with private industry and universities, and driven by the new Aerotropolis, the park will be an international epicentre for scientific STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education and R&D and is set to be Australia’s first smart city. The park will be located on a 280 hectare site in Penrith, Western Sydney, adjacent to the new Aerotropolis, and accessible via the proposed South West Rail Link. Upon completion, it is expected to deliver over 12,000 smart jobs, thousands of homes and education to more than 10,000 students. “We’re creating an ecosystem that will house some of the nation’s leading scientific institutions and providing educational opportunities for Western Sydney, such as our STEM school, that haven’t been seen before… “ Celestino Chief Executive John Vassallo Driven by the Aerotropolis, Western Sydney is fast becoming Australia’s economic powerhouse, and the Sydney Science Park is a real example of the types of opportunities opening up as a result of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis. …we’re proud to be the first to turn our vision, into a reality. Celestino Chief Executive John Vassallo

The Sydney Science Park is set to be Australia’s first smart city, with a major focus on research and development as well as commercialisation of autonomous vehicles. What is a Smart City? The city will be a cohesive collaborative community where autonomous vehicles communicate with traffic lights and have sensors to identify pedestrians, cyclists and animals; smart roads collect rain water; and aged care facilities transmit information about residents to hospitals. Imagine drones delivering antibiotics to people unable to leave their homes; room sensors monitoring the movements of sick or elderly residents; being triaged through artificial intelligence and then driven to hospital by automated vehicles. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. But this will be a reality in Sydney’s West in the not so distant future and it’s an exciting time. Smart cities are rapidly evolving and tackling old problems in new ways, such as urban planning, sustainable energy, transport strategies, social integration and talent attraction. As global leaders assess, design, implement, and improve their cities, they are confronted with a plethora of obstacles to very difficult problems such as traffic congestion, waste management, and crime. What is more, with the green and sustainable living movements gathering momentum, quality of life (including not just environment, safety, access to health and education services, but also mobility and social interaction) is fast becoming a challenging aspiration for the global smart city.

Which City is Currently the Smartest City? In partnership with Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), the IMD World Competitiveness Center’s Smart City Observatory recently presented the first edition of the IMD Smart City Index 2019, which ranked 102 global cities. Topping the list of smartest city in the world was Singapore following by Zurich then Oslo. The only global index of its kind, the IMD Smart City Index 2019 uniquely focuses on how citizens perceive the scope and impact of efforts to make their cities ‘smart’, balancing “economic and technological aspects” with “humane dimensions” . https://www.imd.org/smart-city- observatory/smart-city-index/ As for Australian cities, Sydney came in 14th place. Melbourne was 24th and Brisbane was 27th. However, one should naturally approach the results of any study with caution where the winner is the sponsor of the study. Sydney Aerotropolis According to the Sydney Business Chamber, an aerotropolis is a metropolitan sub-region with an airport as the epicentre for its surrounding infrastructure, land-use, and economy. It consists of the typical elements associated with an airport together with outlying corridors, clusters of aviation-associated businesses and residential developments, all feeding off each other and their association with the airport. The Aerotropolis is set to provide businesses with efficient and rapid connectivity to their suppliers, consumers, and industry partners, both nationally and globally.

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