Darwin isn’t just Australia’s most affordable capital; it’s the country’s biggest untapped ‘gold mine’.
With billions pouring into energy and infrastructure, and its role as Asia’s northern gateway rapidly rising, the Top End is primed to become Australia’s most important city of the future, with the next decade its most pivotal yet. That’s the forecast from Place Specialist Louise Ford, who will be speaking at the Place Leaders Awards + Urban Leaders’ Summit in Darwin on 3-5 April.
Last year, Darwin was revealed to be the nation’s last affordable capital city, with house medians only just cracking the $600,000 mark.[1]
Meanwhile billions of dollars are being poured into key infrastructure projects across the city including the ambitious $35 billion Australia-Asia PowerLink by SunCable renewable energy project, which proposes to include the world’s largest solar farm of 12,000 hectares. It is expected to generate up to 4GW of renewable energy to Darwin via 800km of overhead transmission from the heart of the Territory and up to 1.75GW of energy to Singapore via a 4,300km subsea cable.[2]
At the same time, the city’s public spaces and cultural heartlands have been revitalised – including the Hatch led Palmerston Goyder Square transformation – which saw the delivery of an award-winning community cultural hub[3] – and the new Waterfront Precinct[4].
With both projects laying the groundwork to lure in tourists and budget buyers alike while generating hundreds of thousands of jobs, Louise says the city now needs to be bold.
Louise is Senior Associate for Place and Engagement at Hatch – a global services firm specialising in master planning, placemaking, economics, urban planning, mining, energy, metals and infrastructure. At the Summit, Louise will share her insights on designing resilient cities and the role of integrating place to build vibrant urban spaces that meet the changing demographics and economic needs of a community.
As a human geographer who re-invents everyday public spaces to strengthen communities to thrive and prosper from industry growth, Louise has developed place-led economic strategies for new communities. Additionally, she has also worked with local businesses, stakeholders, and local governments across the country, including on the Australia-Asia PowerLink by SunCable project and the WA Government’s $1.2 billion Future of Fremantle revitalisation project[5].
Louise says Darwin’s unique position as a gateway to Asia, coupled with its climate resilience investments and development pipeline, positions it as Australia’s most exciting capital to watch. But if years of experience have taught her anything, it’s that now’s the time to act.
“The Top End is absolutely the place to watch. It has an incredibly important role as our Asia connection and particularly with Indonesia,” she says.
“Given the growth in the pipeline Darwin, has the potential to become the nation’s blueprint for future cities, but that will hinge on continued place making.
“The Waterfront Precinct is a fantastic start, but there’s a tourism opportunity that can still be grasped and if we can showcase how great Darwin is, the next decade has the potential to be the most pivotal for the city in its history.”
Louise points to Hatch’s work on the Future of Fremantle project as a prime example of what could happen in Darwin on a grand scale. There, Hatch worked with local community groups and stakeholders to turbocharge Fremantle’s future – with the project set to fuel $13.6 billion in gross State Product annually[6]– and unveil a world-leading waterfront makeover with economic and planning strategies at the core.
She adds that these marquee place-making projects play a pivotal role in steering long-term vision for a city, while setting up governments to better deliver on promises.
“Underlying attractions like the multi-million-dollar revival of Fremantle’s harbour and Darwin’s Goyder Square are crucial ‘liveability’ ingredients for a city and this is where place-making steps in,” says Louise.
“If you don’t have liveability, you can’t attract people, knowledge and the kinds of markets that drive the innovation necessary to grow new industries and the economy. That said, infrastructure investment is also key to effecting change. And we find projects like SunCable’s are catalytic for a city.
“Add that to the major greening works at play[7] and the capital has the potential to become a national test case for climate-adaptive design – a city not just built to withstand a warming world, but thrive in it.
“If we can implement more bold, long-term visioning that considers changing demographics and economic foundations while bringing the community along for the ride, Darwin won’t just become an international powerhouse, but sustainability and resilience will be embedded into its very DNA,” she says.
About Hatch
Hatch is passionately committed to the pursuit of a better world through positive change. With more than 65 years of experience, Hatch is a leading global services firm specialising in mining and metals, energy, infrastructure and digital technologies. The company draws on more than 10,000 specialist employees in 150 countries, and offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Wollongong and Newcastle to tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges. Visit Hatch.com.
[1]https://www.domain.com.au/
[2]https://invest.nt.gov.au/
[3]https://www.robertsday.com.
[4]https://www.waterfront.nt.
[5]https://www.wa.gov.au/
[6]Future of Fremantle Place and Economic Vision
[7]https://activatedarwin.nt.
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