Week 11:Barangaroo: Starting sustainable projects in Sydney

The need for sustainable projects like Barangaroo

We all know something has to change in our lifestyle in order to "save the planet". But what exactly?
What is our personal responsibility towards sustainability? How do we consider (and achieve) sustainability in our lifestyle? How are we living at the moment? Ofcourse the activities of the government and companies are important, because they influence individuals. But we can still figure out sustainable lifestyle choices which contribute to the solutions. Because of this mutual influence of government and individuals, engineers play an important role. They can search for solutions to improve sustainablity in today's world and to reduce the need for consumption. One of the ways this can be done is through sustainable (projectshttp://www.imeche.org/knowledge/industries/energy-environment-and-sustainability/news/Sustainable-Lifestyles) .

Sustainable projects are developed in order to protect the environment, rearrange the economy and stimulate social equity. Sustainable project focus on integrated solutions rather than separated ones and wants them to be embedded in a long-term perspective. A sustainable community seeks:

• The whole community to become better and also other communities

• Healthy ecosystems

• Effective governance by participation of all citizens

• Economic security

(http://www.iscvt.org/what_we_do/sustainable_community/)

“Barangaroo is a great opportunity to showcase Sydney as a world leader in sustainability. Sustainable designs and initiatives are being created throughout the delivery of the program-environmentally, socially and economically. Barangaroo wants to become the first Australian CBD precinct that is climate positive” (http://www.barangaroo.com/discover-barangaroo/sustainability.aspx).

At Barangaroo, the goal is to generate renewable energy, recycle water and reuse, reduce and recycle its wate. The wellbeing of the community is also important and there is an affordable housing component in the development (http://www.barangaroo.com/discover-barangaroo/sustainability.aspx). There are three development areas within the site: Headland Park, Barangaroo Centre and Barangaroo South. In the Headland Park, there will be a naturalistic headland feature, a place for people to relax and recreate. Barangaroo South will comprise a commercial centre and residential appartments. Barangaroo Central will be a cultural and civic focal point for recreation, events and entertainment (http://www.barangaroo.com/discover-barangaroo/overview.aspx).

Is Barangaroo really sustainable?

A few more things on Barangaroo:

· There is an international hotel at Barangaroo. Will it be able to attract enough tourists in these times of crisis?

· How will the oil price be in the near future and what effects will this have on international travelling?

· The sky scrapers still get a large amount of their energy from coal

· Will there be enough jobs for the people living there?

· Will the new development be flooded when sea level rises?

· The money spent on this project could have also been used for improvement of Sydney’s public transport and research on renewable energy.

(http://www.crudeoilpeak.com/?p=1859)

(http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/15909/)

There is a lot of critique on Barangaroo redevelopment in Sydney CBD.

The main concerns are about the feasibility of the affordable housing program, the tall skyscrapers which will surely influence their surroundings and the proposed sustainability which developers promise to offer but which is being questioned by others. I believe the Barangaroo developers started an ambitious project. But they fail to sufficiently remove uncertainties about its success.

They need to consider the criticism and make sure the opposed points are well addressed in the redevelopment. This in order to prove they were completely right about the project once the project is fully in use. ( https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/45350)