Evening idyll ... Ian and Elizabeth MacDonald, residents of Jacksons Landing. Photo: Jacky Ghossein
WELCOME to Sydney's newest urban utopia, where grass is green, neighbours are cheerful and the residents' choir, now at least, is singing in tune. Along with luxury finishes and harbour views, the developers guarantee buyers a more nebulous benefit - a ready-made sense of "community".
After 16 years of planning and building, Jacksons Landing, one of Australia's biggest waterfront residential redevelopments, is officially completed
The 12-hectare former industrial site at Pyrmont now houses 3000 residents - one-quarter of the suburb's population - in a mix of low- and high-rise properties that sold for between $500,000 and $4.9 million.
Forty years ... Above, industry dominated the area in the 1970s.
The community sales pitch by developer Lend Lease has been a successful one - the last apartment in the recently completed Silk building sold this month.
"We build buildings and lots of infrastructure, but it's actually the people who live here, talk about it and enjoy it, that's the ultimate driver for what we do," the managing director of development business, Denis Hickey, said.
"There is a whole community structure, we have a community association, a residents' association … our job is to help set those up and also to make sure the community can take over from that."
Dog friendly ... Jacksons Landing in Pyrmont. Photo: James Brickwood
Community life forms an integral part of the sales package at master planned communities, which include Darling Quarter, Darling Harbour , and Newington Olympic Village, Homebush. A project at Barangaroo South is on its way.
Promotional material for Jacksons Landing spruiks the development's sports facilities, open space, resident's choir and community clubhouse, adding residents can be found
"playing tennis together, enjoying a lesson of aqua aerobics,
walking their dogs or socialising at a local cafe".
The University of Queensland urban planning expert John Minnery, who has researched master planned communities, however, questioned what happens when "all the properties are sold and the developer no longer has interest in the place". That's where the real test comes. If there has been a genuine community created it will continue … whereas if it hasn't really been developed the whole thing will fall over''.
He cited Brisbane's first master planned community, Forest Lake, developed by Delfin, a company later bought by Lend Lease. Participation in community activities has waned and maintenance in public areas has dropped since responsibility passed to the city council, Associate Professor Minnery said.
Mr Hickey conceded that developments "have their own life" and "sometimes we'll need to go back in and …. put some investment in to reignite the community". At Darling Quarter, for example, Lend Lease recently returned to build a shade structure in a playground to encourage its use in summer.
At Jacksons Landing, City of Sydney will take over the maintenance of public space. Residents run the community website, the newsletter and co-ordinate community events.
Ian and Elizabeth MacDonald, both in their 60s, moved to Jacksons Landing in 2007 after selling their family home at Chatswood. They said the community was thriving, and would likely stay that way.
"When things happen people gather around and are very supportive," Mr MacDonald said, adding that they and their neighbours had keys to each other's homes. "We do regular [plant] watering services in times of absence. I think people are committed to looking after the place."
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