Barangaroo: From Industrial Wasteland to Urban Oasis

Barangaroo used to be nothing more than a disused shipping port; a dull, drab concrete slab that stole away Sydney CBD’s western edge. Now, Barangaroo is easily one of the most beautiful and visually stunning areas in Sydney. It’s one of Sydney’s prime waterfront precincts, frequently bustling and alive.
Despite this, Barangaroo’s development has been completely absorbed in controversy ever since its conception. In this video I’ll explain both sides of the Barangaroo story, before conveying my final consensus on the precinct.

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Links:
Michael Koziol’s news article defending Barangaroo: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/what-are-you-all-smoking-barangaroo-is-fine-it-might-even-be-great-20221019-p5br1s.html
Phillip Thalis’ news article criticising Barangaroo: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/barangaroo-is-rubbish-and-now-its-wretched-offspring-are-spawning-across-sydney-20221017-p5bq9a.html
Clover Moore’s news article criticising Barangaroo: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/barangaroo-s-phallic-forest-a-monument-to-sydney-s-impotence-20221014-p5bpwy.html
An entire Google Drive Folder which holds various planning documents for the Barangaroo Precinct, dating from 2006 to 2022: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Q4_EalmjYi307crsn54SidM1uJCSMiU5?usp=sharing (This is not a comprehensive collection, but it does have many documents)
Major Project Assessments NSW’s collection of all planning documents relating to the East Darling Harbour precinct (now Barangaroo): http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=search&page_id=&search=east+darling+harbour&authority_id=&search_site_type_id=&reference_table=&status_id=&decider=&from_date=&to_date=&x=0&y=0
My map of Barangaroo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PDcRq-jgAKtm8jNYV3gNGg6SWFjiHmao/view?usp=sharing
A documentary by the NSW Government about Barangaroo, featuring interviews with those involved in the project such as Mike Baird and Paul Keating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EZKWYbWauE (fun fact; it’s only 8 seconds longer than this video lol)

Sections:
00:00 Intro
02:13 Historical background
05:56 Transportation
07:40 Economic Activity
12:52 Public Spaces
16:13 Sustainability
17:11 Controversy and criticisms
20:55 My verdict