'The city isn't just for bankers and lawyers': Urbanist David Vago's vision for creating a more liveable and affordable Sydney

A radical vision by a Sydney urbanist to create a more liveable and affordable city would see one part of Sydney’s east transformed from a working class, rundown suburb to a green, inner-city oasis.

Urbanist David Vago’s ambitious plan would involve greening Woolloomooloo by introducing edible vertical gardens, greenhouses perched on city apartment rooftops and integrated supermarkets selling the resulting produce.

Vago said the design was aimed at solving Sydney’s affordability crisis while providing a healthier living environment.

“I just thought this precinct deserves to be a premier area. Woolloomooloo could be the perfect example – a modern, sustainable, edible, socially conscious community,” he told Domain.

The plan involves building roughly 5000 apartments – split between private and affordable housing, dedicated to accommodating essential service workers and disadvantaged families – and about 30,000 square metres of space dedicated to retail and creative small businesses.

For the general public, there would be edible green walls and rooftop greenhouses, a new primary school, childcare facilities, gyms and trade training workshops similar to TAFE.

The proposed development would be walkable, with four kilometres of internal tracks and a highline-esque green link from Kings Cross to the Art Gallery and Domain.

Vago, from the Habit8 firm in Surry Hills, said the idea was inspired by having spent a lot of time in the area, having gone to school at Sydney Boys High and watching the property market become less affordable.

Traditionally considered a working-class area, Woolloomooloo is home to some inner-city housing commissions, but also the Finger Wharf development, which has attracted high-profile residents such as Russell Crowe.

Much of the land is owned by the NSW State Government, with some federal land attached to the Navy and some parts owned by the City of Sydney. The suburb had been slated for high-density development in the past, with resident groups successfully protesting against the Woolloomooloo Redevelopment Central Plan in the early to mid 1970s.

An artist’s impression of the proposed transformation of Woolloomooloo, which would include affordable housing and integrated vertical gardens and greenhouses. Photo: David Vago/Habit8

In the last few years developers have edged in, including one new off-the-plan development in Bourke Street that’s due to be completed late this year.

Vago said there was room to increase the density of Woolloomooloo considering its proximity to the harbour and the CBD, and expressed concerns about the “massive social issues down there – beyond community housing”, citing endemic drug use as a particular problem.

He also wanted to address the problem of Sydney’s diminishing food bowls. “We’re slowly taking up all the places we’re growing food – we’re transporting it in from further away,” he said.

“Using rooftops, the views, the aspect – it’s very under-utilised in Sydney. We’ve got good soil and good weather for edible plants. Why plant six deciduous plane trees instead of say, 100 fruit trees?”

Vago says it’s important to remember Sydney isn’t just for the likes of bankers and lawyers.

“It [the design] is like an anti-gentrification measure – we know that gentrification can kill the environment of the city. It’s not detrimental to people’s health or the economy, but it can kill a city.”

He estimates the scheme would take about five years of planning and seeking approvals, followed by a 10-year building process with an overall estimated value of $8 billion.

Vago is initiating meetings with the NSW Premier and Attorney-General, and has spoken to a few developers.

“I think what we’re doing here is starting the conversation,” he said. “What could you do to create the best city possible?”

Vago has pitched other transformative ideas in the past, such as the conversion of Sydney’s now-dismantled monorail into a ‘aerial greenway’, in the style of New York’s Highline Park.

Last year he put forward the “Bayinguwa” concept, a plan to reclaim harbourside land at Garden Island for parkland, a passenger terminal, a recreational precinct and affordable housing.

This current project, “Willy Wonka’s Woolloomooloo – An edible city” was presented as part of the 2016 Urban Design Conference held in Canberra, in November last year.