Liveability

Liveability is about people's quality of life. Maintaining and improving liveability requires housing, infrastructure and services that meet people's needs, and the provision of a range of housing types in the right locations with measures to improve affordability. This enables people to stay in their neighbourhoods and communities as they transition through life.

Improving liveability is about creating and renewing great places, neighbourhoods and centres. This requires place-based planning and design excellence that builds on local strengths and focuses on public places and open spaces.

The North District offers residents and visitors unique places, centres, neighbourhoods and suburbs: from the leafy northern neighbourhoods of Wahroonga, Berowra and Belrose, to the world-class beachside suburbs of Whale Beach, Narrabeen and Freshwater and harbourside suburbs of Northbridge, Seaforth and Mosman.

The thriving commercial core of North Sydney and the vibrant Lane Cove, Ryde, Macquarie Park and Hornsby centres provide great places that meet the needs of a culturally rich and diverse resident population.

Street life and the night-time economy are also important elements of the District's character in dynamic places like Crows Nest, Neutral Bay and Manly, with centres such as Eastwood and Chatswood boasting distinctive cultural identities.

Proximity to bushland and beaches; the Lane Cove, Ku-ring-gai Chase and Garigal national parks; and Sydney Harbour and the Pacific Ocean give residents many outdoor, sporting and recreational opportunities.

As the District's 2016 population of around 887,000 people increases, it is also ageing. By 2036, the number of residents over 85 is expected to grow by 85 per cent and the number of single-person households is expected to rise by 39 per cent.

Couples with children will remain the dominant household type¹. As a result, there will be comparatively fewer working age people (20-64 years) living in the District (refer to Planning Priority N6).

Together with overall population growth of around 196,000 (2016-2036), these demographic changes mean that an additional 92,000 homes will be required in the District by 2036.

Great places are walkable - this means they are designed, built and managed to encourage people of all ages and abilities to walk or cycle for leisure, transport or exercise. This requires fine grain urban form and land use mix at the heart of neighbourhoods. Places that demonstrate these characteristics promote healthy, active lifestyles and social interaction and can better support the arts, creativity, cultural expression and innovation.

The 30-minute city aspiration will guide decision-making on locations for new jobs and housing, and the prioritisation of transport, health, schools and social infrastructure investments. This will facilitate the co-location of infrastructure in metropolitan and strategic centres and more direct and convenient public transport links to these places, so that people can access services and jobs.

A place-based and collaborative approach is required to maintain and enhance the liveability of the North District. This can be achieved by the following Planning Priorities:

N3. Providing services and social infrastructure to meet people's changing needs

N4. Fostering healthy, creative, culturally rich and socially connected communities

N5. Providing housing supply, choice and affordability, with access to jobs, services and public transport

N6. Creating and renewing great places and local centres, and respecting the District's heritage.