The Greater Sydney Commission is leading the delivery and coordination of four key precincts with the greatest opportunity to accelerate economic recovery for Greater Sydney. With the involvement of many government and non-government stakeholders, these precincts will act as catalysts for broader economic growth. These precincts will complement and reinforce each other, incorporating social, economic and sustainability benefits into their strategic development. The four key precincts the Commission will focus on are:
- Tech Central
- Westmead Health and Innovation District (including Parramatta North)
- Macquarie Park
- Central Coast

The Tech Central precinct (formerly Sydney Innovation and Technology District/Camperdown-Ultimo Collaboration Area) includes six nodes that seek to attract a variety of industry investment.
They are the area around Central Station referred to as the Haymarket node; the Darlington North-Eveleigh node; the South Eveleigh node; the Ultimo node; the Camperdown node; and the Surry Hills node.
The Commission is working closely with NSW Government agencies including Investment NSW, and key precinct stakeholders to meet the initial objectives in activating the precinct. These include creating 25,000 additional innovation jobs, attracting 25,000 new STEM and life sciences students, facilitating 250,000 square metres in net lettable area for technology companies and 50,000 square metres in net lettable area for startups, scaleups, innovation ecosystem partners and other early stage companies.
The Commission is leading a cross-agency project team to develop a precinct vision focusing on the tech sector and creative industries; enabling coordination of all key government agencies; overseeing the delivery of key priorities for the precinct; and providing advice to the Minister for Jobs, Tourism, Investment and Western Sydney.
The NSW Government has announced that expressions of interest are open to establish founding members of the new Quantum Terminal, the first collaboration space in Tech Central. Find out more information or get involved.
Visit the new Tech Central website.
Read the NSW Treasury Tech Central brochure (2020) (PDF, 2.1MB)
Read the Sydney Innovation and Technology Precinct Panel Report (2018) (PDF, 3.4MB)
Read the Camperdown-Ultimo Collaboration Area Place Strategy (2018) (PDF, 8MB)
Westmead Health and Innovation District will continue building on its status as a globally recognised destination for innovation, health, education and research capitalising on existing major health and research facilities and ongoing government investment in health and transport infrastructure. The District includes the Westmead Health Core, Parramatta North Precinct and the growing transport centre including the existing Westmead station and future Metro and light rail stations.
The Commission will support NSW Treasury and Health to create an additional 20,000 jobs, an additional $2.8B economic output for NSW p.a. and over 25,000 additional tertiary students in an integrated new university precinct.
The Commission is leading a One Government integrated project team to develop a global District vision focusing on the med tech/education and health sectors, enable coordination of all key government agencies, oversee the delivery of key priorities for the District and provide advice to the Minister for Jobs, Tourism, Investment and Western Sydney.
The Macquarie Park precinct includes Macquarie University to the north and extends to North Ryde Station and surrounds in the south. Within this innovation cluster is a world class university, a key regional hospital and a high-tech employment hub. The precinct is the largest non-CBD office market in the country and is set to become Australia's fourth largest commercial precinct by 2030.
The Commission has led the development of a draft Strategic Infrastructure and Services Assessment (SISA) for the Macquarie Park Corridor, collaborating with State agencies, utility providers and the City of Ryde Council to examine the relationship between growth and infrastructure.
The draft SISA is one of several documents supporting the draft Place Strategy for Macquarie Park, prepared by the Department of Planning Infrastructure and Environment (DPIE). The draft Place Strategy is on exhibition for feedback until Tuesday 10 August 2021. Comments on the draft SISA can be made on DPIE’s website as part of the exhibition on the draft Place Strategy.
The draft SISA considers the impact of growth and change across the wider precinct including the Macquarie Park Investigation Area and the two former Urban Activation Precincts of North Ryde Station and Macquarie University (Herring Road).
This includes the infrastructure and service needs for the people living in around 5,000 new homes built over last five years and more than 10,000 new homes forecast to be delivered over the next 15 years (and a further 15,000 new jobs to be created in the same period).
The assessment estimates the cost of infrastructure and service proposals to 2036 to be around $6.5 billion. Much of this cost ($4.7 billion) is attributed to major city-shaping and city-serving transport infrastructure (including planning and development costs to enable infrastructure planned for delivery beyond 2036). The draft SISA considers initial funding options of who could, or should, pay to enable the further investigation and delivery of these proposals. Land requirements have also been considered.
While the draft SISA has not been adopted by NSW Government or City of Ryde Council, it will inform planning for the implementation of the final place strategy.
Land requirements have also been considered, with around 53 hectares needed to deliver the identified infrastructure and service proposals – the majority of which is attributed to providing sporting facilities and open space (which can also be provided in nearby areas to service the precinct). Innovative delivery strategies should be considered in the first instance including partnering with existing landholders to consider shared use of existing facilities.
Next Steps
After the exhibition period for DPIE’s draft Place Strategy closes, comments will be considered and inform the final update to the draft SISA.
The SISA will then be used to develop a strategic framework for the delivery of infrastructure and services to support both existing and future development in Macquarie Park.
Read the draft Macquarie Park Strategic Infrastructure and Services Assessment (PDF, 7.55MB)
The Premier requested the Commission develop a strategy which outlines opportunities for the Central Coast region with a particular focus on economic growth and employment opportunities.
The Central Coast Strategy will aim to revitalise Gosford and the Central Coast with a focus on job creation and investment within the region.
The Commission has drawn together the rich body of existing work and collaborated across Government and with stakeholders to develop the Strategy. The Commission also engaged with Central Coast community members and businesses about economic opportunities in the region.
Read Central Coast Strategy - What we heard (PDF, 1.7MB)
The Central Coast Strategy will be released soon.