Newcastle Renewal Study

Urban Growth NSW

The decision to remove a heavy passenger rail line and replace it with light rail through downtown Newcastle (the one in New South Wales), was controversial. There is no question it disrupted traffic and commercial activity. As part of the management of this, Urban Growth NSW carried out a lot of work on managing the consequences and planning for the revitalisation of the CBD. Geografia was commissioned to assist with this. The core of our work was an investigation of similar investments in industrial cities around the world (like Minneapolis the the USA and Glasgow, Scotland). We investigated national and international tourism, manufacturing, mining, agricultural and service-led economic opportunities for Newcastle, with a focus on how the CBD can better link with Hunter Valley industries. The work was completed within an extremely tight deadline and used in a major two-day forum for state and local decision-makers.