- Completed park projects include the Kepos Street Playground Redfern and Victoria Park
- Playwave, a digital scheme to give high-school students affordable tickets to theatre, concerts and events launched with seed funding from the City.
- The Distance of Your Heart, Tracy Emin’s work installed with 67 handmade bronze bird sculptures perched on sandstone ledges, poles, doorways and awnings around George Street.
- The Green Square Community and Cultural Precinct opened, which included, Joynton Avenue Creative Centre (former South Sydney nurses quarters), by architect Peter Stutchbury, Banga Community Shed (former pathology building), also by architect Peter Stutchbury, the 74-place Waranara Early Education Centre (former Outpatient building) by architects Fox Johnston, and Matron Ruby Grant Park designed by Sprout Landscape Architecture and CAB Consulting. An artwork featuring Boab trees and assembled rocks, titled “While I Live I Grow” by artist Maria Fernanda Cardoso, with assistance from Green Square curatorial advisor, Amanda Sharrad, marks entry to the complex alongside a new children’s playground.
- A new rainbow crossing at Taylor Square planned by the City with State permission.
- 40 Years of Love, a massive inflatable artwork by Matthew Aberline and Maurice Goldberg, was commissioned by the City and installed at Taylor Square to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Mardi Gras.
- A modern new works depot was completed at Alexandria Canal with 1663 solar panels and a Tesla battery providing renewable power.
- Resilient Sydney Strategy launched, the culmination of two years’ work involving all levels of government, business and our communities, in association with the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities The aim is to anticipate future challenges and prepare for them.
- A state of the art 2,300 square metre library was opened to serve Green Square. Built largely below ground to preserve the public open space above, it features different reading area experiences, as well as music practice and computer rooms. The building designed by Stewart Hollenstein with Colin Stewart Architects was the winner of a competition run by the City, as part of its “Design Excellence” policy.
- In 2018, we reduced emissions by 25 per cent in our own operations and city-wide by 20 per cent. This notwithstanding our city economy expanding by 37%, and the fact that with business as usual, our greenhouse gas emissions would have increased by 50%! Our carbon intensity (emissions per dollar of economic output) has also fallen by around one-third.
