Public Participation: A Sustainable Legacy for Olympic Parks

Abstract

Since the 1980s, plans for the Sydney Olympic Park (SOP) have been underway to transform the heavily contaminated brownfield site of Homebush Bay into a thriving urban precinct of residential neighbourhoods, business districts and regional parklands. This transformation has been underpinned by Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD) principles, as established by Sydney Olympic organisers in the bid for the 2000 Olympic Games. The Sydney Olympic Park Master Plan 2030 envisions 23,500 residents and a doubling of office spaces, responding to state goals for the growth of the Western Sydney region. Such population growth challenges SOP’s management to remain loyal to sustainable development, maintaining a ‘local’ level of engagement and participation with residents and balancing competing interests from businesses who view themselves as integral stakeholders in SOP. The importance of public participation to sustainable development and contemporary challenges to its application, especially in public- private mega-projects, is the focus of this chapter. The chapter will discuss findings from a 4-year doctoral investigation of social sustainability in the SOP and how public participation has been considered and implemented in the process of developing it, post-Games. Findings emerged from an analysis of SOP-specific planning documents, in-depth interviews with experts who have been or are working on the development of SOP, and focus groups with residents living in the neighbouring communities of Newington and Wentworth Point. The chapter will first set out the problem of Olympic parks and establish the definition of sustainable development as a social problem, thus bringing attention to the importance of public participation. It briefly introduces the methodology used, the context of SOP and presents the findings, unpacking the reality of public participation in the post-Games development of SOP and how it has been perceived by experts and residents. Findings reveal a ‘watered down’ approach to social participation strategies, as perceived by residents, despite the increasing importance of social participation in state and local planning instruments. Some of the barriers in applying strategies for social participation are discussed by experts in relation to difficulties in defining local communities, especially in a project of regional importance and the limited legal responsibility of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority for communities around its boundaries. This is taking a toll on how residents engage with SOP and how they connect to an ethos of shared values for sustainability. Novel approaches to social engagement with residents living within and around SOP’s boundaries will be critical to the ongoing management of SOP as an icon of sustainability, especially with the expected population growth.