{"id":837332,"date":"2026-08-01T07:35:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/837332\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T07:35:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:35:23","slug":"breathable-density-sydney-architects-are-calling-for-green-oriented-development-to-replace-urban-sprawl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/837332\/","title":{"rendered":"Breathable density: Sydney architects are calling for green-oriented development to replace urban sprawl"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Julie<\/p>\n

August 1, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

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Rob d\u2019Apice and his husband, Ivan Muniz Reed, fell in love with the tall trees in the open parkland at the back of their 1918 home \u2013 nicknamed Alien Jellyfish \u2013 on Whites Creek in Sydney\u2019s inner west.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bought because of the view,\u201d said d\u2019Apice. Neighbouring homes block the outlook with garages or what the couple\u2019s architect Hannah Tribe called \u201cstupid\u201d 1.8-metre high fences.<\/p>\n

\"RobertRobert d\u2019Apice and Ivan Muniz Reed\u2019s Lilyfield home alterations and additions by Tribe Studio Architect won a
\n2026 NSW architecture award.Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n

An award-winning renovation in this year\u2019s NSW Architecture awards by Tribe Studio to transform the tiny house removed anything inside or out, upstairs and down, that impeded the outlook.<\/p>\n

The meadow now appears to be an extension of the home \u2013 and the family\u2019s social life. Dogs race in, leaving paw prints on pale polished concrete floors, walkers stop to say hello and children come into play with the couple\u2019s daughters. At night, rippling privacy curtains surround the illuminated living areas that glow like a see-through marine creature.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Lilyfield House designed by Tribe Studio Architects.Tasha Tylee<\/p>\n

A report this month on \u201cbreathable density\u201d by the Committee for Sydney\u2019s Estelle Grech, director of planning, fairness and equity, calls for more homes to have access to green spaces.<\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s report says the blue and green spaces of Greater Sydney\u2019s waterways are \u201cone of the most powerful health interventions a city can make\u201d. In contrast, treeless development and streets lacking green spaces were \u201clonelygenic\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In Erskineville, a small reserve has become what resident Eric Rivers called an urban miracle. About 20 terraces\u2019 back gates open to a pocket park that is big enough to throw a Frisbee, have neighbourhood drinks and the occasional long-table dinners.<\/p>\n

Architect Melissa Rivers said the meadow, as some call it, \u201cgives people a place to gather, and a green, breathing space\u201d.<\/p>\n

Neighbour Tom Harden started off renting nearby, but he didn\u2019t want to lose the community so he bought a house. \u201cIt makes me socially lazy. I just open the back gate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AtAt Erskineville\u2019s Amy Street Reserve, home owners Eric and Melissa Rivers, Lachlan with father Tom Harden, and Julia Corbett and Tim Gordon have homes with gates opening onto the green space.Sitthixay Ditthavong\"CreeksCreeks and rivers run through nearly every part of greater Sydney, and 85 per cent of the population lives within 800 metres of water \u2013 mangroves, creeks, wetlands, the harbour or the ocean \u2013 usually bordered by parks and green spaces.The Office of the Government Architect and Tyrrell Studio report on the Greater Sydney Green Grid<\/p>\n

The report calls on developers to stop turning their backs on these spaces with fences, and do more to use them.<\/p>\n

Creeks and rivers run through most of Greater Sydney, creating a blue and green belt. About 85 per cent of the population lives within 800 metres of mangroves, creeks, wetlands, the harbour or the ocean.<\/p>\n

Breathable density may be access to a window that catches an afternoon breeze, a verge garden, a courtyard, a leftover industrial site gone wild or a strip of land near a creek.<\/p>\n

Architect Angelo Korsanos who lives near Croydon\u2019s Wangal Park, a former brick pit, says reserves, parks and riverine corridors are \u201call over Sydney when you start looking for them\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a presentation with architect Peter McGregor to the Urban Design Association NSW, he argued for more medium density development along these green spots. More eyes made them safer, too.<\/p>\n

\"AA photo by the owners of Alien Jellyfish shared online.<\/p>\n

McGregor and Korsanos say recent development had resulted in high-rise towers without trees in suburbs like Burwood, Liverpool, Parramatta, Chatswood, Ashfield and Hurstville.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ring-fence density to just a couple of blocks of a railway station,\u201d Korsanos said. \u201cAnd on the suburban periphery, we get horizontal sprawl in the form of paddocks to black roofs and bitumen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Korsanos, who is a lecturer of practice in architecture at Western Sydney University, said his master\u2019s students were fascinated by the potential of these green and blue spaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re everywhere, in Toongabbie, Rooty Hill, and Auburn. This year we\u2019re looking at Harris Park. Each one of those has got these riverine corridors \u2026 Toongabbie has kilometres and kilometres of back fences on what used to be creeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

These areas could accommodate greater density. \u201cIt\u2019s like a reversal of TOD [transport-oriented development], of building towers around railway stations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grech said: \u201cMaybe we should move from TOD to GOD \u2013 green-oriented development.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGregor and Korsanos have found such development sites near green spaces within an easy walk of public transport, including in Hurstville, that would suit six to eight storeys, the scale necessary to make these projects viable.<\/p>\n

Korsanos said Auburn, Harris Park and Fairfield, were also full of riparian corridors lined by the back fences of single dwellings.<\/p>\n

He cycles once a week along the 20-kilometre-long Cooks River trail. \u201cThere are all these back fences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This green trail alone could open the door to 40 kilometres of homes and apartments facing a large green space.<\/p>\n

Upzoning just 5 to 6 per cent of this land could result in a 25-35 per cent increase in overall dwelling capacity across an LGA, he said.<\/p>\n

With only single homes running along these fence lines, developments could face less opposition. There were fewer neighbours to object than a suburban block which can have six or more neighbours, depending on block size.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"JulieJulie Power<\/a> is a senior reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 1, 2026 \u2014 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-837332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}