Landcom Liveable Street
Jennifer Sweeney

Schofields Project

Located in the Blacktown LGA, the project vision is to showcase the “missing middle” housing typologies within a precinct of liveable green streetscapes proposed within the Growth Centres of northwest Sydney.
The project is designed to deliver more than 35% green canopy, a significant increase compared with more traditional developments. This green canopy makes a meaningful contribution to the challenges of the urban heat island and microclimatic effects of western Sydney.

The liveable street, a key feature of the project, reinvents the way we use road reserves with a focus on the verges creating more opportunities for social connection. To achieve this liveable community space, the project also reduces the number of driveways increasing the amount of shared, public liveable space. This approach reduces the amount of hardstand (bitumen driveways, footpaths etc) by more than 20%. The project supports extensive tree planting particularly on streets that can take advantage of reduced driveways. Expanded verges for low-level planting, shareways with landscaped edges and permeable driveway finishes also provide additional opportunity for tree planting. This creates places for informal social interaction and incidental play and become places where communities engage and gain a greater sense of belonging – a space where neighbours connect and enjoy.
This Liveable Street concept was promoted by the Chair and CEO of WSROC as part of their presentation to the Environment & Planning Law Association Conference held in Sydney in October 2019 featuring the concept illustration as ”What a better outcome could look like”.