Big ideas to transform Sydney’s infrastructure and future-proof the city have been shortlisted for Sydney Big Ideas, presented at the 2026 Sydney Summit.

Now in its sixth year, the agenda-setting Sydney Summit is presented by the Committee for Sydney at ICC Sydney on February 6, in partnership with BDO, Built, Hassell, ALTRAC Light Rail, Maddocks, Ipsos and Lendlease.

Following a public call out for submissions, 16 bold ideas have been shortlisted across four categories with a final three set to pitch their ideas to the Sydney Summit’s audience of experts, decision makers and city leaders.

The four shortlisted ideas to reshape Sydney for the future are:

• A light rail network for Sydney
• Connecting Sydney’s waterfronts
• Turning streetlights into energy hubs
• Making public toilets the crown jewel of public space.

Eamon Waterford, CEO of the Committee for Sydney, said: “Sydney is growing incredibly fast, if we’re going to meet the demand that comes with a bigger population, we need to start thinking strategically about the future of our city.”

“It’s fantastic to see Sydneysiders rising to that challenge and coming up with creative, bold ideas that will make Sydney a cleaner, greener, more accessible city for all of us.”

A light rail network for Sydney – Penny Graham and John Faker

Sydney is facing some of its most pressing challenges. Housing shortages, urban decay, congestion and climate change are all impacting the way people move through and experience the city.

To combat these challenges and future-proof Sydney for rapid population growth, ideas must be bold, and infrastructure must scale with a unified and actionable vision.

Thinking about how Sydneysiders move today and how they will move in the future, this vision is clear on delivering a light rail network for the city. This network would include a new line from Central Station to Burwood via Parramatta Road, an extension of the L3 Line from Kingsford Juniors to La Perouse via Long Bay, and an extension of the L1 Line to Green Square and Roseberry.

Penny Graham, Chair of ALTRAC Light Rail, said: “The next stage of light rail needs to be ‘city-shaping’ – support housing delivery, connect workers, deliver economic activity and sustainable transport across Sydney. Our vision for Sydney, with these three lines, builds on the success of Light Rail, and unlocks up to 180,000 new homes where people want to live, work and play. That’s the scale of ambition Sydney needs, and light rail is the enabler.

“Kingsford Juniors to La Perouse would unlock the redevelopment of Long Bay and provide essential mass transit to coastal communities that have been transport disadvantaged for generations. It’s about accessibility, whilst also unlocking 51,000 homes near the beach.

“Alexandria to Rosebery is Sydney’s fastest-growing employment precinct. Extending light rail from Green Square would unlock 59,000 homes while retaining the jobs and industry Sydney needs. It’s about smart, mixed-use growth – a jobs and housing innovation corridor.”

John Faker, Mayor of Burwood, said: “Parramatta Road has long been talked about as a transformative corridor, yet despite decades of studies, its potential remains unrealised.

“It connects major precincts of housing, education, commerce and culture, but has never become the cohesive movement spine Sydney needs. We have an opportunity to change that and completely open up transport across the city via this vital link.

“Light rail is not symbolic, it is structural. It is the backbone upon which the new Sydney movement ecosystem will form, with Parramatta Road as the epicentre, unlocking housing investment, invigorating the nighttime economy and connecting students and workers with universities, hospitals and more.”

Connecting Sydney’s waterfronts – Paul Stoller

Sydney is a city surrounded by water. Beaches, ponds, creeks and rivers weave through its neighbourhoods and are in use all year round by swimmers, walkers and commuters alike.

Despite this abundance, access to Sydney’s waterfronts is intermittent. Public parks, reserves and foreshores are interrupted by private landholdings that force people to detour inland and abandon the water’s edge completely. In many areas, what should be continuous public space becomes a patchwork of accessible and inaccessible stretches.

There is an opportunity to change this and provide continuous access to Sydney’s hundreds of kilometres of riversides and harbour foreshores, enabling more effective recreation and commuting corridors, and more delightful places for people to gather.

Paul Stoller, Managing Director of Atelier Ten, said: “Continuous waterfront access shouldn’t be an exclusive offering but instead a public right.”

“We’re proposing that any time private waterfront property is sold or a development application is granted, an easement on a waterfront strip of land must be granted to the public to enable continuous waterfront access.

“It’s a simple idea that can have profound effects on public wellbeing, and we know that it works. In the US, access to San Francisco Bay has been slowly increased over decades by this kind of policy.”

Turning streetlights into energy hubs – Dr Hong Nguyen

Greater Sydney is experiencing rapid population growth and housing development, putting significant stress on electricity infrastructure and increasing overall power demand.

At the same time, the city must plan for future energy supply while achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and building resilience against climate shocks. There is a missed opportunity to solve this challenge, and it can be found on any given street.

Current streetlight infrastructure consumes energy but offers no added value beyond illumination. By integrating micro-wind turbines and solar panels into streetlight poles, they can be transformed into distributed renewable energy hubs.

Dr Hong Nguyen, Manager of Environment and Resilience at Bayside Council, said: “This idea enables us to generate renewable energy right across the city without needing new land or large infrastructure.”

“It also decentralises power generation, reduces pressure on the grid as demand surges and enhances resilience during outages and extreme weather while supporting EV charging and smart city functions.

“The opportunity is clear: turn every streetlight into a climate-positive asset, helping Sydney to meet rising energy needs sustainably and accelerate its transition to net zero.

“Each pole could generate approximately 350 kWh annually from wind alone – totalling roughly 91 GWh per year, enough to power over 18,000 households. Adding solar to the mix could double or triple this output.”

Making public toilets the crown jewel of public space – Dr Christian Tietz

Almost everyone would have used a public toilet at some time in their life, and the experience was most likely memorable – but probably not in a good way.

While Sydney’s public toilets are comparatively well-serviced – some even architecturally designed, visually and conceptually stunning – once inside the cubicle itself, the innovation isn’t as apparent.

Traditionally, cubicle design has reflected notions of surveillance and supervision to prevent socially unacceptable or illegal behaviours to taking place in them. But often this design doesn’t consider the wide range of people who use public toilets each day, and their differing needs.

Redesigning public toilets from the inside out, imagining them as premium and inclusive environments where people feel safe and at ease will contribute significantly to improved public wellbeing.

Dr Christian Tietz, Senior Lecturer at UNSW, said: “Public toilets have a reputation for being dirty, smelly and sometimes unsafe, and that’s not a surprise when some local councils have over 200 toilet blocks but employ just six cleaners.

“We have the opportunity to turn public toilets into the jewel in local councils’ crowns, but first we must invest more time, money and thoughtful design to ensure they meet the needs of all Sydneysiders.

“We have to consider things like age, ability and gender when we design public toilets. Are people using these alone or do they need assistance? Do they have a care dog or need to take medication? Are they a child that needs a parent with them? All of these things impact how we design spaces and who benefits from them.”

About the Sydney Summit

The Sydney Summit is the Committee for Sydney’s annual half-day leadership conference, bringing together bold leaders, thinkers, politicians and researchers to discuss the critical questions facing our city. Running every year since 2021, the theme of the 2026 Sydney Summit is ‘The Bold City’: Turning bold ideas and ambitious vision into practical action for Sydney’s future. More information at: https://sydney.org.au/sydneysummit

About the Committee for Sydney

The Committee for Sydney is an independent urban policy think tank working to make Sydney the best city in the world, for all. We are advocates for the whole of Greater Sydney, and its broader national impact, researching and developing solutions to the most important problems we face. More information at: https://sydney.org.au