Moore’s office commissioned Australia-based Andrew Burges Architects (ABA) to reimagine what Sydney Harbor could look like if there were sections accessible for public swimming. Her proposal mentions that climate change and an increasing population will both change Sydney’s makeup in the decades to come, and with green space at a premium, cleaning up the harbor and making it swimmable could be a good way to give residents a way to cool off.
Cities like Copenhagen, which has successfully converted much of its canalway into programmable public park-type spaces, are serving as a model for Sydney and other world metropolises with similar water park-like developments proposed for the near future.
Sydney Harbour has seen shark episodes on and off throughout the past century, leading the cities to install safety netting and a host of harbor-adjacent public pools that are already very popular. The Harbour itself faces a serious flooding threat by mid-century in addition to a cleanup effort that will abate pollution caused by runoff from some of the reclaimed land around the Harbour.
“This vision rests on improving water quality,” Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore told CNN. “Some parts of our harbor are highly polluted and cleaning up these waterways so they can be used for recreation and to improve biodiversity will require cooperation across all levels of government.”