BID to Create World’s Best Waterfront Precinct

For some time, Australia has looked on as other countries reap the rewards of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), a concept where private funders come together to unlock the potential of urban precincts, such as Bryant Park in New York and London’s West End.

Australia is poised to have its first BID in the New Sydney Waterfront Company, encompassing prime Harbourside locations such as Barangaroo, Walsh Bay, Darling Harbour and Pyrmont.

The renewal project was bringing together key private industry players who were determined to catalyse the Western Harbour and create the world’s best waterfront precinct, Urbis group director James Tuma said.

“Australia has always looked abroad and lusted after these models—so for us to have our own BID is a threshold moment,” he said.

Tuma leads the strategic advisory arm of Urbis, Future State. He and his team examine what it takes to rejuvenate and reimagine urban settings.

“A BID is the private sector’s way of acknowledging that government may have reached the limit of its ability to execute change and fund infrastructure,” he said. “It allows private interests to come together and invest in making a place or precinct the best it can be.”

This coalition is then supported by government to accelerate urban outcomes. One of the best examples of this is the New West End Company in London where 82 streets and more than 600 businesses have come together to form the UK’s largest retail and leisure-led BID.

▲ Old Bond Street, part of London's New West End Company BID.

There, the New West End Company has set out to make this well-known UK precinct globally significant—which is what the New Sydney Waterfront Company hopes their BID will achieve for Australia.

“BIDs allow private investors to step in where government cannot,” Tuma said. “While the government might wholeheartedly support the idea driving a BID, they don’t often have the capital to prioritise a precinct over building a hospital or other essential services.”

“We’re really excited to see what can be achieved in Australia’s first ever BID,” he said. “The potential benefits are broad reaching—for the public, visitors, the tourism sector, the city of Sydney and Australia as a destination.”

Developing Australia’s first BID presents a chance for us to think differently about how precincts come to life. Tuma said there would be opportunities for other BIDs to emerge in most of the major capital cities as well as regional towns and cities, further down the track.

While a BID might seem like a simple enough idea—structurally, they can be complex with business and government needing to align expectations and put in place measures that allow accountability and outcomes that are to the benefit of everyone.

For now, the New Sydney Waterfront Company is about to take its first steps. 

Tuma and his team are developing a framework for the BID, which will encompass governance, development, infrastructure, activation and events, for starters.

“But first we need to understand what the best waterfront precincts in the world look like and what drives their success,” Tuma said.

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