The Australian and Northern Territory governments, together with the City of Darwin, are partnering to support projects that revitalise Darwin’s city centre and the planning and collaboration needed to secure Darwin’s future growth.

In the two years since the Darwin City Deal was signed, considerable progress has been made towards transforming the CBD, making Darwin a more attractive place to live, work, study, do business and visit.

Greening the heart of the city

The Civic and State Square Masterplan reimagines the heart of Darwin city into a welcoming, interactive and green space. An important part of the Darwin City Deal, the Civic and State Square precincts will provide a community and event space that links the Waterfront with the city centre, creating an activated and lively place for all.

The construction of the State Square Underground Carpark has replaced heat-generating surface carparks and includes six electric vehicle charging stations and doubles as a cyclone shelter when needed. Relocating these carparks underground has provided the opportunity for generous tropical green and landscaped parkland.

Further works to install lighting and sculptures will enhance this parkland even more, along with the landscaping of the Parliament House carpark which will commence in 2021.

The demolition of the Chan Building is now complete and remediation works are underway to transform the site of the old building into a grassed area, creating a new space for events and festivals.

The heart of the Masterplan will see a new art gallery built, providing a space for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) to showcase the Northern Territory’s extensive art collection within the city centre.

The tender for the design of the art gallery was awarded in July 2020 to local company Ashford Architects, partnering with Clare Design and Hully Liveris and designs will be complete in November 2021.

Education and Community Precinct

A New Education and Community Precinct on Cavenagh Street will create activity and revitalise the Darwin city centre, attracting students to live, study and work in the CBD. The centrepiece of the Precinct is a new city campus for Charles Darwin University that will promote Darwin as a centre of excellence for education in Northern Australia. The state-of the- art campus will increase Darwin’s attractiveness a study destination in the international student market and position CDU as the university-of- choice for Territory students.

The Precinct will bring education together with community spaces and an integrated CDU and Northern Territory Library. The building will be an iconic design incorporating cooling and green initiatives that will connect the Precinct to the broader revitalisation of Darwin’s city centre.

Work commenced on the Cavenagh Street site in July 2020 with excavation now well underway. The contracts for the final design development and construction of the $250 million Education and Community Precinct were awarded in late 2020 with the project expected to take three years to complete.

Activate Darwin

Established in 2019, Activate Darwin delivers and supports a wide range of activations, events and promotional activities that aim to increase visitation and improve public spaces within the city centre.

Activate Darwin has delivered a number of key events including the Darwin Street Art Festival, Laneway Series, Darwin International Laksa Festival and multiple school holiday and health programs.

Taking on a placemaking role to revitalise the city, Activate Darwin ran an innovative grants program to improve public spaces across the city which attracted significant community engagement and identified ten projects to be funded. These projects are currently being delivered and will improve the walkability, greening and activation within the city, ranging from green walls and live music to laneway transformations and light projections.

Barkly Regional Deal

The Barkly Regional Deal is a 10 year, $78.4 million commitment between the Australian Government, Northern Territory Government and Barkly Regional Council.

Driven by community-identified priorities, the Deal aims to support the economic, social and cultural future of the region. The overarching objective of the Deal is to foster a prosperous, inclusive and resilient Barkly region that maximises its comparative advantages, celebrates its strengths and adapts to changing circumstances.

The Deal includes 28 initiatives that will facilitate important economic, social and cultural outcomes, including a Local Community Projects Fund, Business Hub and Visitor Park in Tennant Creek.

The Local Community Projects Fund provides funding for high-impact, community-led initiatives in bush communities and homelands across the Barkly region. The Fund is now open and receiving applications. Community consultation is underway to deliver a new Business Hub in the region.

The Business Hub will provide a one-stop-shop to support regional business creation and growth, and deliver specific service offerings catering to the Barkly’s comparative advantages such as resources and agriculture as well as position the Barkly to capitalise on new market trends and businesses.

A key project in the Barkly Regional Deal will see a new visitor park built for transitional and seasonal visitors from outlying remote communities.

Community input on the design and service model is underway with the site recently selected by the community. Once complete, the new Visitor Park will benefit people from across the region who visit and access services in Tennant Creek.

All three levels of government are continuing to work closely with the Barkly community to ensure the Barkly Regional Deal supports the community’s vision and aspirations.