Australia’s Smart City wants to be the next Silicon Valley

Travel along the sunny shores of Australia’s Gold Coast, 25 kilometers from Brisbane, and discover Greater Springfield, a different city by design.

You may not have heard of it before, and surprisingly the city is not yet 30 years old. But that did not stop her. Developer Springfield Citigroup (SCG) says it could be the next Silicon Valley in a few years.

“The world has learned a lot from Silicon Valley,” the Maha Senathambi Foundation told CNBC. “We said:‘ We are 85 years old. Let’s design the latest version. “”

The brain behind Greater Springfield, the only city in Australia to be built alone, is the first project planned since Senate and the capital, Canberra, were founded over a century ago. The 80s real estate mogul – who has spent 50 years developing residential and business projects across Australia – said his latest venture, like the inspiration for Silicon Valley, is to create a modern business hub surrounding technology, education and healthcare services.

Now he is looking for big companies to help him reach the next stage of his $ 68 billion vision.

“We are trying to pull Microsoft and Google out of the world,” Senathamby said, indicating that the group is currently in talks with a multinational technology company.

Created on 7,000 acres of land purchased for $ 6.1 million, Greater Springfield is the tenth largest planned community in the world – a truly vibrant, mobile city that has changed a lot from the abandoned record acquired by Senate. In 1992.

It now has 46,000 residents, 16,500 homes, 11 schools, national campuses, a hospital and a railway, connecting with neighboring Brisbane, Senate said, adding that the city is 25 per cent complete after receiving $ 15 billion in private and government funding.

But there is still work to be done to transform it into a new innovation hub in the Asia-Pacific region, to triple the population, create 52,000 new jobs by 2030 and achieve its goals. So far, 20 000 jobs have been created directly and indirectly as part of the project. , Says SCG.

“We want to send them with the most reputable companies, they are the most talented and want to make the most profit,” Senathambi said. “We can’t do this great job alone.”

In the bait, Senadambe says, the city’s new site, like Silicon Valley, provides a place for businesses to experiment. This includes providing specially designed facilities that large companies and small start-ups can innovate. Meanwhile, the Living Lab offers a place to test new technologies related to smart work, life, learning and sports.

Engi SA is a company that is currently testing water. In 2018, the French utility company signed a 50-year strategic alliance to build the first zero energy city in Great Springfield, Australia, with the aim of showcasing its green goodwill.

By 2038, Angie is planning a city It generates more energy than consumption By focusing on the five main pillars of urban planning, movement, buildings, energy and technology. One of the various ways he uses to achieve this is to increase the infrastructure of electric vehicles, prioritize public transportation, construct eco-friendly buildings, introduce solar panels to all available roofs and protect 30% of the region’s land for green space.

Elsewhere, Lao, Sydney’s startup, chose Greater Springfield earlier this month as its manufacturing hub. The “first” group of hydrogen batteries in the world for 30 years It is said that one can run a house for two days at a single charge.

The new business activities are designed to attract the knowledge workers associated with its key pillars to the city’s main employment center, known as the Knowledge Zone in Greater Springfield, with skills related to: technology, education and health care.

The City of Health, a 128-acre health district created in partnership with Harvard Medical International, will provide better health care and thousands of medical jobs, Senate said. At the same time, the expansion of the city’s education network, centered on two new universities and tribal communities, will nurture a new generation of professionals, he said.

“We are deeply committed to trying to turn this piece of knowledge into a gift not only to Australia, but perhaps to the world,” Senathambi said.

However, the project schedule cannot be ignored. The epidemic led to many Reviewing the Glamor of Big Business Centers, Indicates some estimates 53% of technical and media personnel in the United States They are already out or thinking about dropping the high cost of living in the big cities.

Nevertheless, Senathambi is confident that his vision for the future Australian city will be sustained – he will provide a map for others. By focusing on emerging industries, Greater Springfield seems to have faced the eruption better than anywhere else. The unemployment rate is 3.9%. 5.9% compared to the state level in Queensland.

“I do this as a nation-building project,” Senadambe said. “Now I want partners who promise this vision to come.”