As part of the new technology, council will be keeping an eye on people movement - but not in a Big Brother way.
Chair of the Smart City Committee Steven Issa said monitoring of where people go, how long they stay along the way will help plan the city.
“This is all about helping our city planners to make the city easier to move around. It will not be able to recognise people or use personal data. We are not Big Brother,” Cr Issa told the Parramatta Times (sister publication to WSBA).
“We are making Parramata one of the smartest cities in the State if not the country.
“We are now in the greatest position to change the perception of Parramatta - we’ll have the Metro, the Powerhouse, health and education precincts, all working harmoniously together.”
One of the developments will be a phone app where people can access the location of CBD parking spots.
“This will mean people who don’t know the city won’t have to drive around to find where the parking spots are. About 30 per cent of our traffic congestion comes from people driving around looking for parking,” Cr Issa said.
Accessible parking areas
Parking Finder is a first for NSW that shows all on-street accessible parking spaces, complete with photographs and rating, and provides entry heights for multi-storey carparks.
But perhaps even more exciting are the plans for Phillip St, which links the wharf and the justice precinct.
Plans include condition-responsive lighting, street furniture with built-in USB charging points, smart irrigation, environmental monitoring, compactor bins with sensors and water misting for those hot days.
Parramatta was the first local government area in NSW to adopt a Smart City Masterplan back in August 2015.
Lord Mayor Bob Dwyer said Parramatta, with a population set to double in 20 years, needed to be smart about how it managed that growth.
“A key part of this is integrating Smart City technology into planning and design to improve the community’s experience of Parramatta and its precincts,” Cr Dwyer told the Times.
“With Parramatta Square, council is creating a remarkable public space in the heart of the city. Over the next two years we’ll continue rolling out world-class Smart City projects to create a seamless experience for people in Parramatta Square.
“Parramatta will become a greener, cooler, safer and more liveable urban environment.”
