Darling Harbour, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Darling Harbour is a locality of the city centre of Sydney, Australia. It is a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district
. The locality extends northwards from Chinatown
, along both sides of Cockle Bay to King Street Wharf
on the east, and to the suburb of Pyrmont
on the west. Cockle Bay is just one of the waterways that makes up Darling Harbour, which opens north into the much larger Port Jackson
.
The precinct and its immediate surroundings are administered independently of the local government area of the City of Sydney
, by a New South Wales
state government statutory authority, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
.
Darling Harbour is named after Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling
, who was Governor of New South Wales
from 1825 to 1831. It was originally part of the commercial port of Sydney, including the Darling Harbour Railway Goods Yard. During the Great Depression
, the eastern part of Darling Harbour (Barangaroo) became known as The Hungry Mile
, a reference to the waterside workers searching for jobs along the wharves.
Much of the land had been the site of the NSW Railways central marshalling yards and freight consolidation centre. The Enquiry into the NSW transport industry, including rail/road competition, (1978–80) under Commissioner Gavan McDonell
, found that this centre was inefficient, should be moved, and the land used for other public purposes. These recommendations were acted upon and by the mid-to-late 1980s, when the area had become largely derelict it was redeveloped as a pedestrian and tourist precinct as an initiative of then New South Wales
Minister for Public Works, Laurie Brereton
. The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
at Darling Harbour was a venue of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games and a key meeting venue of APEC Australia 2007
.
and light rail by several stations. A ferry wharf near Sydney Aquarium
provides access to the Inner Harbour ferry services
, which runs services to Circular Quay and other suburbs.
East Darling Harbour is part of a massive urban renewal
development. Plans for the 18-hectare site include half business and residential developments, while the other half to be reserved for open public space. The state government of NSW declared plans for "Globe Street", a street designed to become Australia's and Asia Pacific's centre for corporate trade (styled on New York's "Wall Street
" district). The urban renewal development is not expected to be completed until 2020. East Darling Harbour will be known as Barangaroo
.
This area was the site of the Sydney Port Authority and currently features an Overseas Passenger Terminal (Wharf 8) which is mainly used by the Pacific Dawn of the P&O Australia
fleet and MS Sun Princess
which is operated by Princess Cruises
. It has previously been home port to the Pacific Sun (ship)
which is now based in Brisbane
.
The area was temporarily used for several events during World Youth Day 2008
including the opening mass.
, which aired in late 2007. The house has a large "Darling Harbour" sign along its edge, and the World Tower high rise building can be seen behind it.
The film Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie was shot in Sydney, and featured some scenes filmed in Darling Harbor.
Seven's Saturday morning TV Music Show Eclipse Music TV is filmed weekly at the precinct's shopping centre, Harbourside.
On 27 August 2010, the soap opera Neighbours
filmed scenes in the harbour and on board the cruise ship, Pacific Jewel.
American rock band Silverstein recorded a song entitled "Darling Harbour" on their Transitions EP.
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
. The locality extends northwards from Chinatown
Chinatown, Sydney
Sydney's Chinatown is an urban locality in the southern part of the Sydney central business district, in New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Haymarket, between Central Station and Darling Harbour...
, along both sides of Cockle Bay to King Street Wharf
King Street Wharf
King Street Wharf covering approximately five hectares, is a former maritime industrial area on the eastern shore of Darling Harbour, an inlet of Sydney Harbour, Australia, that has been redeveloped into a mixed use tourism, commercial, residential and maritime development as part of the extensive...
on the east, and to the suburb of Pyrmont
Pyrmont, New South Wales
Pyrmont is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pyrmont is located 2 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
on the west. Cockle Bay is just one of the waterways that makes up Darling Harbour, which opens north into the much larger Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
.
The precinct and its immediate surroundings are administered independently of the local government area of the City of Sydney
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
, by a New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
state government statutory authority, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
The Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority is a statutory authority set up by the Government of New South Wales in order to maintain the Port Jackson foreshore area. It maintains 4 km² of waterfront real estate in the foreshore area including Darling Harbour and The Rocks...
.
History
Ralph Darling
General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH was a British colonial Governor and Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831.-Early career:...
, who was Governor of New South Wales
Governors of New South Wales
The Governor of New South Wales is the state viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is equally shared with 15 other sovereign nations in a form of personal union, as well as with the eleven other jurisdictions of Australia, and resides predominantly in her...
from 1825 to 1831. It was originally part of the commercial port of Sydney, including the Darling Harbour Railway Goods Yard. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the eastern part of Darling Harbour (Barangaroo) became known as The Hungry Mile
The Hungry Mile
The Hungry Mile is the name harbourside workers gave to the docklands area of Darling Harbour East, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in the Great Depression...
, a reference to the waterside workers searching for jobs along the wharves.
Much of the land had been the site of the NSW Railways central marshalling yards and freight consolidation centre. The Enquiry into the NSW transport industry, including rail/road competition, (1978–80) under Commissioner Gavan McDonell
Gavan McDonell
Gavan McDonell is an Australian civil engineer, economist and political sociologist in the fields of national infrastructure policy reform, international development and academic education for advanced sustainability studies....
, found that this centre was inefficient, should be moved, and the land used for other public purposes. These recommendations were acted upon and by the mid-to-late 1980s, when the area had become largely derelict it was redeveloped as a pedestrian and tourist precinct as an initiative of then New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Minister for Public Works, Laurie Brereton
Laurie Brereton
Laurence John "Laurie" Brereton , Australianpolitician, was a state minister, a federal member of cabinet, and kingmaker in the election of several Australian Labor Party leaders, including Paul Keating and Mark Latham...
. The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, is located in Sydney's Darling Harbour near the Central Business District. The building is adjacent to Cockle Bay, Tumbalong Park and the Harbourside shopping centre....
at Darling Harbour was a venue of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games and a key meeting venue of APEC Australia 2007
APEC Australia 2007
APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007...
.
Attractions
The Darling Harbour precinct is home to a number of major public facilities and attractions, including:- Harbourside Shopping Centre which includes Kingpin Bowling Alley (The only bowling alley in Darling Harbour), M9 Laser Skirmish, as well as Australia's first retail Jet flight simulator.
- Sydney Entertainment CentreSydney Entertainment CentreThe Sydney Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose venue, located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished to make way for a new railway. The centre is currently owned by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which administers...
- Paddy's Markets
- Sydney's Chinese GardensChinese Garden of FriendshipThe Chinese Garden of Friendship is a Chinese garden in Darling Harbour and close to Chinatown in Sydney, Australia. Modeled on the typical private gardens of the Ming Dynasty, the garden offers an insight into Chinese heritage and culture.-History:...
- Tumbalong Park
- Sydney Convention and Exhibition CentreSydney Convention and Exhibition CentreThe Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, is located in Sydney's Darling Harbour near the Central Business District. The building is adjacent to Cockle Bay, Tumbalong Park and the Harbourside shopping centre....
- Australian National Maritime MuseumAustralian National Maritime MuseumThe Australian National Maritime Museum is a federally-operated maritime museum located in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After consideration of the idea to establish a maritime museum, the Federal government announced that a national maritime museum would be constructed at Darling Harbour, tied into...
(featuring museum shipMuseum shipA museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
s including HMAS VampireHMAS Vampire (D11)HMAS Vampire was the third of three Australian-built Daring class destroyers serving in the Royal Australian Navy . One of the first all-welded ships built in Australia, she was constructed at Cockatoo Island Dockyard between 1952 and 1959, and was commissioned into the RAN a day after...
) - The Star Casino and Entertainment Complex
- Powerhouse MuseumPowerhouse MuseumThe Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, the other being the historic Sydney Observatory...
- Sydney AquariumSydney AquariumSydney Aquarium is a public aquarium located in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the eastern side of Darling Harbour to the north of the Pyrmont Bridge...
- The LG IMAXIMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
theatre – the largest screen in the world - Sydney Wildlife WorldSydney Wildlife WorldWild Life Sydney is a wildlife park in the city of Sydney, Australia. Officially opened in September 2006, it is located on the city side of the Darling Harbour leisure and retail precinct, next to Sydney Aquarium....
- AboriginalIndigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
Centre - Sega World SydneySega World SydneySega World Sydney was an indoor high-tech amusement park that operated for almost four years, in Sydney, Australia. Opened in 1997, it was one of several SegaWorld amusement parks that were opened worldwide, designed and themed by gaming company SEGA...
(closed in 2000)
Transport
The Darling Harbour precinct is linked to the CBD by the Sydney MonorailSydney Monorail
The Metro Monorail is a single-loop Von Roll MkIII monorail in the city of Sydney, Australia, that connects Darling Harbour, Chinatown and the Sydney central business and shopping districts. There are eight stations on 3.6 km of track, with four trains operating simultaneously...
and light rail by several stations. A ferry wharf near Sydney Aquarium
Sydney Aquarium
Sydney Aquarium is a public aquarium located in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the eastern side of Darling Harbour to the north of the Pyrmont Bridge...
provides access to the Inner Harbour ferry services
Inner Harbour ferry services, Sydney
Inner Harbour ferry services connect suburbs on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour with Circular Quay by commuter ferry. The services are provided by Sydney Ferries Corporation, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. These routes are coloured light green, red, orange and lilac on the current...
, which runs services to Circular Quay and other suburbs.
Redevelopment
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
development. Plans for the 18-hectare site include half business and residential developments, while the other half to be reserved for open public space. The state government of NSW declared plans for "Globe Street", a street designed to become Australia's and Asia Pacific's centre for corporate trade (styled on New York's "Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
" district). The urban renewal development is not expected to be completed until 2020. East Darling Harbour will be known as Barangaroo
Barangaroo, New South Wales
Barangaroo is an inner-city area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district and the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge...
.
This area was the site of the Sydney Port Authority and currently features an Overseas Passenger Terminal (Wharf 8) which is mainly used by the Pacific Dawn of the P&O Australia
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...
fleet and MS Sun Princess
MS Sun Princess
Sun Princess is a Sun class cruise ship built in 1995 and operated by the Princess Cruises line. At the time of her construction, she was one of the largest cruise ships in the world...
which is operated by Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Santa Clarita, California in the United States. Previously a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises PLC, the company is now one of ten cruise ship brands operated by Carnival Corporation & PLC and accounts for approximately 19% share...
. It has previously been home port to the Pacific Sun (ship)
Pacific Sun (ship)
MS Pacific Sun is a Holiday class cruise ship operated by P&O Cruises Australia. At 47,000 tons, Pacific Sun is a medium-sized ship, accommodating up to 1,900 passengers. She was built in 1986 by Kockums Varv, Malmö, Sweden, for Carnival Cruise Lines as MS Jubilee, along with near-sister ship...
which is now based in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.
The area was temporarily used for several events during World Youth Day 2008
World Youth Day 2008
The 23rd World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was decided by Pope Benedict XVI, during the Cologne...
including the opening mass.
In pop culture
Darling Harbour is the location of the season residence on MTV's reality TV show, The Real World: SydneyThe Real World: Sydney
The Real World: Sydney is the nineteenth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships...
, which aired in late 2007. The house has a large "Darling Harbour" sign along its edge, and the World Tower high rise building can be seen behind it.
The film Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie was shot in Sydney, and featured some scenes filmed in Darling Harbor.
Seven's Saturday morning TV Music Show Eclipse Music TV is filmed weekly at the precinct's shopping centre, Harbourside.
On 27 August 2010, the soap opera Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
filmed scenes in the harbour and on board the cruise ship, Pacific Jewel.
American rock band Silverstein recorded a song entitled "Darling Harbour" on their Transitions EP.
External links
- History of Darling Harbour from official website.