Authors: Snehal Sonaware
Over the last few years, NSW Government has been proactive in addressing housing affordability and accessibility with introduction of the Transport Oriented Development program. The primary objective of this program is to concentrate new housing around Sydney’s upcoming metro and the established rail system. The program aims to leverage on the transport system to provide more homes for people to live close to jobs, amenities, nightlife and essential services. Through the lens of Place Score’s 2025 Liveability Census results, this article explores the potential impact of Transport Oriented Development objectives on neighbourhood liveability.
In December 2023, the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) introduced the Transport Oriented Development (TOD) program to address housing needs near 39 transport hubs. Central to this initiative was the designation of eight Accelerated TOD precincts, planned to support infrastructure and deliver around 60,000 new homes over the next 15 years. Following this announcement, seven out of eight Tier One Accelerated TOD precincts were successfully rezoned in 2024, these include Bankstown, Bella Vista, Crows Nest, Homebush, Hornsby, Kellyville, and Macquarie Park. The final precinct, Bays West, is scheduled to go on public exhibition in 2025.
What is a TOD?
A TOD area is generally identified as mixed-use development within 400m of a major transport infrastructure that provides for a vibrant, well connected and walkable neighbourhood.
Aside from increasing the number of dwellings to address housing supply, DPHI TODs will aim to improve liveability by:
- Delivering a range of open space infrastructure through new and upgraded parks
- Providing easy access to amenities
- Improving social infrastructure such libraries, community centres, cultural and creative facilities
- Providing greener streets for walking and cycling
- Helping councils to develop Special Entertainment Precincts for improved night life
- Improving connectivity to jobs
- Creating a vibrant neighbourhood
The 2025 Australian Liveability Census
Place Score runs the Australian Liveability Census every two years (2021, 2023, 2025 etc). Our objective is to obtain proportional participation across metro and regional areas, states and territories, age and gender. In 2025, 27,229 People participated, with Place Score collecting 74,191 responses from urban, regional, and rural Australia.
Each of the participants are asked three questions; what is most important to you in your ideal neighbourhood (Care Factor) , how do you rate each of 50 liveability metrics in terms of how they impact you in the place you live (Place Experience) , and lastly what you would change to make your neighbourhood better.
This paper utilises the Place Experience data (PX). Residents rated their place experience for 50 liveability metrics contributing to an overall score out of 100.
Are areas close to public transport more liveable?
A key assumption of TOD theory is that building more housing closer to transport and amenity will lead to improved liveability for residents. This article tests this assumption by utilising the results of the 2025 Australian Liveability Census.
To investigate this, we looked at two communities:
- Station Residents, residents living close to the train station (NSW residents living in high density suburbs) and travel to work by public transport.
- Suburb Residents, residents living further away from the train station (NSW residents that lives in a low density suburb) and travel to work in a car.
To understand which of these residents consider their neighbourhood more liveable, their overall liveability score has been considered.
Station residents scored liveability of their local neighbourhood PX69 out of 100, 3% higher than the national average of PX66.
Suburb residents scored liveability of their neighbourhood PX64, 5% lower than station residents and 2% lower than the national average.
To further investigate if the overall score was impacted by TOD objectives stated above, the metrics that were most aligned with the TOD objectives were identified.
Following are the scores of these metrics rated by Station and Suburb residents:
| TOD Objective | Liveability Metrics | Tallawong | Hornsby | North Sydney |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Delivering open space infrastructure | Amount of public spaces | 6.7 | 7.8 | 7.8 |
| 1. Delivering open space infrastructure | Quality of open spaces | 6.8 | 7.3 | 7.8 |
| 2. Providing easy access to amenities | Access to neighbourhood amenity | 7.6 | 7.6 | 8.6 |
| 3. Improving social infrastructure | Access to shared community and commercial assets | 6.2 | 6.9 | 7.5 |
| 4. Providing greener streets for walking and cycling | Walking/jogging/bike paths that connect housing to communal amenity | 6.9 | 7.2 | 7.7 |
| 4. Providing greener streets for walking and cycling | Access and safety of walking, cycling and/or public transport | 6.7 | 7.1 | 7.8 |
| 5. Helping councils to develop Special Entertainment Precincts for improved night life | Things to do in the evening | 4.7 | 4.3 | 7 |
| 5. Helping councils to develop Special Entertainment Precincts for improved night life | Cultural and/or artistic community | 4.9 | 5.7 | 6.2 |
| 6. Improving connectivity to jobs | Connectivity | 8.0 | 7.4 | 8.8 |
| 7. Creating a vibrant neighbourhood | Sense of character or identity that is different from other neighbourhoods | 6.2 | 6.8 | 7.2 |
| Total average | 6.4 | 6.8 | 7.6 |
The research reveals that not all areas with strong public transport are performing at the same level. More established areas like North Sydney is performing higher for all metrics. High density, well established neighbourhoods that have good quality open space, access to amenities and stronger community cohesion with a sense of identity are more liveable than the newly developed areas that lack these neighbourhood qualities. Hence although it is seen that living close to public transport has some positive impacts, it alone does not improve the overall liveability of the area.
Comparing the data for Tallawong and Suburb Residents, the performance of these two areas against the TOD objectives is similar. This strengthens the argument that not all areas with public transport are more liveable.
To conclude, although public transport is essential for a thriving neighbourhood, it is not a primary metric for liveability. TOD strategies should consider building community belonging, local economy and quality open space infrastructure that will lead to well established neighbourhoods with density done right.
To explore more insights from our 2025 Australian Liveability Census:
