2019-04-10 Sydney CBD view from Pyrmont at sunset

Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

. Originally named Long Cove, the locality extends northwards from

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

, along both sides of Cockle Bay to

King Street Wharf King Street Wharf is a mixed-use tourism, commercial, residential, retail and maritime development on the eastern shore of Darling Harbour, an inlet of Sydney Harbour, Australia. Located on the western side of the city's central business dis ...

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 Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

. The precinct and its immediate surroundings are administered independently of the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

of the

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, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

, by Property NSW.

History

Darling Harbour is named after Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling, who was

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

from 1825 to 1831. The area was originally known as Long Cove, but was generally referred to as Cockle Bay until 1826 when Governor Darling renamed it after himself. The name Cockle Bay has recently been restored in reference to the headwaters of the harbour. It was originally part of the commercial port of Sydney, including the Darling Harbour Railway Goods Yard. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the eastern part of Darling Harbour (''Barangaroo'') became known as

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. Workers would walk from wharf to wharf in search of a job, often failing to find o ...

, a reference to the waterside workers searching for jobs along the wharves. Pyrmont-darling-harbour-western-distributor-construction-early-eighties

Pyrmont-darling-harbour-western-distributor-construction-early-eighties

Much of the land had been the site of the NSW Railways central marshalling yards and freight consolidation centre. The Enquiry into the NSW 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 Laurence John "Laurie" Brereton (born 29 May 1946) is a former Australian politician who 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 ...

. The Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour was a venue of the

2000 Summer Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and a key meeting venue of

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. Various meetings were held across Australia from January to August 2007, with the ev ...

On 26 January 1994,

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

then Prince of Wales, was giving a speech during the Australia Day celebrations. David Kang ran at the Prince whilst firing two blanks before falling onto the ground and being promptly held and arrested. The Prince was unhurt and was ushered off the podium.

Heritage listings

Darling Harbour has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Harbour Promenade:

Darling Harbour Woodward Water Feature The Darling Harbour Woodward Water Feature (officially named Tidal Cascade), is a heritage-listed water fountain located at Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia. It was designed by Robert Woodward and built by Melocco Pty Ltd opening in 1988 as ...

Attractions

The Darling Harbour precinct is home to a number of major public facilities and attractions, including: Cockle Bay Wharf, Sydney IMG 5348 - panoramio (cropped)

Cockle Bay Wharf, Sydney IMG 5348 - panoramio (cropped)

Harbourside Shopping Centre Harbourside was a shopping centre in Darling Harbour, Sydney. Built in 1988 as part of a larger urban redevelopment of the Darling Harbour area during the 1980s, it was located in close proximity to other notable buildings such as the Sydney Conv ...

, 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; all closed for redevelopment as of fall 2022. * Cockle Bay Wharf (restaurants, bars and Home nightclub - one of Australia's largest nightclubs) *IMAX theater (reopening in the Ribbon development in 2021) The Ribbon February 2022

Paddy's Markets Paddy's Markets is a commercial enterprise that has two large markets in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Paddy's Markets are located in Haymarket and Flemington and specialise in the sale of fruit, vegetables, fish, clothes and giftware. B ...

* Chinese Garden of Friendship *

Tumbalong Park Tumbalong Park is a park in Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia. The park was designed using native Australian foliage decorated with fountains as an urban stream. The name "Tumbalong" is from Dharug as spoken by the Eora people and means "pla ...

* Darling Quarter Playground and cafes *

Australian National Maritime Museum The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a Australian government, federally operated maritime museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After considering the idea of establishing a maritime museum, the federal government announced that a nation ...

(featuring

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

s including HMAS Vampire) * The Star Casino & Entertainment Complex * The Darling Hotel & Spa *

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...

Sydney Aquarium SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium (formerly Sydney Aquarium) is a public aquarium A public aquarium (plural: ''public aquaria'' or ''public Water Zoo'') is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens fo ...

Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...

Sydney Wildlife World Wild Life Sydney Zoo (formerly Sydney Wildlife World) is a wildlife park in the Darling Harbour precinct, on the western edge of the Sydney central business district, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in September 2006, the zoo is loc ...

* Aboriginal Centre *

International Convention Centre Sydney The International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) is an exhibition and convention centre which opened in December 2016, in Sydney, Australia. ICC Sydney is Australia's second largest fully integrated convention, exhibition and entertain ...

(ICC Sydney), opened in December 2016.

Transport

Darling Harbour is accessible via various modes of public transport. The precinct is served by the

Inner West Light Rail The Inner West Light Rail is a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, running from Central railway station through the Inner West to Dulwich Hill and serving 23 stops. It is the original line of the Sydney light rail network ...

of Sydney's light rail network, with access via Paddy's Markets, Convention, Exhibition and Pyrmont Bay stations. Ferry wharves including

Barangaroo Barangaroo was the second wife of Bennelong, who was interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonists in New South Wales. Barangaroo was a member of the Cammeraygal clan. While Bennelong spent considerable time in th ...

and Pyrmont Bay provide access to the

Pyrmont Bay ferry services The Pyrmont Bay ferry service, officially known as F4 Pyrmont Bay, is a commuter ferry service in Sydney, New South Wales. Part of the Sydney Ferries network, it is operated by Transdev Sydney Ferries and services the Lavender Bay and Darli ...

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the Syd ...

and other suburbs while the Barangaroo wharf also provides access to the

Parramatta River ferry services Parramatta River ferry services connect suburbs along the Parramatta River in Sydney with Circular Quay by commuter ferry. The services are numbered F3 and form part of the Sydney Ferries network. History Regular ferry services between Sydney an ...

is accessible by private boat charters.

The Goods Line The Goods Line is an linear park and shared pedestrian pathway and cycleway in the suburb of Ultimo, in the City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The corridor connects Railway Square to Darling Harbour in the south and passes both the Un ...

is a park and pedestrian pathway connecting Darling Harbour to

Railway Square Railway Square is a plaza at the southern end of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia, formed by the confluence of Broadway, Sydney, Broadway, Lee Street, Pitt Street and George Street, Sydney, George Street. The squa ...

and

Central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

. The nearest train station is

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

Proposed Metro station

Darling Harbour will be served by Pyrmont as a future rapid transit station that will be built as part of the

Sydney Metro West Sydney Metro West is a rapid transit project under construction in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, involving the construction of a rail line linking the Sydney City Centre (CBD) with Westmead in the outer western suburbs of Greater Sydney ...

project.

Redevelopment

East Darling Harbour is part of a massive

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

development. Plans for the 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 is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

district). The urban renewal development is not expected to be completed until 2020. East Darling Harbour will be known as

The Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre site was replaced by the new

(ICC Sydney), opened in December 2016. The new site includes a exhibition facility, and was developed by a consortium comprising AEG Ogden, Lend Lease, Capella Capital and Spotless Facilities Services, with AEG Ogden playing the role of venue operator. Other new facilities within the Darling Harbour region include the recently opened ICC Theatre, an 8,000 seat mixed purpose venue for concerts and intimate shows, replacing the

Sydney Entertainment Centre Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena) was a multi-purpose arena located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished in 1970 to make way for the E ...

, a gallery, and an upcoming new 25 story multi purpose venue called The Ribbon which will be replacing the IMAX Theatre which closed and was demolished in late 2016, will also include a newer, and updated IMAX theatre. This area was the site of the Sydney Port Authority and featured an Overseas Passenger Terminal (Wharf 8) which was mainly used by the ''

Pacific Dawn ''Ambience'' is a cruise ship operated by Ambassador Cruise Line. The vessel was delivered to Princess Cruises in 1991 by the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy as ''Regal Princess'', sailing on their North American routes. After 2000 she ...

'' of the P&O Australia fleet and the ''

Sun Princess Sun Princess may refer to: * ''Sun Princess'' (ship), various ships * Sun Princess (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse * Sun Princess, the title given to the second place winner of the Sun and Salsa Festival pageant See also * Princess Sun, ...

'', operated by

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, California. As of 2021, it is the List of cruise lines# ...

. The passenger terminal is now in White Bay and the container terminal has also closed.

In popular culture

Darling harbour from national maratime museum

Darling Harbour is the location of the season residence on MTV's reality TV show, '' The Real World: Sydney'', 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.

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

's 1995 film '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie'' was shot in Sydney, and featured some scenes filmed in Darling Harbour. 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'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' filmed scenes in the harbour and on board the cruise ship,

Pacific Jewel ''Pacific Jewel'' was a cruise ship. Originally debuting in 1990, Pacific Jewel has operated for numerous cruise lines throughout her history. She debuted as ''Crown Princess'' for Princess Cruises in 1990 before being transferred to A'Rosa Cru ...

. Canadian

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band Silverstein recorded a song entitled "Darling Harbour" on their Transitions EP.

References

External links

* *

CC-By-SA A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright license A public license or public copyright licenses is a license by which a copyright holder as licensor can grant additional copyright permissions to any and all pers ...

] {{Sydney landmarks Darling Harbour, Geography of Sydney IMAX venues Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in Australia Sydney localities Tourist attractions in Sydney