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News
Reimagining
downtown
Cairns:
Urban
Regeneration
Framework
Charts
Path
for
Housing,
Liveability
and
Climate
Resilience
June 11, 2025
Cairns Regional Council has endorsed a bold new framework to guide the transformation of central Cairns into a more connected, climate-resilient and community-focused city centre.

Reimagining downtown Cairns: Urban Regeneration Framework Charts Path for Housing, Liveability and Climate Resilience

 

Cairns, Australia – Funded through the Australian Government’s Housing Support Program, the Cairns City Precincts Urban Regeneration Project sets out a design-led regeneration framework and roadmap to help Cairns accommodate projected population growth while improving liveability, housing diversity and public space outcomes.

 

The project delivers detailed precinct masterplans for three key city areas: CBD South, the Health Precinct, and the Major Events Precinct. It also provides an integrated strategy to connect, activate, green, and cool these precincts. An implementation roadmap supports future decisions on infrastructure, planning, and investment.

 

SMEC was engaged alongside design partner Pilot Places to deliver a concept design report, developed through an iterative process of comprehensive consultation with industry stakeholders and the community. Traditional Owners, local businesses, and community groups played a central role in shaping the outcomes, with on-Country engagement and co-design sessions embedded throughout the process.

Location

Cairns, Australia

Media Release
Download here
Together, we’ve delivered an integrated plan that tackles complex challenges like flooding, housing supply and housing diversity while enhancing what makes Cairns special. The outcome is a shared vision for a more connected, climate responsive and liveable city that genuinely reflects its people and place.
— Désirée Houston Jones, Project Director, SMEC

A key focus of the project has been the delivery of “Cool Green” connectors: shaded, tree-lined walking and cycling corridors that link major destinations while also functioning as blue-green infrastructure. These connectors aim to reduce heat, increase greenspace, manage stormwater, and support active transport across the inner city.

The framework also introduces a more flexible approach to housing, moving beyond traditional detached or apartment models to enable diverse infill typologies such as duplexes, triplexes, and low-rise apartments, supported by planning levers tested for feasibility in the current market.

This project shows how regional cities can lead the way in climate-conscious regeneration. We’ve combined tropical design principles with deep community engagement to shape places that are both resilient and distinctly local.
— Caroline Stalker, Principal, Pilot Projects

The final roadmap, adopted by Council in May, will guide implementation of the Cairns City Plan and underpin future funding applications for infrastructure and public realm investment. It provides a platform to deliver a significant contribution to the 33,000 additional homes the city needs by 2050 without pushing growth onto the urban fringe.

A new benchmark for precinct planning with housing ‘front of mind’, the project shows how design-led thinking can deliver resilient, practical outcomes at scale.

Additional information
Download media release here Project website - haveyoursay Download CCPURP Design - Final Report here

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