As regional NSW braces for hotter summers and more frequent heatwaves, a quiet transformation is set to take root in town centres, suburban streets and public carparks far from the CBD.
A $10 million NSW Government investment will see around 24,000 trees planted not just across metropolitan areas but throughout regional cities and centres including the Illawarra-Shoalhaven, the Hunter Region and the Central Coast.
For communities that have long balanced rapid growth with rising temperatures, the program marks a shift in how infrastructure is defined. Shade, cooling and biodiversity are being treated as essential civic assets, not optional beautification.
Research shows shaded surfaces can be 11–25°C cooler than those exposed to direct sun. In practical terms, that can mean the difference between an empty, heat-blasted main street and one where people can comfortably walk, shop and gather.
While parts of Greater Sydney will benefit, the expanded fifth round of the Greening our City grants deliberately pushes investment into regional urban centres where heat can hit hardest and canopy cover is often lowest.
Greening regional town centres and corridors
Seven regional projects will share more than $2.4 million to plant over 12,000 trees and 13,000 square metres of biodiverse understorey planting.
In Cessnock, canopy will be lifted across five suburbs and townships, strengthening everyday green space in areas experiencing both population growth and intensifying summer heat.
Around Lake Macquarie, new plantings will target identified urban heat hotspots along key corridors, turning exposed routes into shaded connections between neighbourhoods.
Town centre carparks in the Shoalhaven area will be retrofitted with trees to cool high-traffic commercial zones where asphalt currently radiates heat long into the evening.
Meanwhile, Wollongong will adopt a data-informed approach, combining street trees, understorey planting and compact “tiny forests” to rapidly boost local biodiversity while lowering ambient temperatures.
These are practical, place-specific responses. Instead of large signature parks, the focus is on the everyday spaces people move through: shopping strips, commuter parking, footpaths between homes and schools.
Climate resilience as regional infrastructure
Three quarters of all plantings statewide will occur in areas that currently have only 10–20% canopy cover. That targeted approach recognises that heat exposure is uneven, often concentrated in lower-canopy, lower-income or fast-growing fringe suburbs.
For regional NSW, where new housing estates and expanded industrial areas can quickly outpace mature landscaping, early canopy establishment is critical. Trees planted today will define how liveable these places feel in 10, 20 or 50 years.
Across the broader program, 28 projects will also deliver 47,000 square metres of understorey vegetation, restoring habitat layers that support birds, insects and native pollinators while improving soil health and water retention.
Since its launch, the Greening our City initiative has directed $35.1 million into 131 projects, steadily building a distributed urban forest that stretches from coastal centres to inland growth corridors.
Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully described the latest round as an investment in “cooler, greener and more enjoyable places to live, work and travel”, noting the tree count exceeds that of New York’s Central Park.
But for regional communities, the impact is measured less in comparisons and more in daily experience: shade across a netball court, relief along a walk to the station, a cooler main street during a 40-degree afternoon.
For organisations focused on regional liveability and economic resilience, including those working across NSW’s diverse growth centres, the message is clear. Greening is no longer peripheral to development; it is a foundation of it.
In the face of rising heat, the most effective technology may still be the simplest: planting a tree.
