Sydney, Australia

Belfield Village Master Plan

Sydney’s first 15-minute village framework.

In Sydney’s inner south-west, Belfield is a tightly held small village with a strong local identity. Meck Studio was engaged to guide the master planning process, leading a multidisciplinary consultant team to prepare a place-based master plan that supports modest growth while protecting village character. Through deep place analysis, community outreach, built form testing and modelling, and capacity building, the project establishes Sydney’s first adopted 15-minute village master plan.

Belfield’s Village Vibe

Belfield’s village character is defined by its human scale, fine-grain built form and strong local community. Burwood Road captures this most clearly, with its compact main street, inter-war shopfronts and close-knit rhythm of everyday activity. This village quality became a key organising principle for the master plan, ensuring change reinforces the existing scale, grain and social life that make Belfield feel distinctly local.

Community Engagement & Capacity Building

Community engagement was central to shaping the Belfield Master Plan, with local residents, businesses and stakeholders directly informing its direction. Workshops, walk-throughs and community voice panels ensured the plan was grounded in local knowledge, priorities and lived experience, building shared ownership of the village’s future.

Incremental Growth, not Wholesale uplift

The master plan promotes incremental growth rather than wholesale change. Through detailed built form testing undertaken alongside an economics consultant, a clear “sweet spot” for uplift was identified, with heights capped at 8 storeys to support viability while retaining the village scale and character. This is complemented by streetscape and public domain upgrades across the village core, strengthening walkability and linking Belfield into Sydney’s wider Green Grid network.

A new Village Square

Working with Aspect Studios and Arup, the master plan identified the partial closure of Downes Street at Burwood Road as a catalytic move to create a new Village Square for Belfield.

Located at the centre of the village, this space is positioned to become its civic heart, shifting the focus from movement to gathering and giving the community a clear, legible place to meet, linger and connect.

The proposed Village Square creates opportunities for outdoor dining, busking, events and everyday activation, supported by increased canopy planting and a more generous pedestrian environment. It transforms an underperforming piece of road infrastructure into a people-focused public space, reinforcing Belfield’s village identity and strengthening its role as a social and cultural hub.