North Rocks Road will be closed (in both directions) from 8pm Friday 5 December to 5am Monday 8 December 2025.
Future Village received funding from the NSW Government to partner with City of Parramatta to run a trial to make our places more comfortable on hot days through natural cooling. Round 1 was completed in summer 2024 and round 2 is happening now in summer 2025.
We are testing the idea that planter boxes with trees, grass and native plants, can simulate the cooling impacts of a planted garden in spaces where a permanent park isn’t possible. The planter boxes also allow us to move the gardens around, changing the space to allow for events to happen or to test different layouts. Parramatta and Centenary Squares were selected for the trials because they are spaces that are loved and well by our community, but the public domain has a lot of paved spaces that get very hot in summer!
Sensors are placed in and above the planter boxes to test whether they are making a difference to the temperature. We also asked community members, and they said that they loved seeing the greenery and wanted to see more.
You can let us know what you think about this trial by completing the form.
Results from a smaller, round 1 trial showed a huge difference between the temperature of the tiles and the temperature of the planter boxes. This thermal camera image shows the impact the planter boxes can make. We want to know what kind of an impact a bigger number of planters can create! Community members in round 1 said that they loved seeing the greenery and wanted to see more. The average rating was 4.55/5. Everyone agreed that the planters improved the look and feel of the space and a majority agreed that they cooled the place down.
All participants also said that they wanted to see more trials like this in their local area. For any further feedback about Council’s smart city work, please contact the Smart & Innovation team at innovation@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au