Global data, local impacts: What does the data centre boom mean for cities and regions?

Global data, local impacts: What does the data centre boom mean for cities and regions?

Date: Tuesday, 08 September 2026

Time: 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Nelson Meers Foundation Auditorium, Chau Chak Wing Museum

Sydney has emerged as a hot spot in the global data centre boom, with dozens of massive hyperscale data centres currently in construction and development. What’s driving this growth, and how is it reshaping our city? Rapid data centre growth has been met with growing community concern, mobilisation, and even calls for moratoriums on new construction. This will be a dynamic discussion to unpack the economic, environmental, political and spatial implications of data centre growth, and to discuss and debate the principles that should underpin their regulation. Speakers will explore diverse perspectives and experiences, and discuss policies that could ensure that data centre developments do not compromise other urgent priorities including social amenity, emissions reduction and sustainable growth.

Speakers

Professor Kurt Iveson,  Professor of Urban Geography, USYD

Dr Bronwyn Cumbo, Lecturer Sustainable and Inclusive Futures, UTS

Dr Anne Hurni, Research and Policy Lead, National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA)

Associate Professor Craig Jin, Head of CARlab- Computing and Audio Research Laboratory, USYD

Eve Altman, Clean Energy Campaigner, Nature Conservation Council

Chaired by

Dr Sandy Burgoyne, Lecturer, USYD

Sydney Festival 7-11 September 

National events September – October 2026

Translocality describes the interconnectedness between different places and people, beyond national boundaries. The circulation of people, goods, knowledge and capital, though an ancient process, is facilitated and impacted by new technologies, bringing new opportunities and challenges for cities and regions. Increasingly important, a translocal lens highlights these deep and intersecting relationships between people and places over time – from the legacies of colonisation and environmental change to contemporary patterns of migration and cultural diversity. Through panel discussions, debates, exhibitions, and tours, and featuring thought leaders from academia, the arts, industry, and civil society, the 2026 Festival of translocal Urbanism examines and celebrates the complex social, economic and environmental connections between local and global communities.