Planned
Works are expected to start in August 2025.
August 2025
Ground works begin
Mid 2026
Ground works completed
Mid 2026
Lighting works begin
Early 2027
All works completed
Why we’re doing this
More than 1,150 people shared their ideas to help shape a community vision for Haymarket in 2022.
We invited feedback on our proposed Haymarket and Chinatown revitalisation strategy and Haymarket public domain plan in 2023. The strategy and plan were developed from the community vision. Updating Dixon Street was identified as a key project for revitalising Haymarket.
What we’re doing
Dixon Street is at the heart of Chinatown and is highly valued, especially for multiple generations of the Chinese community who have many memories of the area. Our planned improvements reflect what communities told us through consultation and balance a respect for the past with contemporary cultural expression.
The first stage of the Dixon Street upgrade was completed in June 2025 with restoration of the Chinatown Ceremonial Gates. The gates were realised in 1980 by the Dixon Street Chinese Committee with the City of Sydney and were designed by the Hon Henry Tsang. Restoration works included new tiles, ornate decorative panels and a pair of newly carved stone guardian lions. At the unveiling, 6 original members of the committee were present to witness the revitalisation of this cultural landmark.
King Fong, an original member of the Dixon Street Chinese Committee, with photos of the 1980 opening of the Chinatown Ceremonial Gates, and Dixon Street before it was pedestrianised.
Image: Damian Shaw / City of SydneyThe next stage of the revitalisation is an upgrade to the public spaces, in collaboration with Aspect Studios and local communities.
Creation with local communities has been central to the design process. Community feedback has guided the designs for comfortable furniture that uses warm materials and goes beyond accessibility standards, creative lighting that respects tradition, clear pathways that improve walking in the area and movement during markets and festivals, a balance of trees that invites more sunlight and opens to the sky, and enhancing electrical and event services.
The local community has also been involved in selecting and translating the cultural motifs inspired by Chinatown’s historic street signs. Part of the upgrade involves re-casting the blessings over Dixon Street as Chinese symbols, which appear as bronze medallions embedded in the paving, calligraphic illustrations in the feature lanterns and shadow-play perforations in the furniture.
Revitalisation plans include Dixon Street north, which runs between Goulburn and Liverpool streets, an area not owned by the City of Sydney. We’ll upgrade Dixon Street south and continue to support the NSW Government to review any need for improvements in the northern section.
Artist’s impression of Dixon Street upgraded.
Image: Aspect Studios / City of SydneyProject timeline
- August 2025: Construction of ground works begins
- Mid 2026: Ground works completed, paused during Sydney Lunar Festival
- Mid 2026: Construction of creative lighting begins
- Early 2027: All works completed before Sydney Lunar Festival
