Young Aussie says what everyone is thinking about new ‘dystopian’ suburbs being built across the country
A young Australian has listed why he feels ‘sick’ in new suburbs compared to older ones.
Matt Van Biljon, 19, compared the differences between the “nice” suburbs closer to Sydney’s CBD and the “dystopian sleepers” built in the city’s west.
The teen claimed that each house in the older suburbs was more unique than those in the newer ones.
‘Every house also looks very different. Many of these houses are actually heritage sites, meaning it is against the law to alter their exteriors,” he said in a TikTok.
“Here in the new suburbs we can immediately see that every house looks exactly the same.”
Mr Van Biljon pointed out that there is a distinct lack of plant life in the newer suburbs such as Quakers Hill, claiming that the only sign of greenery was the well-manicured lawns out front.
His main complaint was how close the houses were built next to each other and how the blocks resembled grids – an unusual layout in Sydney.
“This kind of city planning makes me a bit nauseous,” says Van Biljon.
Aussie TikTok star, Matt Van Biljon (pictured), has revealed that the compact, gridded layout of new housing developments in Sydney’s west makes him feel ‘sick’
Social media users have also been left frustrated by the ‘cookie-cutter’ style housing schemes, which are not limited to Sydney but are being used ‘across Australia’.
“It’s the lack of trees that bothers me, and there’s no room for decent sized trees to grow in the future,” one person wrote.
“Literally windows looking out onto windows, you could shake hands,” said a second.
“Give the streets 20 years and hopefully they will look lush, but the council needs to make sure they do the right street planting now,” wrote another.
A fourth said it ‘all feels so lifeless’.
Another said the lack of trees in suburbs with mostly black roofs meant there was little to no ‘shade or cooling effect’ and made summers ‘more dangerous’.
While the scarcity of vegetation has created ‘heat islands’ in the newly developed suburbs, residents told Daily Mail Australia they cannot afford to buy elsewhere.
A number noted that they would move closer to the city if they had the option, but skyrocketing housing costs forced them to the city’s outskirts and into cheaper, mass-produced homes.
He added that houses mass-produced in the same way left new suburbs with less character than suburbs closer to Sydney’s CBD (stock image)
Surya Durai, 34, is one of the residents of the new Box Hill development in Sydney’s northwest, 48km from the CBD.
Mr Durai took a break from his garden work on a 33 degree Celsius day to tell Daily Mail Australia that he and his young family have been in the area for six months, having bought a 330m² plot of land and had built on it.
When asked where he would rather live, he said “definitely not on this side of town.”
“If I can, I’ll try to get something closer to the city — maybe a unit, because unit prices are low,” he said.
Mr Durai, like many residents of Sydney’s suburbs, has had to compromise on long commutes, a lack of infrastructure and intense heat in exchange for more affordable housing.
Winds from the far west bring warm air to Sydney’s west in summer, without the relief of sea breezes in the city’s east.
Mr Durai said when the heat gets bad, he resorts to running the air conditioner 24 hours a day and staying on the ground floor of his house.
He has a solar panel which he said “kind of offsets” the high electricity costs.