2008–2010 In late 2008, the State Government acquired a 10.25ha parcel of land owned by Gerard Industries (known as the Clipsal site). In early 2010, the government acquired the adjoining 5.9ha site owned by Origin Energy (known as the Brompton Gasworks site). Both sites are located within the
City of Charles Sturt and are directly adjacent to the Adelaide parklands. The aim is to transform the combined sites into an inner-city, higher intensity, mixed use urban village. The final vision developed collaboratively with the community and stakeholders states: “Bowden Urban Village is a creative and diverse community, living and working in a high density sustainable urban environment. Its character, parklands connections and integrated urban design will offer a new and distinctive place in Adelaide for residents and visitors.” The South Australian Government anticipates that the site will be used to develop more than 2,400 residential apartments and terrace homes, in addition to retail outlets and commercial offices around a town centre. Bowden is served by
Bowden railway station,
North Adelaide railway station, buses on Hawker Street and Port Road, and the tram from the nearby
Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Port Road, Hindmarsh.
2011–2015 In April 2011, the plans for the development were approved and an information and sales centre opened in March 2012. Following demolition, site cleanup, surveying, planning and approval, remediation and development are underway. Bowden’s first pedestrian and
bicycle-friendly streets — Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and part of Gibson Streets — opened to the public in May 2013. In 2014, the restaurant '''Jarmer's Kitchen''' opened, and the Bowden development's first residents moved in. In 2015, His Royal Highness Prince
Charles, Prince of Wales officially launched the construction of Australia's first 6 Star
Green Star residential project, the '''Prince's Terraces Adelaide''' which is predicted to use 50% less energy and 50% less potable water than a typical urban townhouse, with a carbon footprint also reduced by more than 40% when compared to a standard house.
2016-2017 The community celebrated the completion of a major upgrade to the
Adelaide Park Lands across the road from Bowden in February 2016 where the
Park Terrace Community Garden currently resides. The Bowden development achieved its sustainability milestone with a 6 Star
Green Star - Communities rating in October 2016, and hosted its biggest celebration ever to mark the opening of Bowden Town Square consisting of
Bowden Park, the
Plant 4 Bowden retail hub, and
Plant 3 community hub. ==References and notes==