The University of Western Sydney has plans for a major presence in Liverpool, unveiling its first campus in the city centre on Monday.

Vice-chancellor Barney Glover said the proposed Liverpool Higher Education Centre was a "very strong starting point" for opening an expanded presence in the suburb.

"I would like to think that we will have a very substantial presence in Liverpool in 10 to 15 years. I think we would be looking at several thousand metres of space and a major campus here," he said.

"A university needs to be here and we need to build a presence in Liverpool."

The centre will house up to 150 postgraduate students, staff and partners and is expected to open in July next year.

While a location for the centre has not been finalised nor the courses it will offer determined, the university hopes it will play a pivotal role in the development of "western Sydney's aerotropolis".

It will house the university's Centre for Western Sydney and a business support centre aimed at fuelling growth in high value knowledge-industry jobs in western Sydney.

Premier Mike Baird, who announced the expansion, said it was a "smart move" for UWS to establish a presence in Liverpool.

Nearly 40 per cent of Liverpool's population is younger than 25 and the population of the south-western Sydney region is growing at a rate almost twice the NSW average. The city's population is expected to exceed 325,000 by 2036.

The university already has several campuses across western Sydney and is constructing a $220.5 million tower as part of the Parramatta Square urban renewal project.

Mr Glover said the university was targeting growth areas in Sydney's west, such as Penrith and Parramatta.

"Along with providing access to the highest quality education opportunities for people of Liverpool, the centre will be a pivotal contributor, along with government and industry, to the shaping of the western Sydney aerotropolis."

The announcement coincides with Liverpool Council's major revitalisation of its city centre and rebranding of itself as the "Airport City" due to the planned Badgerys Creek airport.

Its newly-formed Committee for Liverpool, a 30-member advisory board, met with Mr Baird on Monday to discuss strategies for the future development of the region.

Mr Baird sad the committee had agreed on the need to create a detailed masterplan for Liverpool.

"We're on the cusp of a significant opportunity and there are many moving parts ... we have a chance to get this right," he said.

"That master planning process is under way as of today and we are ensuring we are delivering the best possible outcome for western Sydney."

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun said that during the next 10 years no other Australian city will gain as much infrastructure as Liverpool and it was ready to become Sydney's third great city.

"Liverpool's time has now come," he said.

"We are very strongly positioning ourselves to become Sydney's third major city," Cr Mannoun told the Herald last week.

"We want to be known as the city that builds things and is home to all the related industries that build things - engineering, constructing, consulting, planning. We want to become the city of urban design."