The local council of Darwin has invested $5m to improve the infrastructure and amenities of the city's suburbs.

The investment will go to the council's Better Suburbs Projects program, which aims to upgrade streetscapes and community infrastructure in the local suburbs. This is part of the council's commitment to achieve a vision of a "City of Colour".

The project includes new exercise stations, lighting upgrades, and improvement of suburban shopping villages and sporting infrastructure.

The investment is on top of the $2.13m joint investment from the City of Darwin and the Northern Territory government last year as part of the COVID-19 stimulus package.

Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said the projects will help stimulate Darwin's economy as jobs are created for local contractors.

“Tenders have closed for one of the projects to demolish and deliver a new public toilet block and a fixed basketball court shade structure at Chrisp Street Oval, which will see more than $300,000 injected into the Darwin economy for that project alone,” Vatskalis said.

The council have identified key areas around the municipality that require an upgrade, new assets or equipment.

Overall, the Better Suburbs Projects program is expected to roll out 20 projects, with $750,000 allocated to each ward and another $2m for street beautification including works at Malak, Karama and Parap shopping villages.