Remaking of Central Sydney: Evidence from Floor Space and Employment Surveys in 1991–2006

Abstract

The global city discourse and the neoliberal urbanism in the literature on transformative central cities in contemporary globalization provide partial explanation and present theoretical limitations. This study makes a theoretical ‘cross-fertilization’ of globalism and neoliberalism to construct an integrative analytical framework, and applies it to Central Sydney. Using the data from a series of floor space and employment surveys in 1991–2006, this study systematically examines the functional changes in Central Sydney from the lenses of industry divisions and space use divisions. The empirical findings reveal new insights into a trend of strengthening capacity of the knowledge services and the experience services, and increasing living and amenity spaces in Central Sydney; applying the integrative analytical framework sheds light on the functional changes in association with the exogenous factor of Sydney's emergence as a global city and the endogenous factor of neoliberal strategies and planning.

Acknowledgements

The City of Sydney Council carried out surveys on floor space and employment in Central Sydney for many years. Without the valuable data, this research could not have been possible. In particular, I wish to thank the following staff for their great support: Phillip Raskall, Steven Hillier, and Cathy Hoven. The three anonymous reviewers provided useful comments. The author is responsible for any errors.

Notes

1. Other approaches to the transformations of Central Sydney include: on the challenges to the multi-scalar urban governance presented by the imperatives of sustainability and the need for a metropolis-wide authority (Acuto 2011); on the undertaking of urban design initiatives towards the promotion of a global image and the enhancement of living and amenity spaces characterized by a neoliberal planning regime and commercial culture (McNeill 2011; Punter 2005); on the planning and development of global entertainment, activities, and cultural facilities (Gibson and Freestone 2002; Searle 1998b; Searle and Bounds 1999); on the socio-cultural changes with increasing younger populations and accompanying urban lifestyles and cultural imaginaries (Shaw 2006; Vipond, Castle, and Cardew 1998).

2. The City of Sydney LGA was amalgamated with the South Sydney LGA in 2004. As a result, the current City of Sydney LGA (as of 2011) is much larger than its boundary in 2001, incorporating both the central city area as well as the original LGA of South Sydney.

3. The figures of internal floor space per employee measured by space use divisions (36 m² in 1991 and 31 m² in 2006) are lower than those measured by industry divisions (40 m² in 1991 and 36 m² in 2006). This inconsistency occurs because the measurement of industry divisions excludes the category of ‘private households’ and ‘other’, which respectively have considerable amount of internal floor space and some employments, while the measurement of space use divisions accounts for internal floor space and employment of all categories.

4. One important aspect of urban politics in Central Sydney has been the power conflicts between the state government and the city council. The culmination of the recent conflicts was the dismissal of the city council by the state government in September 1987. Commissioners were appointed by the state government to replace the elected city council. This was the fourth time in the history of the City of Sydney that the council was dissolved. Previously the city council had been dissolved in 1853, 1928–30, and 1967–69.

5. The Living City concept was initiated by the Lord Mayor Frank Sartor in 1994. The booklet Living City: Sydney City's Council's Blueprint announced the civic aspiration for a vibrant city of world standing that will be prosperous in the long term and pursuit for a global Sydney. The overall objective of the Living City programme was to draw people back in the central city area, especially after office hours, by enhancing the public spaces and promoting mixed uses of commercial, residential, and tourism.

6. The City West programme was proposed by the NSW state government in the Central Sydney Strategy 1988 and later implemented to expand the CBD which was in a north-south linear spine westward across Darling Harbour to include the industrial districts of Ultimo-Pyrmont. In the 1990s, these traditionally industrial districts were gradually redeveloped and gentrified.