The structure of Sydney - its beaches, harbour, mountains, transport system and distinctive communities-presents special challenges for planning. There is a need to understand the history of the city and how it has evolved to be able to imagine how it might and should develop in the future.
The Greater Metropolitan Region occupies most of the Cumberland Basin bounded by the Pacific Ocean, and the extensive national parks of mountains and bushland to the north, south and west. These physical elements present a natural barrier to endless outward expansion.
Aboriginal people have continuously occupied the Sydney area for over 20,000 years (at least 1,000 generations). The traditional owners of the wider Sydney region belong to several major language groups including Dharug, Dharawal/Tharawal, Gundungurra and Gurringgai. They developed the knowledge and skills to harness the resources provided by the rivers and surrounding lands while maintaining the natural vegetation and wildlife. Middens and campsites were usually located close to the many river foreshores, nearby to food and clean water. Many of Sydney City's main thoroughfares, such as George Street, Oxford Street and King Street Newtown followed Aboriginal tracks which served as trading routes between farmed grasslands or bountiful fishing areas.
If the first fleet had settled at Parramatta rather than Circular Quay, Sydney would be a more typical global city, such as London and Paris, with the CBD in the middle of the urban area on relatively flat ground next to a river that could be bridged easily. These other global cities grew from trading hubs and their transport systems radiated out like spokes on a wheel, with high density residential areas forming around train and tram lines.
Sydney, however, grew from a town perched on the harbour at the eastern edge of the Sydney basin, then spread quickly to the more fertile areas south and west along the rivers, across the flatter lands to the west, and eventually north across the harbour.
Early in the 19th century, the population of the agricultural settlements of Parramatta, Windsor, Liverpool, Richmond and Pitt Town exceeded that of the main settlement around Sydney Cove. Development continued on the flatter, more fertile terrain on the south side of the harbour which also allowed easier road construction.
By the middle of the 19th century, 'Sydney' extended to the municipalities of Glebe, Randwick, Waverley, Woollahra, and Marrickville, Newtown, Paddington and Balmain and had a population of 100,000, which was still only approximately a quarter of the State population. These suburbs were linked to the city centre by the emerging tram network.
The transport of bulk materials by water meant large industrial areas were established on peninsulas to the west of the city. The extensive tram and rail network that was developed encouraged the rapid expansion of the city in the latter part of the century.
Up until the 1950s, the pattern of the city continued to be dominated by access to the rail and tram network. Urban expansion in linear corridors along major transport routes, principally the rail network, was encouraged. Nevertheless, the 1970s brought an increasing reliance on the private car that changed Sydney, with new lower density suburbs distant from the fixed public transport networks. Buses replaced trams in the early 1960s and the city grew to almost 70km wide east to west and 60km north to south.
FIGURE 11 SYDNEY'S URBAN GROWTH HISTORY
The areas north to the northern beaches, Pittwater and the lower reaches of the Hawkesbury River, and south to Botany Bay, the Georges River and Port Hacking developed during the 20th century as the suburban hinterland in unique environmental settings.
The 1949 Cumberland Plan marked these areas out and identified a 'green belt' to moderate additional urban expansion to the west. By the end of the 20th century these eastern, northern and southern areas were mature, but subject to renewal and redevelopment through infill and intensification.
In the late 1960s, Parramatta and Campbelltown were nominated as other major city centres for the rapidly expanding Western Sydney region. Parramatta has consolidated its role as Sydney's second CBD in the geographic heart of the city, and is now a focal point for business, shopping and entertainment in Western Sydney and a key transport hub. Campbelltown has become a significant centre in the South West.
Over the last 15 to 20 years, the global economic corridor - described as Sydney's 'global arc' - the concentration of linked jobs and gateway infrastructure from Macquarie Park through Chatswood, St Leonards, North Sydney and the CBD to Sydney Airport and Port Botany- has emerged as a critical feature of Sydney and Australia's economy.
This corridor has been built on the benefits that businesses involved in such areas as finance, legal services, information technology, engineering and marketing have derived from being near to each other and to transport infrastructure such as the airport.
It has been reinforced by the motorway system focused on the Eastern Distributor linking across the harbour, and by the high amenity and services available in and around the CBD.
Within the existing areas of the city, new medium density development has increased. Many inner city areas, including Surry Hills, Ultimo, Glebe, Erskineville and Marrickville, have become desirable locations and shops and village centres have been revitalised.
Old industrial sites have been converted to residential development. Much of this development has been backed up with new infrastructure such as at Homebush Bay for the Olympics, the new Airport link and new road connections.
The city has continued expanding westwards, with areas between the corridors filling in. With the addition of the North West and South West growth centres, new subregions in Western Sydney are emerging.
The area, or subregion, around Parramatta, referred to as West Central in this Strategy, currently has a residential density of approximately half that of the eastern suburbs and the lower north shore. In the medium term, this area is likely to become a focus for intensification and renewal in centres and corridors around public tranport nodes as people and jobs are attracted to the services and amenity of Sydney's second centre. In the longer term, the regional cities of Liverpool and Penrith are likely to create a similar pattern of increased densities close to the improved amenity and services offered by these consolidated cities.
The inherited structure and form of the city cannot be rapidly changed. The challenge is to learn from how geography, environment, transport and the economy have shaped the city and how, over time, we can work with these elements of the city to provide maximum benefits and opportunities for future development across the Sydney region .