Building three cities of the future
Sydney is Australia’s global city, and one of the main engines of the Australian economy. With a population of just over 4 million, set to rise to 8 million by 2050, we need to plan for this growth and ensure places for all our community to live, work and play. The next decade is crucial: through careful planning and the right investments, we can maintain and increase our global competitiveness while creating a more liveable, inclusive city that attracts the best talent.
The vision for Greater Sydney is a metropolis of three cities. CityPulse Sydney provides a fact base for the current state of Greater Sydney. We identify which areas of Greater Sydney provide the best access to the things that help make our lives easier and more fulfilling: transport, housing, health services, employment, education, parks and recreation facilities, cultural facilities and entertainment - in essence, how well we live, work and play. By understanding how these three measures relate, we can start to identify the actions required to make Sydney’s vision a reality.
Effective, thriving cities are those that connect the three elements of live, work and play - it’s the interconnection that brings vibrancy, community involvement and fulfilment.
Learn more about CityPulse
City averages
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5.1 | |
4.8 | |
4.8 |
Key
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Outside work
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Beach | |||
Open space inc. national parks | |||
Culture and attractions |
Rarely | Sometimes | Often | |
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PwC’s CityPulse assesses how each area performs against each of the three 'Live, Work, Play' metrics and is based on a range of data sources; examples under the category of Live include data relating to hospital accessibility, crime rates, and housing affordability. CityPulse focuses on general access and availability and does not currently take into account the demographics or preferences of local residents. Learn more about our approach.
CityPulse Sydney shows a clear correlation between investment in transport infrastructure and the live, work and play appeal of suburbs. Public transport links act as catalysts or building blocks for the growth and prosperity of our precincts and cities.
We need to invest in transport which strategically considers the next 50 years, and not for the short term. We want to see significant improvement of large parts of Greater Sydney with regard to connectivity and activation - and to do this, we need to plan and invest in transport for the long term, including the development of the Western Sydney region. What does this look like across Greater Sydney?
The Greater Sydney Region Plan, released in 2018 by the Greater Sydney Commission, has established the Western Sydney Parklands as part of a third city, with the new airport at its centre. Greater Penrith and Liverpool are now established centres of economic productivity and will be the primary metropolitan clusters serving the Western Parkland City. If the Western Parkland City is afforded the same focus on growth, job creation and liveability as that given to Parramatta we will see similar opportunities for investment and development.
While the Central River City is well established, and investment in this area continues, the Western Parkland City, anchored by the Western Sydney Airport (WSA), is essentially a blank canvas – one that presents even greater potential to develop a well-planned city that is scalable, technology enabled and delivers on all aspects of live, work and play. What needs to be done to capitalise on the natural strengths of Greater Western Sydney to create thriving cities of the future?