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Floor Space & Employment Survey

2006 Survey Floor Space and Employment Survey

The 2006 Floor Space and Employment Survey was conducted between November 2006 and October 2007. The 2006 Survey was the largest ever undertaken by the City of Sydney and is the most comprehensive data set relating to all floor space and employment throughout the Local Government Area. The Survey captured information on employment numbers and floor space uses for all buildings and businesses contained within the City boundaries.

The 2006 Survey is the first time the Survey data has been entered into a Geographic Information System (GIS) to allow for a visual spatial analysis of the City’s floor space uses. The GIS database contains information relating to 27,000 buildings, 19,500 business establishments and 625,000 spatial records, and can be interrogated at any level to provide a point in time snapshot of floor space use and employment.

The data is currently being used to guide the City’s strategic planning activities, including Sustainable Sydney 2030 and will create a profile of the social, economic and physical structure of land use and populations. The Survey is also being utilised to support and inform the businesses operating in the LGA.

Due to the changes in the City’s boundary configurations, the CBD core is the only area common to all surveys conducted, while Ultimo and Pyrmont have been surveyed since 1991. Comparisons across the surveys allow for an analysis of trends and patterns over time and an understanding of how the city is developing. The results of the Survey can be compared to previous surveys dating back to 1976.

The following tables provide data for the Council area in its entirety, and for the Central Sydney and Ultimo-Pyrmont area and the CBD survey core, where comparisons can be made to previous surveys. Further data and information relating to specific precincts and suburbs will be made available shortly.

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2006 Floor Space and Employment Survey Highlights

Totals

  • Within the whole City of Sydney LGA there are:
    • 27,003 sites;
    • 26,147 buildings;
    • 19,566 business establishments;
  • The boundary changes of 2003 and 2004 tripled the amount of floor space within the City of Sydney. The current floor area is 47,313,184m².
  • An additional 1.13 million square metres of internal floor space were added to the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont areas between 2001 and 2006 (16.3% increase).
  • In 2006 the City’s employment was 385,277 and the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont accounted for nearly 78% of the employment, or 300,010 employees.
  • The total number of dwellings in the LGA is 91,956. There was an increase of nearly 5,000 dwellings in the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont area from 2001(28.5% increase).
  • 73% of the City’s visitor accommodation is located within the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont. The total number of visitor accommodation rooms for the whole LGA is 29,313.

Industry

  • Nearly 63% of total employment within the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont is located within business establishments in the Finance, Business Services and Government, Administration and Defence industries
  • The Communication Services industry experienced the greatest increase in business establishments, with a 46.3% increase.
  • Within the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont, Business Services account for the greatest number of employees, the largest area of internal floor space and the greatest number of business establishments.

Space Use

  • Residential space use comprises 11.6% of total CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont floor space.
  • Office use occupies the greatest area of floor space in the City at 30.9%, while Common Area comprises 17.6% and Parking comprises 13.9%.
  • Nearly 87% of employees in the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont work in Office space uses.
  • Shop/Showroom floor space increased only marginally within the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont, at 0.7% or 3,000m². The number of employees in these areas decreased by -0.4%.
  • While Transport accounted for only 0.8% of the total floor space, there was an increase of 20.6% (23,000m²) from 2001.

Workspace Ratios

  • The workspace ratio for Office space use decreased for both partitioned offices and open plan offices. Partitioned offices have a workspace ratio of 14.86m² per person and open plan offices have a workspace ratio of 11.49m².

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2006 Floor Space and Employment Survey Results

2006 Floor Space and Employment Survey Area
2001 Floor Space and Employment Survey Area
Floor Space and Employment Survey Core

Floor Space and Employment Survey Area - 2006 Survey

City Of Sydney 2006 Map

2006 Floor Space and Employment Survey Area Map | PDF 176Kb

Figures indicating the key totals for the City of Sydney Local Government Area.

Total figures for Employment and Internal Floor Space Area according to their distribution across the space use divisions. Nearly 83% of all employees are located within Office space uses and the Office space use division occupies the second largest area of Internal Floor Space. Residential space uses occupy more than a quarter of all internal floor space area.

Total figures for Employment and Internal Floor Area according to their distribution across the Industry divisions. Nearly one quarter of employees work within the Business Services industry, however Business Services only occupy 6.5% of the total internal floor space area. Private Households, which include houses, apartments and serviced apartments, account for the largest area of internal floor space.

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Floor Space and Employment Survey Area - 1991-2001 Surveys

City Of Sydney 2001 Map
2001 Floor Space and Employment Survey Area Map | PDF 844Kb

Figures indicating the changes in floor space and employment for the City of Sydney LGA where boundary configurations are consistent across the surveys. 2006 results exclude the areas formerly contained within Leichhardt Council and South Sydney Council.

Figures indicating the distribution of employment according to the space use division associated with the employee. Nearly 87% of employees are located within the Office space use division, which has slightly increased from the totals for 1991-2001. Another 10% of employees are located within both the Restaurant/Eating and Shop/Showroom space use divisions.

Figures indicating the distribution of internal floor space according to the space use division. The internal floor area of Office space uses has experienced only a marginal increase since 2001, however Office space uses still occupy the greatest area of floor space of all divisions. Common Area occupies the second largest proportion of internal floor space across the divisions, which is consistent with the survey results from 1991, 1996 and 2001.

Figures indicating the distribution of employment according to the industry of the business establishment.

Employment within the Business Services industry has continually increased since 1991 and now accounts for more than one quarter of the employees within the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont. While the Finance and Insurance industry has continued to increase in employees, the rate of increase has been decreasing since 1991.

The Wholesale Trade and Cultural and Recreational Services industries have experienced significant decreases in employees since 2001, however the Wholesale Trade industry only accounts for 0.4% of the total workforce.

Figures indicating the distribution of internal floor space according to the industry of the business establishment.

The Business Services industry occupies the largest area of internal floor space however the increases in floor space have decreased since 1991. Similarly, the Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants industry has experienced a slower increase in internal floor space since 1991.

Figures indicating the total number of business establishments within each industry. The Communication Services industry has experienced a significant increase in business establishments, however the increase has slowed over the past 15 years. The Business Services industry and Retail Trade industry account for more than half of the total number of business establishments.

Workspace ratios within the CBD and Ultimo-Pyrmont have been decreasing since 1996. Partitioned office spaces have decreased by 2.84m² per person and open plan office space has decreased by 3.98m² per person. Shared office spaces have increased by and additional square metre per person.

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Floor Space and Employment - Survey Core (since 1976)

City Of Sydney 2006 Map
Floor Space and Employment Survey Core Map | PDF 394Kb

Figures indicating the changes in floor space area and employment for the Survey Core, which has been continually surveyed since 1976. The rate of change in floor area since 1976 has decreased with each survey, while changes in employment have fluctuated across the six surveys.

Contacts

For further information regarding the Floor Space and Employment Survey, please contact Steve Hillier on 9265 9059 or Cathy Hoven on 9246 7600 or survey@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au.

2001 Floor Space and Employment Survey

The results from the 2001 Floor Space and Employment Survey are contained within the following report:

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Please Note:
While care is taken to ensure accuracy, the City of Sydney cannot guarantee that information expressed here is correct and recommends that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to its use. The City of Sydney makes no warranty or undertaking, whether expressed or implied, nor does it assume any legal liability, whether direct or indirect.