Floor Space & Employment Survey
2001 Survey Overview
Survey Highlights
Downloads
2006 Survey
The 2006 Floor Space and Employment Survey commenced in November 2006. This Survey is the largest ever undertaken by the City of Sydney. The Survey is a census of all buildings, businesses, employment numbers and floor space uses in the local government area.
The data will guide the City’s strategic planning activities, Sydney 2030 Strategy and will create a profile of the social, economic and physical structure of land use and populations. The Survey information will also be used to support and inform the businesses within the City's boundaries.
Fieldwork for the Survey will continue for approximately six months. Field surveyors will be visiting every commercial and retail business in the CBD and inner city suburbs during the next few months to compile the data for the Survey.
The Field Surveyors will visit some 27,500 businesses, 80,000 floors and record more than half a million different uses of space within 27,000 buildings.
Jackson Teece Architecture and The Planning Research Centre at the University of Sydney will be undertaking the field work and data will be available online from mid 2007.
For more information on the current census, please contact Cathy Hoven on survey@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au or 02 9246 7600.
2001 Survey Overview
The 2001 City of Sydney Floor Space and Employment Survey provides a valuable snapshot of the uses and distribution of the floor space and employment in the City at a critical point in time. The results of the Survey can be compared to previous Surveys dating back to 1976.
The 2001 Survey is particularly important as a benchmark for the City into a new century and as the first significant survey after the global success of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.
The Survey is essentially a census of all floor space and employment in all buildings within the local government area. This report provides an overview of the major findings of the 2001 Survey and provides comparisons with data collected in earlier Surveys for the City of Sydney Local Government Area (LGA). The regularity and consistency of approach over a twenty five year period enhances the usefulness of the Survey as both a research and planning tool.
The Survey also complements the results from the Census of Population and Housing conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics once every five years (The ABS Census). Together, they provide the City of Sydney with a comprehensive data set to anticipate and plan for the development and growth of the City.
Survey Highlights
Totals
- An additional 2.1 million square metres of internal floor area (16.4% increase) was added to the City of Sydney between 1997 and 2001. Total internal floor space was 15.5 million square metres.
- In 2001 the City’s employment was over 260,000. This included growth of nearly 30,000 workers since 1997, over 12% increase, and 55,000 (28%) over the last decade.
- Dwelling stock more than doubled to over 17,000 since 1997.
- Visitor accommodation has nearly doubled in past five years.
Age of Construction
- Over 20% of the City’s floor space has been constructed in the past five years and over 60% constructed since 1976.
- Industry: Nearly 60% of total employment and 3.6 million square metres of floor space is located within business establishments in the Finance, Business Services and Government Administration & Defence industries.
- Since 1997, the largest employment growth (12,500 workers or 30% of total growth) has occurred in the Business Services industry (which contains property, legal and accounting services), followed by 6,600 in Finance & Insurance, 5,400 in Accommodation, Cafes & Restaurants and 4,300 in Cultural & Recreational Services.
Use of Space
- Residential space use comprises 11.3% of total City floor space.
- Office use makes up 35.3% of floor space in the City, while Common Area and Parking (usually found within or beneath office buildings) comprises a further 28.8%.
- Over 80% of employees in the City work in Office space uses.
- Between 1997 and 2001 Residential floor space increased by over one million square metres (in 9,385 dwellings), representing just under half (48.2%) of the total increase in the City’s floor space.
- Both Office and Visitor Accommodation floor space increased by over 400,000m² since 1997.
- Shop and Showroom floor space increased by 42,000m² (11.4%) between 1997 and 2001, and employment in these areas increased by over 19%.
Workspace Ratios
- The workspace ratio (floor space area per employee) averaged 34.7 square metres for all business establishments in 2001. This was only marginally less than the 35.2 square metres averaged in the 1997 Survey.
- Establishments in the Communication Services, Finance & Insurance and Business Services industries had the lowest workspace ratios.
- Amongst space use types, Office uses remained the most intensive (20.76 square metres per employee), although workspace ratios for both Shop, Showroom and Restaurant/Eating space uses were less than 24 square metres per employee.
Downloads
- 2001 Floor Space and Employment Survey | PDF 2Mb
- 2001 City of Sydney Worker Profile | PDF 106Kb
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