City of Sydney

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Sydney at a Glance

Sydney at a glance

  • The City of Sydney Local Government Area covers approximately 26.15 square kilometres, within the Sydney metropolitan area. It comprises Central Sydney, the Rocks, Millers Point, Ultimo, Pyrmont, Surry Hills, Woolloomooloo, Kings Cross, Elizabeth Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Darlinghurst, Chippendale, Darlington, Camperdown, Forest Lodge, Glebe, Alexandria, Beaconsfield, Centennial Park, Erskineville, Newtown, Redfern, Rosebery, Waterloo, and Zetland.
  • Waterways and some public areas are under the executive control of various State Government agencies including the Sydney Harbour Foreshores Authority, the Department of Transport, Sydney Ports Corporation, the Centennial and Moore Park Trust, the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, the Commonwealth Department of Defence and the Redfern-Waterloo Authority.

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The Physical Environment and Climate

  • The City of Sydney is located at 33 degrees 52 minutes South and 151 degrees 12 minutes East. Sydney Harbour forms approximately a quarter of the City’s boundaries.
  • Sydney’s annual average of sunshine is almost seven hours a day. Its temperature ranges from a moderate average winter minimum of 9 and a maximum of 17 degrees Celsius to a peak summer maximum average of 26 degrees Celsius.
  • Sydney’s rainfall averages 1213 mm a year, with an average of 11 wet days per month. More than 40% of this falls between March and June. Annual rainfall in 2008 was 1083mm.

 

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The City in a National Context

  • Based on industry-mix and relative occupational wage levels, it is estimated that Economic Activity (GDP) generated in the City of Sydney in 2009-2010 was approximately $90 billion, representing 8% (nearly one-twelfth) of the total national Australian economy, over 30% of the Sydney metropolitan area and almost one-quarter of the GDP of the entire state of NSW.
  • There are approximately 20,000 separate business establishments in the City of Sydney. One-in-twelve of the employees of all businesses in Australia with over 200 employees work in the City. The City is the location of almost 40% of the headquarters of the top 500 Australian corporations and almost half of the regional headquarters of multi-national corporations in Australia.
  • Overall the City has a working population which is just over 4% of the Australian total workforce. However, it is the workplace to 20% of the entire Australian finance sector; 13% of the Australian total Information, Media and Technology industry sector workforce; and 11% of national employment in Creative and Performing Arts activity. This proportion is even greater in more specific industries, such as Internet Publishing and Broadcasting (44%).

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The City in a Metropolitan Context

  • The City of Sydney is currently home to 177,000 people (June 2009). This is an increase of nearly 10,000 (6%) from the last Population Census in 2006. This has risen from a total of 128,000 in 2001. In less than a decade the residential population has increased by 49,000 (38%).
  • The City of Sydney absorbed approximately 20% of the entire Sydney metropolitan residential growth in the period 2001-2006. The increase in the City’s population was the largest increase of a Local Government area in the Metropolitan area, and double the population increase of the second and third fastest growing local government areas – Blacktown and Baulkham Hills – combined.
  • The population is forecast to increase to 187,000 by the next ABS census in 2011 and to a total of approximately 243,000 by 2030. Overall the City has just under 20% of the employment of the Sydney metropolitan area. However, it accounts for more than 35% of the metropolitan employment in the broadly-defined Creative industries. In particular, the City has over half of Sydney-wide employment in the industries of Performing Arts Venues; Services to the Arts; Newspaper Publishing; and Film and Video Distribution.
  • Most Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) and Finance Industry employees within Sydney are located within the City of Sydney. 41% of Information, Media and Telecommunications, and a massive 58% of Finance Industry workers in Sydney are located in the City.

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The Built Form of the City

  • Given its location as the economic and cultural heart of the Sydney metropolitan area, the City of Sydney is highly and densely urbanised. Its land is intensively used for a variety of purposes including residential and commercial use as well as tourist and cultural attractions, and parks and open space. It is home to the highest commercial and residential densities in Australia.
  • Approximately half of all floor space in the City of Sydney is used for commercial purposes, devoted to financial, retail, tourism, entertainment and other business services. The remainder is utilised for residential and other non-commercial uses, such as common area.
  • The 2006 total floor space in the local government area for all uses is in excess of 32 million square metres.
  • There are over 17.5 million square metres of built form within the Central Business District (CBD) of the City and Ultimo-Pyrmont. Over 5.4 million square metres of internal floor area is devoted to office uses. This is the largest CBD office market in Australia and within the top 20 world-wide.

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A Community of Diversity

  • The City of Sydney comprises a diverse ethnic mix with half of its residents born overseas. Over 30% of the resident population speaks a language other than English. Apart from English, the most common languages spoken at home are Chinese, Indonesian, Korean and Greek. The City is home to one of Sydney’s largest communities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
  • The median age of the City resident is 32 years of age, a full 3 years less than the average of the rest of Sydney.
  • The 2006 Census indicated that almost half of city residents are aged between 18 and 34. Most significantly, two-thirds of the population increase in the last 5 years has occurred in this age group. Conversely, there are fewer teenagers, children and older people residing in the City of Sydney than in the Sydney metropolitan area.
  • The influx of young adult residents into the City of Sydney is reflected in the growing number of single people living here. More than 60% of City residents aged 15 and over have never married, compared with one-third in the Sydney Metropolitan area.
  • Just less than a quarter of city residents live alone in one-person households. This compares to less than 10% Sydney-wide. However, the majority (60%) of city residents live in family households with a partner and/or children or other relatives. Group households accommodate just under one-in-five.
  • Over a quarter of City residents are currently attending an educational institution, including just under one in five of those aged 15 and over undertaking a post-school course. There are 19,886 residents attending either a TAFE or University with over 12,400 on a full-time basis.
  • On average, individual residents in the City earn more than their counterparts in the Sydney Metropolitan Area ($717 per week median compared to $518). A quarter of residents aged 15 or more have a weekly income of over $1300 a week. Conversely, another quarter receive less than $250 per week.
  • One-third of the City resident households either own or are paying off their dwelling. Of the remaining two-thirds who rent, the vast majority rent from the private sector. These represent over half (52%) of all resident households. However, a significant further 11% are public and community housing tenants, although this is less than the 14% housing share registered five years previously.
  • 60% of households in the City of Sydney own a car, compared to more than 85% for the Sydney metropolitan area. The average number of cars per household is only 0.8 compared to 1.5 for the Sydney metropolitan area.
  • Over a quarter of City of Sydney residents walk to work (27%), compared to only 4% for the Sydney metropolitan area. Only marginally more (28%) drive a car to work. This is less than the proportion that use public transport (31%).
  • In the five years since the previous Census in 2001, the number of walk-to-workers increased by 27% and those bicycling by almost a quarter (24.3%). Despite making up less than 5% of all Sydney metropolitan residents, City residents comprised a quarter (24%) of all those in Sydney who walk to work and one-eighth (12.5%) of those who ride a bike to work.

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Workforce of the City of Sydney

  • It is estimated that employment for the current City of Sydney LGA totalled approximately 385,000, including 300,000 within the Central Sydney and Pyrmont-Ultimo alone. This represents an increase of 16% in the last decade. Within Central Sydney and the Pyrmont-Ultimo area, the workforce has increased by 100,000 or 50% since 1991.
  • Between 2005 and 2008, in Central Sydney occupied office space has expanded by over 380,000 square metres, the equivalent of approximately 20,000 workers and, the office vacancy rate fell from in excess of 11% to a low of 3.7% (January 2008). However, as the Global Financial Crisis impacted on the City, it rose to 8.5% (July 2010) with demand for office space shrinking by 180,000 square metres in the twelve months to July 2009, according to the Property Council of Australia.
  • Since then the City has recovered reasonably strongly, despite on-going global economic uncertainty. The net absorption rate for occupied office space expanded by 100,000 square metres in the year to January 2011, and the rate in the last six months of 2010 at 62,500 square metres is similar to the demand rates seen around 2006-07. The office vacancy rate is beginning to fall and is now down to 8.2%.
  • Over one-third (35%) of the City’s workforce is in a Professional occupation with a further 17% employed as a Manager. The proportion of skilled workers has increased significantly in the last decade.
  • More than 40% of the City workforce was born overseas, with 40% of these overseas born workers coming from Asia, and 12.5% from China alone. A further 17% and 9% were born in the UK and New Zealand respectively.
  • The median average income of the City workforce is $1085 per week, or an annual income of $56,570. Nearly one-fifth (18%) of the workforce has an income of more than $2,000 per week and a further fifth receives between $1,300 and $2,000 per week.

Please Note:
Whilst 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 of indirect.

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Last Updated: Friday 24 June, 2011

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.