Policy & planning changes

Have your say on our updated community strategic plan

Open for feedback

Help us shape the strategy.
Public consultation period to

What we’re doing

The community strategic plan identifies the community’s main priorities and aspirations for Sydney in 2050. It sets out how we will achieve a more sustainable, equitable and resilient city.

We developed this plan with, and on behalf of our communities, which guides all our other strategies and plans.

Why we’re doing this

The community strategic plan is updated every 4 years in line with NSW Government requirements and when it needs to adapt to changing circumstances and community aspirations.

Following the Council elections in September 2024, we’ve updated the plan for Council to consider and adopt in 2025.

To inform the updated plan, we analysed the feedback we received over the past 2 years from our ongoing community engagement program. This allowed us to check if and how community values have changed since the plan was updated in 2022.

What our communities value

Community feedback from 2022 to 2024 shows continuing support for the community values identified in 2022. Overwhelmingly, our communities want:

  • An environmentally responsive city
  • A city for people
  • A city that moves
  • A city with a future-focused economy
  • A lively, cultural and creative city.

Learn more about how we consulted and what we heard from our communities.

What 2050 looks like – 10 ambitious projects

The community strategic plan outlines 10 transformative project ideas.

These ideas demonstrate how future public space and infrastructure projects could achieve the community’s vision for a green, global and connected Sydney by 2050.

Crowd gathers around a large crescent-shaped sculpture in a park, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House visible in the background.
An open plaza with lots of people and fringed by trees. At the end of the plaza is a heritage building. Tall city buildings can also be seen.
Aerial view of a cityscape with tall buildings, a tree-lined street, and a park area. People and vehicles are visible along the road.
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Framework for action – 10 directions for 2050

How we’ll get there – 10 targets to measure progress

  1. By 2035 we will achieve net zero emissions in the City of Sydney local area.
  2. By 2050 there will be a minimum overall green cover of 40%, including 27% tree canopy cover in our local area.
  3. By 2030 residential potable water use will be reduced to 204 litres a person a day in the City of Sydney local area. Non-residential potable water use will be reduced by 10% from 2018/19 levels.
  4. By 2035 there will be a 15% reduction in waste generated by each person in the local area based on 2023 levels. And by 2035 there will be 90% recycling and recovery of residential waste, commercial and industrial waste, and construction and demolition waste, which will be maintained at that level to 2050.
  5. By 2036 there will be around 700,000 jobs in the City of Sydney local area including 200,000 new jobs compared to 501,786 in 2017. An increasing proportion of all jobs will be secure jobs.
  6. By 2036 there will be at least 156,000 private dwellings and 17,500 non-private dwellings in the local area that include boarding houses and student accommodation. Of the private dwellings, 7.5% will be social housing and 7.5% will be affordable rental and diverse housing with these proportions maintained into the future.
  7. By 2036 new cultural production floor space in the City of Sydney local area will have increased at least 40,000m² from 1,212,900m² in 2017.
  8. By 2050 people will use public transport, walk or cycle to travel to and from work. This includes 9 out of 10 people working in the city centre and 2 out of 3 people working in the rest of the local area.
  9. By 2030 every resident in the local area will be around a 10-minute walk to what they need for daily life.
  10. By 2050 community cohesion and social interaction will have increased in the local area. This is based on at least 75% of the local resident population feeling part of the community, 65% agreeing most people can be trusted and 90% saying they can get help from their neighbours.

Read the draft plan

Community strategic plan (draft)PDF · 11.82 MB · Last modified

How you can give feedback

Consultation closes at 5pm on Tuesday 6 May 2025.

  1. Complete our survey

    You’ll need to log in with a City of Sydney account to complete the survey. If you don’t have an account, it’s easy to create one.

  2. Email or post your feedback

    You can give your feedback by email to [email protected] or post to:

    Gareth Jenkins
    Senior Community Engagement Coordinator, City Engagement
    City of Sydney
    456 Kent Street
    Sydney NSW 2000

Other ways you can give feedback

Survey

Community Strategic Plan 2030–2050

It will take about 6 minutes and will help us shape the strategy.
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Community engagement strategy and community participation plan 2024 update book cover.Strategies & action plansCommunity engagement strategy and community participation planPublished 31 July 2024