Sydney

Australia COUNTRY

4,925,987 CITY POPULATION

Federalism GOVERNMENT TYPE

Introduction

Sydney, city, capital of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located on Australia’s southeastern coast, Sydney is the country’s largest city and, with its magnificent harbour and strategic position, is one of the most important ports in the South Pacific. In the early 19th century, when it was still a small convict settlement and the first settlers had barely penetrated the interior, it had already established trade with the Pacific Islands, India, China, South Africa, and the Americas.

Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the south and Macarthur to the south-west. Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs, 40 local government areas and 15 contiguous regions. Residents of the city are known as "Sydneysiders".

As Australia’s leading global city and the gateway to Asia, Sydney is the destination of choice for international corporations, business leaders, tourists and students. Sydney is I heaven for foods; the Harbour City is full of sophisticated spots to eat that showcase the quality and abundance of local produce.

Data and facts

Sydney is a coastal basin with the Tasman Sea to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north, and the Woronora Plateau to the south. The inner city measures 25 square kilometres (10 square miles), the Greater Sydney region covers 12,367 square kilometres (4,775 square miles), and the city's urban area is 1,687 square kilometres (651 square miles) in size.
The official population number as of the most recent census is 4,823,991 people.
Sydney is situated on latitude 34° S and has an average mean temperature ranging from 72 °F (22 °C) in January to 55 °F (13 °C) in July. Its warm, sunny, but the temperate climate has encouraged its citizens to develop a pleasure-loving and easygoing attitude to life and to make full use of the opportunities for sailing, swimming, and surfing at their doors.
The Australia Day Regatta in Sydney Harbour is the oldest continuously-conducted annual sailing regatta in the world. The first event was in 1837.
Sydney is 1580 square kilometres across, which is more than double New York’s 780 square kilometers.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is the widest long-span bridge and tallest steel arch bridge in the world.
Operating since 1875, Sydney Ferries carry over 14 million passengers each year in and around Sydney.
Point Piper, a street in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, is the 9th most expensive street in the world at $20,900 per square metre with the median value of all houses at $7.38 million.
The Queen Victoria Building, constructed between 1893 and 1898, was named to commemorate the Queen of England’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
Opera Australia is the 3rd busiest opera company in the world.

Administration

Sydney is the capital of New South Wales and the seat of its government and parliament. The state government has delegated matters of local interest to more than 40 local government areas in the Sydney region, including the City Council of Sydney, but has retained direct control of some important matters, such as police and transport. In addition, a number of functions normally exercised by local councils have been transferred to boards, commissions, trusts, and departments established by the state government. The most important of these responsibilities concern water, sewerage and storm drainage, electricity, major roads, fruit and vegetable markets, and many aspects of health and welfare. Furthermore, some land remains under federal control.

Economy

The economy of Sydney is notable for its importance in the areas of trading, manufacturing, finance, education, and distribution in Australia. Sydney has the largest economy in Australia. Sydney's CBD is the largest in Australia and also has plenty of surrounding commercial areas that are considered part of Sydney. In 2018/19, around $140 billion was generated within the City of Sydney local area representing over 7% of Australia's economy. This in turn provided over half a million jobs across all skill levels that offer diverse opportunities for diverse communities.

Despite the growth of business districts such as North Sydney, Parramatta, Macquarie Park, Olympic Park and the growth corridor to the north-west, the City of Sydney has maintained its pre-eminent role. This is due to its large economic base including a dense network of globally competitive industries, well-developed infrastructure, good governance, and outstanding amenities and living environment. Over the past decade, our economy has proven its resilience by withstanding both internal and external economic shocks such as the global financial crisis. The number of businesses in the city grew by nearly 4,000 between 2007 and 2017.

Infrastructure

Highways

Four main highways provide access to Sydney: the Pacific Highway/Sydney Newcastle Freeway (Route 1 north of the city) leads northward to Newcastle and Brisbane; the Western Motorway (Route 44) leads westward to Strathfield and the Great Western Highway; Princes Highway (Route 1 south of the city) leads to Wollongong and the south coast, and the Hume Highway leads southwest out of the city to Mittagong and eventually Melbourne.

Bus and Railroad Service

Greyhound Pioneer provides service between Sydney and points throughout Australia. The smaller McCafferty's and Kirkland's lines also service Sydney but do not run nationwide. Both interstate and regional train services are available.

The State Rail Authority of New South Wales provides passenger rail services throughout Greater Sydney and other population centers in the state. Its Countrylink service provides long-distance service throughout New South Wales, and also interstate service to Canberra, Melbourne, and Brisbane on an updated fleet of high-speed XPT and Explorer trains, transporting more than 2.6 million people annually.

Airports

The Kingsford Smith Airport, located about ten kilometers (6.2 miles) south of Sydney's central business district, is Australia's busiest airport. It is served by some 45 international passenger and cargo carriers.

Shipping

Sydney is served by Port Jackson, one of Australia's busiest ports, as well as a newer port in Botany Bay devoted exclusively to petroleum products.

Technology

The City of Sydney is inviting feedback on its plans to become a smart city - an initiative designed to help the city cope with a booming population and changing climate. The City’s draft Smart City Strategic Framework currently available for review outlines how Sydney plans to “do more with less” in terms of energy, resources and space thanks to data and “smart” infrastructure. One of the important messages in the framework is that Sydney doesn’t want to have to reinvent the wheel in its smart city journey, which is perhaps why it’s let a number of major global cities (and even some smaller cities closer to homes like Newcastle and Bendigo) get a head start adopting technologies like the internet of things (IoT) and predictive analytics. Sydney also wants a “problem-driven, evidence-based approach” to smart city solutions rather than “installing technology for technology’s sake” to ensure any investment in technology and data delivers tangible benefits for the city’s residents, visitors and businesses.