DOCSLIB.ORG

Lynette Finch on Sydney: the Emergence of a World City

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Lynette Finch on Sydney: the Emergence of a World City John Connell, ed.. Sydney: The Emergence of a World City. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2000. xvi + 381 pp. $59.95, paper, ISBN 978-0-19-550748-5. Reviewed by Lynette Finch Published on H-Urban (April, 2002) Between 1850 and 1914, over ffty million Eu‐ nell, editor of this ffteen-chapter collection, ropeans emigrated to the Americas or Australasia. writes that Sydney has "established its national Throughout the nineteenth and most of the twen‐ dominance as a population centre, and almost tieth century, Melbourne was their preferred Aus‐ certainly as Australia's global city." tralian destination. Until the last quarter of the Inspired by G. Wynn and T. Oke's Vancouver twentieth century, it had the largest foreign-born and its Region, the main theme of the collection is percentage of population in the country. By 1850, Sydney's role as a global city. Connell defines the it was one of a select grouping of globally signifi‐ term as "a metropolis that is part of a global con‐ cant megacities. A city of parks and wide streets, sciousness." Robert Fagan, in his chapter on the substantial commercial and public buildings, it industrial evolution of the city, provides a more was a hub of foreign investment capital. Through‐ complex definition. Global cities are identified by out the frst half of the twentieth century, Aus‐ their role as: tralia's most southerly mainland city remained "command centres for organising the global the country's leading fnancial capital and frst economy, especially through corporate headquar‐ choice for head office location amongst national ters, banks and other fnance industries, and their and transnational corporations with headquar‐ role as nodal points in global information fows. ters in the country. Such cities have been characterised by their open‐ Then, in the 1960s, Australia's leading inter‐ ness to global fows of commodities, money, ideas, national city was suddenly and definitively over‐ and information. They have become destinations taken by Sydney in all global indicators. In 1998 for both internal and international migration of Sydney's population passed the four million mark, skilled information workers, but also magnets for having added one million in the previous 26 new streams of global labour migration, especial‐ years. By contrast, Melbourne is not expected to ly from developing countries in Latin America reach four million until around 2015. John Con‐ and the Asia-Pacific Region. Finally, global cities at H-Net Reviews the end of the 1990s, have become pacesetters fundamental base of the city's status as "Aus‐ and diffusion centres for a new culture increas‐ tralia's premier domestic and international tourist ingly connected in cyberspace" (p. 145). destination." They argue that Sydney is benefiting Statistics supporting Sydney's claim to global- from what will probably prove to be a passing fad city status are provided by several contributors, amongst the international herd. Ever on the all using indicators of international business in‐ search for new settings, the "tourism industry terest in the city. In the 1960s, the mineral boom constantly stalks the globe in search of novelty ... corporations began to cluster in Sydney and so, That while the relative decline in air transport too, did Japanese trading companies. Sydney be‐ cost had made the industry more global than ever gan to attract emergent international fnance before. Australia in general, and Sydney in partic‐ companies. By the 1984, it had overtaken Mel‐ ular, are relative newcomers in the world bourne as preferred location to established corpo‐ tourism." rate head offices. Forty-five of Australia's one hun‐ Robert Freestone's chapter is an outstanding dred largest companies had established their contribution to the collection. Focusing on urban main headquarters in Sydney, to Melbourne's planning, he covers the local factors that histori‐ forty-one (Fagan, 158). By 1990 the city had at‐ cally created Sydney's shape and texture, while tracted four-fifths of foreign bank head offices in introducing the changing milieu in planning an environment of massive inflows of foreign cap‐ wrought by its move to an international city of ital. Sydney is now indisputably Australia's lead‐ consumption and spectacle. He presents a case ing share-trading centre (Daly and Pritchard, 167). that globalisation brings both benefits and disad‐ The chapters that discuss the benefits and dis‐ vantages to local residents: advantages of global integration make this a dis‐ Global city status brings economic rewards, tinctive collection. John Connell, for example, ar‐ but also increases the cost of living, brings into gues that the old sandstone mercantile city has sharper relief social and cultural divides between become a generic world city bearing a "non-spe‐ 'haves' and 'have nots,' and sets new challenges cific" appearance. This might be considered a neg‐ for the planning system in balancing the need for, ative by some, but Hollywood producers fnd this say, efficient transport and communications infra‐ a highly desirable trait. Andrew Mason, producer structure against maintaining residential ameni‐ of The Matrix, for example, commended the city ty" (p. 123). for its anonymity: "It's got a bunch of interesting In their chapter on patterns of morbidity (ill‐ buildings with different shapes and there's good ness) or mortality, Kevin McCracken and Peter geography. It's not hard to use it as a non-specific Curson agree that international pressures have city, assuming you don't show the Opera House" widened the gap between rich and poor, just as (p. 18). they had done in other world cities. This gap, Tourism might be expected to suffer if such a rather than any other aspect of Sydney's global generic reshaping is taking place but, in the chap‐ status, has produced a typical health pattern of a ter on this issue, the authors argue that this is not world city: so. The Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the "an ageing population (despite immigration) spectacular harbour, the beautiful Blue Moun‐ primarily affected by degenerative diseases and tains and the old world charm of the Rocks dis‐ by mental illness, but in a metropolis where both trict are features exploited by the tourist promo‐ intermittent and long-term infectious diseases af‐ tions industries. Interestingly, however, Morgan fect other demographic groups (particular AIDS in Sant and Gordon Waiit argue that they are not the the relative anonymity of cities with specialised 2 H-Net Reviews care services) and where there are significant, through all chapters, and the expectation that probably increasing, divisions in health status, each chapter will address some aspects of globali‐ and in access to health care, that reflect and ac‐ sation is established by the book's sub-title. It is an centuate other urban divisions" (p. 118). expectation that places some of the authors in a Not all contributors to the collection agree difficult position with their work sitting awkward‐ that globalisation has been the driving force in ly in this collection. Andrew Short's chapter, for Sydney's late twentieth-century development. example, is on the landforms of the region. As al‐ Robert Fagan, for example, argues that national most all of the contributors are geographers, this policy and regional factors dominate planning in chapter was an obvious inclusion, but it does not industrial and suburban infrastructure and that contribute to debate on the central theme. It is in‐ the global city discourse overstates the impor‐ teresting and well written but makes no interna‐ tance of global processes, distracting attention tional comparisons and tells us nothing about from the principal role of domestic forces. Chris whether Sydney's geological base has played or Gibson's and John Connell's well-written, fascinat‐ will play any role in the city's integration into a ing chapter on the city through the lens of paint‐ global network. David Chapman's chapter on cli‐ ing, literature, flm, music, and television, mate and disaster management follows in a logi‐ presents a distinctive, easily recognisable Sydney, cal transition. Chapman has made some compar‐ or rather Sydneys. Gibson and Connell represent a isons with other major international cities, espe‐ city of wildly divergent and distinctive settings, of cially in the discussion offooding, and has different urban and suburban realities, a city in strengthened the relevance of the chapter within which the gloss of the tourist brochure sits "along‐ this collection for having done so. side images of crime, drugs, hedonism, and the Jim Kohen's sweep of 30,000 years of Aborigi‐ ever-present suburban 'sprawl'" (p. 292). The arts, nal experience is an excellent overview of indige‐ especially popular literature, glory in each local nous experience capturing some of the paradoxes Sydney, with Newtown, Redfern, or Bondi all be‐ of modern urban life for the original inhabitants, ing presented as recognisably idiosyncratic. Their but its place in this particular collection is ques‐ argument that the arts represent Sydney as a tionable, because the author hasn't taken up any combination of distinctive local villages, could of the opportunities to make global comparisons. have resulted in some interesting comparisons Given that native title legislation is based on inter‐ with Robert Fagan's position, but no links have national law, comparisons with other global cities been made between the two chapters. In fact, no would have been extremely interesting. In its own effort has been made to integrate the chapter into right as a paper on Australian indigenous experi‐ the organising logic of the collection, even though ence, especially within an urban context, it works the editor is one of the authors. well and balances the story of hope amidst de‐ Quite a high percentage of contributors do spair, in a thought-provoking, yet sensitive man‐ not address the issue of globalisation at all.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Once Upon a Time in … Ethnocratic Australia: Migration, Refugees, Diversity and Contested Discourses of Inclusion and Exclusion"
    "Once upon a Time in … ethnocratic Australia: migration, refugees, diversity and contested discourses of inclusion and exclusion" Andrew Jakubowicz University of Technology Sydney Abstract To what extent can Australia be analysed as an ‘ethnocracy’, a term usually reserved for ostensibly democratic societies in which an ethnic group or groups control the life opportunities of a more widely ethnically diverse population? Australia adopted its first refugee policy in 1977 having been forced to address the humanitarian claims of Asian and Middle Eastern refugees. Only a few years after abandoning the White Australia policy of three generations, the public discourse about refugees was framed by the ethnic origins of these groups (primarily Vietnamese and Lebanese). Over the decades a utopian light has come to be cast on the Indo Chinese as a success story in settlement, while the Middle Eastern peoples have been shaded as a settlement failure. Yet the counter narratives developed in the SBS television documentary series “Once Upon a Time...” demonstrate how ethnocratic framing can be challenged and more nuanced and analytical discourses introduced into the public sphere. Introduction Attitudes to asylum seekers and refugees among Australians are said to depend on two factors – first, that the government has control of Australia’s borders and therefore the only refugees who enter have been determined to meet Australia’s sense of what a ‘good settler’ needs to be; and second, that ‘good settlers’ integrate, contribute and do not cause disharmony (Eureka Research 1998). These narratives when applied to ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ contemporary refugees reflect deeply entrenched views formed initially at the end of White Australia in the mid-1970s, when the country for the first time took non-European immigrants in significant numbers.
    [Show full text]
  • Walkability and Greenness Do Not Walk Together: Investigating Associations Between Greenness and Walkability in a Large Metropolitan City Context
    International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Walkability and Greenness Do Not Walk Together: Investigating Associations between Greenness and Walkability in a Large Metropolitan City Context Faysal Kabir Shuvo 1,* , Soumya Mazumdar 2,3 and S. M. Labib 4 1 Centre for Urban Transitions, Level 1 EW Building Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia 2 South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales Medicine, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia; [email protected] 3 Population Health Intelligence, Population Health, South Western Sydney Local Health District, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia 4 MRC Epidemiology Unit, Centre for Diet and Activity Research, University of Cambridge, Clifford Allbutt Building, Cambridge CB2 0AH, UK; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +61-47-894-2720 Abstract: Background: The existing environment literature separately emphasizes the importance of neighborhood walkability and greenness in enhancing health and wellbeing. Thus, a desirable neighborhood should ideally be green and walkable at the same time. Yet, limited research exists on the prevalence of such “sweet spot” neighborhoods. We sought to investigate this question in the context of a large metropolitan city (i.e., Sydney) in Australia. Methods: Using suburb level normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI), percentage urban greenspace, Walk Score® Citation: Shuvo, F.K.; Mazumdar, S.; (Walk Score, Seattle, WA, USA), and other data, we explored the global and local relationships of Labib, S.M. Walkability and neighborhood-level greenness, urban green space (percent park area) with walkability applying Greenness Do Not Walk Together: both non-spatial and spatial modeling.
    [Show full text]
  • Socio-Economic Profile
    Towards a resilient Sydney – Socio-economic profile Towards a resilient Sydney – Socio-economic profile CONTENTS Introduction 3 Metropolitan Sydney (Study Area) 3 Sustainable Livelihoods Framework 4 Data sources 4 Sydney - overview 5 Number of people 5 Population projections, Sydney 5 Population density 6 Age profile 6 Ageing population 7 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders 8 People born overseas 8 Gross Regional Product 8 Framework for Sydney’s growth 9 Draft Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney to 2031 9 Vision for Sydney in 2031 10 Sydney’s subregions (draft for consultation) 11 Differences between Sydney & NSW 13 Human Capital 15 Socio-economic disadvantage (SEIFA) 15 Highest level of school completed 17 Tertiary qualifications 17 School attendance 18 Language spoken at home 18 Occupation 18 Excellent, very good or self rated health 19 High or very high psychological stress 19 Overweight and obese 19 Living in smoke-free households 19 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE 1 Asthma 19 Need for assistance 19 Social Capital 20 English language proficiency 20 Year of arrival 20 Acceptance of different cultures 20 Address one year and five years ago 20 Household types 20 Family types 20 Levels of trust 22 Unpaid assistance 23 Voluntary work and community services 23 Family and community support 24 Type of family assistance and support 24 Financial Capital 26 Working age population and workforce participation 26 Weekly personal income 27 Weekly household income 27 Industry of employment 28 Mortgage repayments (monthly) 28 Rental payments (weekly) 29 Housing
    [Show full text]
  • Fixing Town Planning Laws
    Fixing town planning laws Identifying the problems and proposing solutions Submission by the Urban Taskforce to the Productivity Commission in response to its issues paper: Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Planning, Zoning and Development Assessments September 2010 Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 5 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 This submission focuses on NSW ................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Allan Fels report: Choice Free Zone ............................................................................................................ 14 1.3 Going Nowhere and Deny Everything reports ......................................................................................... 15 1.4 NSW Government’s own reports ................................................................................................................. 18 1.5 Anti-competitive features of the planning system.................................................................................. 19 2. The objectives of the planning system ............................................................................................................ 26 2.1 The current objectives ..................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Regional Dimensions of Innovative Activity in Outer Western Sydney
    REGIONAL DIMENSIONS OF INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY IN OUTER WESTERN SYDNEY Samantha A. Sharpe A thesis submitted to the College of Health and Science In fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2007 Urban Research Centre University of Western Sydney Samantha A Sharpe © 2007 Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. Samantha A Sharpe Abstract The aim of this research is to understand the socio-economic development of a metropolitan region in Sydney through an analysis of regional innovative activity. South West Sydney, a major growth region within Sydney, includes the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Liverpool, Campbelltown, Camden and Wollondilly. This region has absorbed 25% of Sydney’s population growth in the period from 1991-2001. Although South West Sydney has experienced rapid population growth, this has not been matched by associated employment growth. In some sectors such as business services employment growth has been minimal in the previous decade, this is particularly the case in Liverpool, the regional centre of South West Sydney. Population growth is estimated to continue at the current rate (in excess of 5% per annum) for at least the next fifteen years. In this environment, local government authorities in the region are seeking ways in which to develop the regional economy of South West Sydney and increase the amount of sustainable employment commensurably with current population and labour force increases.
    [Show full text]
  • Recovering the Gay Village: a Comparative Historical Geography of Urban Change and Planning in Toronto and Sydney
    Chapter 11 Recovering the Gay Village: A Comparative Historical Geography of Urban Change and Planning in Toronto and Sydney Andrew Gorman-Murray and Catherine J. Nash Abstract This chapter argues that the historical geographies of Toronto’s Church and Wellesley Street district and Sydney’s Oxford Street gay villages are important in understanding ongoing contemporary transformations in both locations. LGBT and queer communities as well as mainstream interests argue that these gay villages are in some form of “decline” for various social, political, and economic reasons. Given their similar histories and geographies, our analysis considers how these histor- ical geographies have both enabled and constrained how the respective gay villages respond to these challenges, opening up and closing down particular possibilities for alternative (and relational) geographies. While there are a number of ways to consider these historical geographies, we focus on three factors for analysis: post- WorldWarIIplanningpolicies,theemergenceof“cityofneighborhoods”discourses, and the positioning of gay villages within neoliberal processes of commodification and consumerism. We conclude that these distinctive historical geographies offer a cogent set of understandings by providing suggestive explanations for how Toronto’s and Sydney’s gendered and sexual landscapes are being reorganized in distinctive ways, and offer some wider implications for urban planning and policy. Keywords Toronto, Canada Sydney, Austrlia Neighborhood Gayborhood Urban Change Urban Planning· · · · · 11.1 Introduction In this chapter, we examine the historical geographies of the now iconic gay villages in Toronto’s Church and Wellesley Street district and Sydney’s Oxford Street. We argue that a comparative historical geography approach provides insights into complex A.
    [Show full text]
  • American Boomerang: Searching Aboriginal Sydney, 1928
    American Boomerang: Searching Aboriginal Sydney, 1928 Word count: 6,050 For a few short weeks in March 1928, the complex and contradictory “rules” of Australian interracial sex became front page news. “White Girls with Negro Lovers” 1 screamed one headline. T​ he catalyst was the Sonny Clay Orchestra, the first African ​ American jazz band to reach Australia, on contract to the Sydney and Melbourne Tivoli Theatre. The Commonwealth Investigation Branch (IB), alarmed by the musician’s appeal to 2 young white women, kept the band under surveillance. I​ n Melbourne, Victoria Police ​ pounced, raiding the musician’s residence and arresting five white women for vagrancy. Within twenty-four hours, the government revoked the musicians’ visa and the band were on the Sydney overnight express, ready to catch the first steamer back to California. At the same time in Canberra, the Federal government ushered in a ban on the entry of all black 3 jazz musicians that would not be lifted until 1953. R​ eturned Servicemen’s League passed ​ resolutions denouncing the “weak-minded and frivolous” white women for derailing the White Australia mission of racial homogeny.4 ​ Of little interest to the tabloid newspapers was the story of the African American musicians’ friendship with some Aboriginal Sydney women, or, at least, I assume they were Aboriginal, certainly they were described as “coloured”. I know this because, on March 23, 1928, when the overnight express pulled into Sydney’s Central Station, members of Sonny Clay’s band were met by a contingent of photographers, reporters, police and protesters — 1 2 T​ ruth, March 31, 1928, p.1.
    [Show full text]
  • Agglomeration, Centres, and District Plans for the Greater Sydney Commission
    Agglomeration, Centres, and District Plans for the Greater Sydney Commission Lessons from International Experience Prof. Greg Clark and Dr. Tim Moonen July 2016 Final This publication was prepared for the NSW Department of Planning and Environment in association with the Greater Sydney Commission for the purpose of district planning. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this document for any particular purpose nor should be assumed that the contents of the document represent the views of the NSW Government. The NSW Government its agents, consultants or employees shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specic needs. This document may be subject to revision without notice. Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 2. Agglomeration, clustering and the spatial economy of cities 3. Review of the economic geography of 10 Sydney peers 4. Airport district and sub-centre planning 5. Ingredients for creating new CBDs and sub-centres 1. Executive Summary This paper seeks to inform Greater Sydney’s district planning process through a review of agglomeration patterns and planning/policy approaches in other global cities. In this paper we use the term CBD to denote a primary centre and uses the term ‘sub-centres’ for all other hubs. This terminology is used to reflect Australian preferred language. We use the words ‘Greater Sydney’ to cover the whole region overseen by the planning approaches of the Greater Sydney Commission.
    [Show full text]
  • Draft Greater Sydney Region Plan
    Draft Greater Sydney Region Plan Submission_id: 31621 Date of Lodgment: 15 Dec 2017 Origin of Submission: Online Organisation name: Sydney Business Park Organisation type: Industry First name: Owen Last name: Walsh Suburb: 2765 Submission content: Please see attached two part submission. Regards Owen Walsh Number of attachments: 2 Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) MarsdenParkDevelopmentsPtyLtd 15HollinsworthRoad MarsdenPark NewSouthWales2765 15December2017 GreaterSydneyCommission GPOBox257 Parramatta NewSouthWales2124 DearGreaterSydneyCommission, RE: MARSDENPARKSTRATEGICCENTRE SUBMISSIONONTHEDRAFTGREATERSYDNEYREGIONPLANAND THEDRAFTCENTRALCITYDISTRICTPLAN Introduction ThefollowingisasubmissionpreparedbyMarsdenParkDevelopmentsPtyLtd(MarsdenPark Developments)inresponsetothedraftGreaterSydneyRegionalPlanandthedraftCentralCityDistrict PlanreleasedbytheGreaterSydneyCommission,specificallyastheyrelatetotheplanningofthe MarsdenParkStrategicCentre. At566.8hectares,theMarsdenParkStrategicCentreisthelargestemploymentzoneintheNorthWestof Sydney,planningtoprovide23,500directjobs.MarsdenParkStrategicCentreistwicethesizeofthe SydneyCentralBusinessDistrictandMacquariePark,and50%biggerthanNorwestBusinessPark. MarsdenParkDevelopmentsisthedeveloperofSydneyBusinessParkͲa$2.9billion,masterͲplanned, campusstyledevelopmentwithabroadrangeofusesincludingcommercial,industrial,retail,educational andmedicalthatislocatedwithintheMarsdenParkStrategicCentre.Spanning256hectares,theSydney BusinessParkmasterplanandflexiblezoningallowstheprojecttotailortoeachincomingbusinessandbe
    [Show full text]
  • A Clean Air Plan for Sydney: an Overview of the Special Issue on Air Quality in New South Wales
    atmosphere Review A Clean Air Plan for Sydney: An Overview of the Special Issue on Air Quality in New South Wales Clare Paton-Walsh 1,2,* , Peter Rayner 3 , Jack Simmons 1,2 , Sonya L. Fiddes 3,4,5, Robyn Schofield 3 , Howard Bridgman 6, Stephanie Beaupark 1,2, Richard Broome 7, Scott D. Chambers 1,8 , Lisa Tzu-Chi Chang 9, Martin Cope 5, Christine T. Cowie 10,11,12 , Maximilien Desservettaz 1, Doreena Dominick 1,2, Kathryn Emmerson 5 , Hugh Forehead 13 , Ian E. Galbally 1,5 , Alan Griffiths 1,8 , Élise-Andrée Guérette 1,5, Alison Haynes 2,14, Jane Heyworth 12,15, Bin Jalaludin 12,16, Ruby Kan 9, Melita Keywood 5 , Khalia Monk 9 , Geoffrey G. Morgan 12,17, Hiep Nguyen Duc 9 , Frances Phillips 1,2 , Robert Popek 18 , Yvonne Scorgie 9, Jeremy D. Silver 3 , Steve Utembe 3,19, Imogen Wadlow 1,3, Stephen R. Wilson 1,2 and Yang Zhang 20 1 Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; [email protected] (J.S.); [email protected] (S.B.); [email protected] (S.D.C.); [email protected] (M.D.); [email protected] (D.D.); [email protected] (I.E.G.); [email protected] (A.G.); [email protected] (É.-A.G.); [email protected] (F.P.); [email protected] (I.W.); [email protected] (S.R.W.) 2 School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; [email protected] 3 School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; [email protected] (P.R.); sonya.fi[email protected] (S.L.F.);
    [Show full text]
  • Marsden Park Developments Pty Ltd 920 Richmond Road Marsden Park New South Wales 2765 7 July 2017 Department of Planning & E
    Marsden Park Developments Pty Ltd 920 Richmond Road Marsden Park New South Wales 2765 7 July 2017 Department of Planning & Environment Level 5, 10 Valentine Avenue Parramatta New South Wales 2150 Dear Department of Planning & Environment, RE: MARSDEN PARK STRATEGIC CENTRE SUBMISSION ON THE DRAFT NORTH WEST PRIORITY GROWTH AREA LAND USE AND INFRASTRUCTURE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Introduction The following is a submission prepared by Marsden Park Developments Pty Ltd in response to the draft North West Priority Growth Area Land Use and Infrastructure Implementation Plan (draft Plan) released by the Department of Planning & Environment (the Department) in May 2017, specifically as they relate to the planning of the Marsden Park Strategic Centre. At 566.8 hectares, the Marsden Park Strategic Centre is the largest employment zone in the North West of Sydney, planning to provide 23,500 direct jobs. Marsden Park Strategic Centre is twice the size of the Sydney Central Business District and Macquarie Park, and 50% bigger than Norwest Business Park. Marsden Park Developments Pty Ltd is the developer of Sydney Business Park ‐ a $2.9 billion, master‐ planned, campus style development with a broad range of uses including commercial, industrial, retail, educational and medical that is located within the Marsden Park Strategic Centre. Spanning 256 hectares, the Sydney Business Park masterplan and flexible zoning allows the project to tailor to each incoming business and be positioned for change in the market, while providing a wide range of retail amenity to both support and facilitate the diverse employment. This amenity includes a supermarket, childcare, medical centre, gymnasium, cafes and eateries, a 90,000 sqm homemaker and trade centre, all of which is adjacent to the planned 35,000 sqm Marsden Park Town Centre that SGS Economics & Planning advise can be extended to 110,500 sqm by 2036.
    [Show full text]
  • Seeking Sydney from the Ground Up: Foundations and Horizons in Sydney’S Historiography
    Seeking Sydney From the Ground Up: Foundations and Horizons in Sydney’s Historiography GRACE KARSKENS ometime in 1962, my father came home with some exciting news. I had been chosen to be part of a parade! I was to stand on the back Sof a float contributed by the Good Neighbour Council, Blacktown branch, of which Dad was an enthusiastic and active member, and later Vice President. It was a great honour! What parade? Why? I was four and can’t remember. But one thing is still clear: I had to wear ‘national costume’. I can imagine my thrilled Dad, grandly imparting this piece of information to my mother. And my mother being rather flummoxed. What on earth was our national costume? She had grown up in Indonesia. Dad was from Holland and his folks hadn’t worn ‘national costume’ for perhaps a century. Both of them were, after all, striving to be modern people in a young, modern nation. But, like lots of housewives then, Mum was a great dressmaker, so soon she was busily Sydney Journal Vol 4, No 1 (2013): 180-203 ISBN: 1835-0151 © UTSePress and the author Sydney Journal | Karskens creating her version of a suitably ‘ethnic’ outfit for me: a white skirt with coloured ribbons, sewn parallel all around the bottom, a black bolero, and bunches of coloured ribbons in my plaited hair. How proudly I stood in my ersatz national dress on the back of the float as it lumbered along Main Street, Blacktown, clutching my doll and waving to the assembled crowds! Seen from the outside, my fuzzy memory fragment might represent the success, indeed the rightness, of assimilation policies – if you were conservatively inclined.
    [Show full text]