SYDNEY Australia’s global city June 2010 FOREWORD This report outlines the strengths and weaknesses of Sydney, economically as Australia’s global city. Business prowess, intellectual capital, infrastructure to service business and social needs and an enviable lifestyle are the hallmarks of a global city – Sydney has all of these in varying degrees. There is no doubt that the challenges we face today draw our attention away from the positives that make Sydney a city that is the envy of other international cities. We should continue to build on our strengths but not forget to work on reducing our weaknesses as well. No city is perfect, all cities face challenges in telecommunications, government regulation, congestion and transport, housing affordability, and lifestyle, but as this report reveals Sydney’s positives far outweigh any negative. This report should only embolden Sydney to grasp the opportunity to be a gateway for the emerging economic powerhouse of the Asia-Pacific region. The world is changing. The cities that were once the powerhouses of business and finance are moving closer to our home. Sydney can be a city of opportunity that capitalises on this change. We hope that this report will remind us of the great advantages we take for granted, that have made Sydney the envy of others, and the opportunities that lay at our doorstep. The Hon Patricia Forsythe Executive Director Sydney Business Chamber CONTENTS 01 02 03 Introduction Business Environment Transport Infrastructure page 04 page 08 page 11 04 05 06 Human Capital and Innovation Liveability Governance: bringing it all together page 14 page 17 page 21 07 A Conclusion Appendices page 22 page 23 01 Introduction Scope and Objective. What is a global city? Sydney Business Chamber has asked The term global city alludes to power, Yet many of these would not necessarily PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to sophistication, leadership, wealth, influence be classified as global in nature. examine the current strengths and and global interconnectedness. Second, no global cities exists in isolation. weaknesses of Sydney as Australia’s To be called a global city means that Rather, these cities are the hubs or leaders global city. This work follows the 2008 activities and ideas stemming from the city in a network of centres that facilitate Sydney Business Chamber and PwC have the ability to shape the world. investment and social development. study, Asia Pacific Cities of Opportunity, Hence, it is the level of integration into this which benchmarked Sydney’s business Although there is no concrete method network which defines the extent to which readiness against other leading cities to assign this title to any one city, it is a city can be classified as global. in the Asia Pacific region. While the undoubtable that centres such as New 2008 report concentrated on a range of York and London can lay claim. Assessed Third, there is no single policy which can Sydney’s competitor cities in the Asia as individual metropolises, these two lead to the emergence as a global citiy. Pacific, the current report turns inwards to cities have a strong international image Rather, becoming a global city is the ask what Sydney can learn about areas of that encompasses diverse cultural events, cumulation of numerous smaller policy strength and areas requiring development dynamic populations and commanding goals which, through effective, integrated by looking at its performance against business and financial clout. It is planning and management, have other global cities. therefore possible to make a number achieved a high level of innovation and of broad observations about the nature implementation of global best practice. of global cities. Accompanying these broad observations, First, the idea of global city is tied more there are a number of specific attributes closely to function than size. Indeed, global that current the literature1 ascribes to population growth and urbanisation during global cities. These attributes combine to the 21st century has spawned the rapid rise integrate a city into the global network. of ‘mega cities’ – generally defined as those Generally, these attributes include: cities with more than 10 million people. 1. Appendix 1 contains a list of current literature examined during the completion of this report 4 | Sydney Australia’s global city ...the idea of global city is tied more closely to function rather than size. Indeed, global population growth and urbanisation during the 21st century has spawned the rapid rise of ‘mega cities’ • Business prowessess, which infrastructure thathat is able to reduce These reports provide a wealth of encompasses the existencestence of globally congestion anda facilitate productivity, comparative knowledge, but very little significant businesses and theireir activity through to reliable healthcare and city specific analysis. Therefore, drawing on an active stock exchange. Industry power generation facilities. While many these numerous reports together, Sydney and business concentration adds to of these assets often exist out of the Business Chamber and PwC took a step the provision of services within the public eye, their existence and reliability back and asked: what do all the findings of city, and are influenced by government is crucial to the everyday functioning these reports imply about Sydney and its activity and the hosting of significant of the city. emergence as a global city? world events, such as trade forums or • Enviable lifestyle characteristics, Since most of these reports examine major sporting events. which include renowned cultural characteristics identified as desirable • Intellectual Capital, including the institutions and environmental for global cities, we have used the combined number of renowned assets. These assets not only attract characteristics or attributes of a global universities and research centres, skilled workers and human capital city (discussed previously) as a framework which can contribute to the diversity but also enhance the lifestyle of in which to identify where Sydney’s of knowledge and human capital. current residents. inherent strengths and weaknesses lie. The degree of international diversity Every year a plethora of reports aim within a city is indicative of the After making this identification we asked to use criteria under similar headings desirability and ease to transfer from what can be done to address these and track the development, or rank other international centres. weaknesses and build upon our strengths. the prowess, of a city relative to its In answering this, attention was not • Adequate Infrastructure to service international counterparts. Definitions, focused on specific policies; rather the business and social needs. aims and methodologies differ significantly role of governance was identified as the This requirement ranges from the among reports, as does sample size long term enabler that ensures all current information and transport networks and composition. and future weaknesses can be addressed which support business, mass transit in a comprehensive manner. Sydney Australia’s global city | 5 Our Methodology Sydney’s emergence as a global city In order to identify Sydney’s current Research indicates that Sydney is already Some of the findings gleaned from these strengths and weaknesses, its relative perceived as Australia’s only global city reports align with expectations. For ranking was calculated from each of the and first point of call for business and example the fact that Sydney excels in numerous annual publications. A full tourism.2 However, Sydney’s growing liveability is well documented, with the city list of these publications can be found prominence in the global network of perceived as one of the most physically in Appendix 1. This relative ranking cities has been a relatively recent affair. attractive in the world, with good access indicates Sydney’s overall performance As noted by Scott Baum (1997) the to a range of cultural and lifestyle assets. when compared to other international growth in Sydney’s presence is the On the other hand, transport infrastructure centres included in the study, and allows result of improving information and is consistently portrayed as a weakness. for consistent scoring across reports that product network flows that are The lack of investment in public transport have differing sample sizes. gradually shifting eastward. infrastructure, combined with a reliance on motor vehicles are key areas where The relative rankings were then grouped No longer is the Western Hemisphere the Sydney under perfoms compared to many around the characteristics of a global city dominant region in economic and political leading international centres. discussed previously, with an average affairs: the continued growth in China, taken to produce a score. Consistently South East Asia and India, paired with the However, it is the contrary nature of high scores highlight strengths, while weakening in the USA and Europe from other findings within some of these comparably low scores identify areas of the global financial crisis, has accelerated categories which throw into sharp relief potential opportunity for Sydney to focus this shift east and enhanced Sydney’s not only differing perceptions of success upon. For example, a city ranked number prominence as a gateway to this region. and influence, but also the nebulous one by all reports for a certain attribute understanding on what attributes Figure 1 displays the overall performance would receive a score of 100 while a city constitute