Urban Dynamics

How cities change:

People move in, people move out

Buildings are constructed, renovated or given to different use
Transport and communication systems are built, renovated and often
replaced
Patterns of land use continually change

The two main forces shaping the recent evolution of large cities and their
associated settlements in Australia are: globalisation and transport and
information technology.
Globalisation the breaking down of the barriers between countries and the
development of stronger links between countries.
The effects of globalisation have been amplified in Australia due to the continuing
trend of the Australian government to dismantle barriers to trade and international
competition by lowering tariffs and deregulating the market. Some of the effects
of globalisation on urban areas in Australia include:
A decrease in the relative importance of manufacturing, with the number of
Australians employed in urban manufacturing decreasing by 15% since
1980
Dramatic increase in office employment in the new economy of computers
and electronic communication
New economy the situation that occurs as the information sector replaces
manufacturing as the main generator of wealth in an economy.
Urban Dynamics
This section investigates some of the urban dynamics shaping the morphology
of large cities in the developed world. The main urban dynamics are:
- Suburbanisation
- Exurbanisation
- Counterurbanisation
- Decentralisation
- Urban decay
- Urban renewal
- Urban consolidation
- Development of the urban village
- Spatial exclusion

Suburbanisation
Early Sydney:
Sydney was established as a walking city. During the early 19th century, there
were suburbs close to the city, such as Pyrmont, Paddington and Redfern, with
rural villages at Ashfield and Burwood.
Transit city:
By 1880, Sydney had spread south and west. This suburbanisation was made
possible by:
Development of the tramways
Development of the railways
With the opening of the Harbour Bridge in 1932, suburbanisation spread rapidly
to the northern part of Sydney.
Automobile city:
In 1861, it housed only of the states population; by 1947 it housed half.
Sydney spread rapidly, with the pressure of population increases from both
natural increase and migration. There was also the growing development of
dormitory suburbs in the Wollongong and Central Coast districts. Sydneys
expansion was made possible by:
The increasing ownership of the automobile
The development of a network of roads
In general, the suburbanisation of Sydney has occurred as transport has
improved, at first by the development of railways and trams and later by the
development of the automobile.
Contemporary Sydney:
Most recently, the suburbanisation of Sydney has resulted from
Migration
An increase in the growth rate of new household formation as families
become smaller and there are fewer occupants per house.
In the last 20 years, suburban living has becomes less attractive as travelling
distances and time has increased. This has resulted in the old inner suburbs
becoming more attractive.
Suburbanisation the movement of people, employment and facilities away from
the city towards new outer urban areas.

Exurbanisation
Exurbanisation a process whereby people move from the city to live in rural
areas, but continue to commute to or communicate with the city for the purpose
of earning most of their income.
Exurbia provides a rural lifestyle on large blocks of semi farm or grazing land. In
Sydney, exurbia includes:
The Greater Sydney Metropolitan Region in places such as Galston-Dural
area and in rural areas as far north as Newcastle and as far south as
Wollongong.
Beyond the GSMR west towards Lithgow and south-west to Moss Vale.
Counterurbanisation and Decentralisation
Counterurbanisation:
Counterurbanisation is a reversal of urbanisation; the movement of people from
metropolitan areas to non-metropolitan areas. Counterurbanisation has existed
on a significant scale in Australia since the 1970s. In Sydney, there have been
four major trends:
Retirees have moved to country seaside towns along the east coast of
Australia eg central coast.
People of working age, but usually non-professional, have sold their
high valued homes in Sydney and moved to northern seaside towns north
of Sydney where they can purchase similar houses for lower prices.
Low-income families are starting to concentrate in seaside towns to the
north and south of Sydney. These families are often welfare dependant
and frequently single-parent families.
People seeking an alternative lifestyle. This counterurbanisation trend is
concentrated on the north coast of NSW around Lismore and Byron Bay.
Decentralisation:
Decentralisation the dispersal of activities and people from large urban centres
to small urban centres. Many governments in western countries are concerned
with the rapid growth of metropolitan areas and the pressure this has places on
urban infrastructure, the time taken to commute to work and the general quality
of life. The main decentralisation effort made by the NSW government was
Bathurst-Orange.

Urban decay and Renewal

Urban decay:
Urban decay the gradual running down of older parts of a city
Over time parts of a city tend to deteriorate. They are either not as modern or
new as other parts of the city, or they are neglected.
Urban renewal:
Urban renewal the upgrading of parts of a city through redevelopment; a
strategy to increase the density of a population. Urban renewal includes:

Gentrification the process whereby wealthier people move into,

renovate and restore old inner-city areas
Renewal of large areas such as Darling Harbour in Sydney; Pyrmont
Ultimo

Urban Consolidation
Urban consolidation the strategy of increasing the density of buildings,
especially residential buildings, on existing developed land and on land to be
developed in the future.
Suburbanisation in Australia has resulted in urban sprawl over long distances.
This was largely the result of the automobile and the great flexibility it gave for
travel and commuting. More recently, this urban sprawl has resulted in a policy of
urban consolidation in many cities.
By the early 1980, it was evident that Sydney could not be allowed to continue its
rate of urban sprawl. There were 3 main reasons for this:
There was a poor transport infrastructure.
The cost of providing basic services (infrastructure) eg water and
sewerage and electricity to distant suburbs had become more expensive
Good quality land for residential and commercial construction had
become scarce and expensive.
By the early 21st century, 70% of the homes being constructed were in new
suburbs and 30% were urban consolidation.
Urban Village
An urban village is a distinctive residential or commercial district whose function
and character is closely identified with its local community. People living in an
urban village see themselves as a community in which they will share:

Common identification with space and location

Common social identification

Sydney has several suburbs that are strongly recognised as urban villages. They
include: Leichhardt, Chinatown and Balmain.
Spatial Exclusion
Spatial exclusion the protection of lifestyles by restricting access to the space
and restricting freedom of movement in and around the excluded space.
A growing trending trend in large cities has been to enclose space with the
objective of excluding people from that space. In Sydney, there are a growing
number of gated communities.
Case Study of Urban Dynamics in Sydney
Social structure
Social structure is the form or pattern of the interrelationships of people in
society. Social structure is influenced by a variety of factors and patterns of
advantage and disadvantage that can be seen spatially by:
Income and poverty
Ethnicity
Education levels and employment
Patterns of income and poverty
The areas with the highest percentage of high-income households (household
weekly income of $1500 or more in the 1996 census) were:
Around the waterways of Sydney, especially the Sydney Harbour
foreshores, Middle Harbour and the lower reaches of Lane Cove River
Large part of the northern suburbs
Areas of the Georges River and Port Hacking
When studying the distribution of poverty, be aware that this is relative poverty
the living standards of the poor in relation to the standards that prevail elsewhere
in the society in which they live. In Sydney, it is unlikely that there would be
anyone living in absolute poverty; whereas in cities in developing countries, it
would be highly likely.
The main reasons for the spatial patterns of high and low income areas in the
Greater Sydney Metropolitan Region:
Suburbanisation affluent households choose to live in affluent suburbs

Urban Decay provide areas more affordable for low-income households.

Urban Renewal suburbs with good access to the CBD, or near
waterways, has brought high-income households into these areas.

Patterns of Ethnicity
The existence of residential concentrations of ethnic groups seems to be an
integral part of the process of new immigrant populations entering alien territory.
The main reasons for migration to Australia, after WW2, are:
Higher standards of living in Australia
Problems arising from WW2, such as homelessness and social dislocation
Widespread poverty in rural Southern Europe
From the early 1980s, there was a change in immigration policy that favoured 2
main streams:
Refugee migrants from Indochina, the Middle East and Latin America
Professional and business migrants, mainly from Southern, Eastern and
South-East Asia
Sydney has taken 43% of migrants entering Australia between 1996 and 2001. In
1996:
Over 1/3 of Sydneys population was overseas-born
Around 6% speak a language other than English at home
The effect of this migration had varied spatial effects, generally:
English-speaking migrants assimilated into the community with little
evidence of distinctive enclaves and segregation
Non-English speaking migrants should a strong tendency to segregate
into enclaves.
Enclaves small cultural or linguistic groups surrounded by another culture or
linguistic group that is dominant.
The spatial clustering of migrants offers a number of advantages including:
The immediate opportunity of sheltering with family or friends
A feeling of security and support
A common language and customs
Assistance in finding employment
Even if there were not obvious advantages from clustering, it is still highly likely
that it would occur because of external pressures such as:
Newly arrived migrants into cities tending to occupy a relatively
unfavourable position within the socioeconomic structure of their new
society

Many migrants arriving with little money, having access to only the lowestcost and poorest quality housing stock

Patterns of Educational Attainment

A very useful indicator in developed economies of patterns of advantage and
disadvantage is education, particularly university education. The people with
university qualifications are strongly concentrated on the north side of the
harbour. This is because:
These are the more attractive high-income suburbs
Most of Sydneys universities are within reasonable travelling distance of
these suburbs.
Economic Character
Development of a global economy
During the 1980s, there were many developments that encouraged the
development of a global economy. These include:
Major advances in transport
The development of advanced information technology
The deregulation of financial systems in many countries
The greater encouragement of international trade (globalisation)
Sydneys changing economic character
17% of employed people in Sydney work in finance and business services; this is
comparable with London and New York.
Commercial development
Sydneys role as a world city has had a number of effects on the nature and
location of commercial development. These 3 broad effects are:
Location of regional headquarters incentives for TNCs to locate their
Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Sydney.
Location of advanced producer services these are the highly
specialised service industries required by TNCs and advanced local
organisations.
Location of financial services located exclusively in the CBD and
North Sydney
Industrial development

In the immediate post-WW2 period, Sydney grew rapidly as an industrial city,

protected by high tariffs (high tariffs on imported goods, protecting Australia
products).

From the mid-1970s through to the 1990, Australian manufacturing was

exposed to greater global competition as tariffs and other forms of trade
restriction were drastically reduced. Sydney lost much of its manufacturing
capacity in cars, clothing, textiles and chemicals.
There is an increasing share of import-export activities in transport,
storage and wholesaling that have stimulated air and road transport
activity in the inner-city area.

The high-tech industry is also suburbanised. The main high-tech location is in

the area from Ryde to North Sydney; known as Sydneys silicon corridor.
Nature and location of residential land
The nature and location of residential land in Sydney has been affected by the
following factors:
Physical geography of the GSMR; the position of the harbour has
divided the city into 2 broad areas:
o The hilly area to the north of the Harbour (most attractive for
residential development)
o The area to the south and west of the harbour (less attractive for
residential development)
Suburbanisation has resulted in the sprawl of residential areas from the
original settlement around the CBD
Urban Decay and Renewal has resulted in the development of new
residential areas closer to the CBD and gentrification.
Urban consolidation has meant that the settlement in the inner city area
has become higher density. In 2002, 70% of new residences in Sydney
were a result of suburbanisation and 30% were a result of urban
consolidation
Exurbanisation only a minor factor
Culture of Place
Culture refers to the way of life of a group of people. The culture of place will be
expressed in terms of its architecture, streetscape, heritage, noise, colour, street
life, energy, vitality and lifestyles. New York, London and Paris have a very
distinct sense of place.
Sydneys CBD and inner metropolitan Sydney:

Architecture Sydney has many buildings distinct in architecture; the most

famous are the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. There are many important
heritage buildings including St Jamess Church and the Queen Victoria
Building.
Streetscape Sydney grew from a small cove settlement with narrow streets.
Some of these narrow streets now result in the distinctive streetscapes of The
Rocks and parts of Woolloomooloo.
Noise, colour, street life and vitality the CBD and IMS has a variety of noises
ranging from the bang of heavy equipment on the sites of urban renewal to the
gentle buzz of cafes. Sydney has a variety of colours; it can be a city of torrential
rain, or brilliant white sunshine, or the misty grey of the smog and fog which can
cover the city. Hyde Park provides a slash of green in what is overwhelmingly a
concrete and glass city.
Growth, development and future trends
Ageing puts increased pressure on housing as the number of people per dwelling
continues to fall. Sydneys rapid rate of growth has resulted in the sprawl of
suburbanisation and made Sydney spatially very large. This has created
problems in the following areas:
Accommodating the growing population; estimated that urban
consolidation will cater for more than 30% of the future population. Most of
the remainder would be in new suburbs to the north-west and south-west.
Increased traffic congestion and the provision of transport infrastructure.
Disposing of solid waste less than 10 years worth of landfill space in
Sydney
Disposing of sewage and waste water
Maintaining air and water quality
Ecological Sustainability
Ecological sustainability the use of resources that meet the needs of the
present population without endangering the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs
Large urban areas:
Require a huge demand for natural resources
Obliterate the natural hydrological system
Produce waste products which alter the surrounding environment
Reduce biomass and alters the species of plants and animals
Create new land through reclamation and landfill.

Together these factors create an ecological footprint of a city. The footprint

provides an estimate of the total area of productive land and water required on a
continual basis to produce all of the resources consumed, and assimilates all the
waste products produced by a population. Sydneys ecological footprint stretches
as far south as the Victorian boarder and further north than port Macquarie.
Large numbers of people live in Sydney because of its liveability; the liveability
of cities includes:
Employment opportunities
Availability of health and recreation services
Availability of housing
Education and community facilities
Entertainment
A sense of community and the opportunity to develop social activities and
relationships