Sydney
Sydney (
pronounced ) is the most
populous city in
Australia with a
metropolitan area population of over four million people. Sydney is the
state capital of
New South Wales and is located on the country's south-east coast.
The first European
colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at
Sydney Cove by
Arthur Phillip who led the
First Fleet from Britain. Built around
Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, the city of Sydney has been called the "Harbour City". It is Australia's largest
financial centre and is also an international tourist destination, notable for its
beaches and twin
landmarks: the
Sydney Opera House and the
Harbour Bridge.
The Sydney region has been occupied by
indigenous Australians for at least 30 000 years, and at the time of the arrival of the
First Fleet in 1788, 4000 - 8000 Aboriginal people lived in the region.
[Kohen, J. L. 2000. First and last people: Aboriginal Sydney. In J. Connell (Ed.). Sydney the emergence of a global city. pp 76-95. Oxford University Press ISBN 0195507487, pp 76-78] There were three different language groups in the Sydney region; these were further refined into dialects spoken by smaller clans. The principal languages were
Darug (the
Cadigal, original inhabitants of the City of Sydney, spoke a coastal dialect of Darug),
Dharawal and
Guringai. Each clan had a territory; the location of that territory determined the resources available. Although
urbanisation has destroyed most evidence of these settlements (such as
shell middens), rock carvings still exist in several locations.
European interest in colonising Australia arose with the landing of British sea captain, Lieutenant
James Cook in
Botany Bay in 1770. Under instruction from the
British government, a convict settlement was founded by
Arthur Phillip in 1788. Phillip founded the colony at
Sydney Cove on
Port Jackson. He named it after the British
Home Secretary,
Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney, in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. In April 1789 a disease, thought to be
smallpox, decimated the indigenous population of Sydney; a conservative estimate says that 500 to 1000 Aboriginal people died in the area between
Broken and Botany Bays.
[Ibid, pp 81-82] There was violent resistance to British settlement, notably by the warrior
Pemulwuy in the area around Botany Bay, and conflicts were common in the area surrounding the
Hawkesbury River. By 1820 there were only a few hundred Aborigines and
Governor Macquarie had begun initiatives to 'civilise, christianise and educate' the Aborigines by removing them from their clans.
[Ibid, pp 83] Macquarie's tenure as
Governor of New South Wales was a period when Sydney was improved from its basic beginnings. Roads, bridges, wharves and public buildings were constructed by British and Irish convicts, and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, well-established thoroughfares and an organised constabulary. The 1830s and 1840s were periods of urban development, including the development of the first suburbs, as the town grew rapidly when ships began arriving from the
British Isles with immigrants looking to start a new life in a new country. On July 20 1842 the municipal council of Sydney was incorporated and the town was declared the first city in Australia, Charles H. Chambers was the first mayor.
[ Australian Encyclopaedia Volume 2, p 524, Angus and Robertson Limited, 1926 ] The first of several
gold rushes started in 1851, and the port of Sydney has since seen many waves of people arriving from around the world. Rapid suburban development began in the last quarter of the 19th century with the advent of steam powered tramways and railways. With industrialisation Sydney expanded rapidly, and by the early 20th century it had a population well in excess of one million. The
Great Depression hit Sydney badly. One of the highlights of the Depression era, however, was the completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932.
Throughout the 20th century Sydney continued to expand with various new waves of
European and (later)
Asian immigration, resulting in its highly cosmopolitan atmosphere. The majority of Sydneysiders are of British and Irish background. More recent arrivals have included Italians, Greeks, Jews, Lebanese, South Africans, South Asians (including Indians, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis), Sudanese, Turks, Macedonians, Croatians, Serbs, South Americans (Brazilians, Chileans and Argentinians), Armenians, Eastern Europeans (Czech, Poles, Russians, Ukrainians and Hungarians) and East Asians (including Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese).
 |
Image of Sydney taken by NASA RS satellite. The city centre is about a third of the way in on the south shore of the upper inlet. Click on the image and then scroll down for an annotated version. |
Sydney is located in a coastal
basin between the
Pacific Ocean to the east and the
Blue Mountains to the west. The city features the largest natural harbour in the world,
Port Jackson, and more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous
Bondi Beach. The metropolitan area (Sydney Statistical Division) covers 12,145 km² (4,689 mi²); a significant portion of this area is national park and other unurbanized land. The urbanized area covers 1687
km² (651
mi²) and had a population of 3,455,110 at the 2001 census.
Sydney occupies two geographical regions: the
Cumberland Plain, a relatively flat or
rolling region lying to the south and west of the harbour, and the
Hornsby Plateau, a plateau north of the harbour, up to 389 metres (1276
ft) in elevation, dissected by forested valleys. The oldest parts of the city are located in the flat areas; the Hornsby Plateau, known as the
North Shore, was slower to develop because of its hilly topography, and was mostly a quiet
backwater until the
Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, linking it to the rest of the city.
Climate
Sydney has an
oceanic climate with warm summers and cool
winters, with rainfall spread throughout the year. The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs. The warmest month is January, with an average air temperature range on the coast of 18.6
°Câ€"25.8 °C and an average of 14.6 days a year over 30 °C. The maximum recorded temperature was 45.3 °C on January 14, 1939 at the end of a 4 day nationwide
heat wave.
[Bureau of Meteorology. 2006. Climate summary for Sydney, January 2006] The winter is mildly cool, with temperatures rarely dropping below 5 °C in coastal areas. The coldest month is July, with an average range of 8.0 °Câ€"16.2 °C. The lowest recorded minimum was 2.1 °C. Rainfall is fairly evenly divided between summer and winter, but is slightly higher during the first half of the year, when easterly winds dominate.The average annual rainfall, with moderate to low variability, is 1217.0
mm, falling on an average 138.0 days a year.
[Australian Bureau of Meterology. 2005. Climate averages.][Ellyard, D. 1994. Droughts and Flooding Rains. Angus & Robertson ISBN 0207185573].
Snowfall last occurred in the Sydney City area in the 1830's.
[MacDonnell, Freda. Thomas Nelson (Australia) Limited, 1967. Before King's Cross]Although the city does not suffer from
cyclones or significant
earthquakes, the
El Niño Southern Oscillation plays an important role in determining Sydney's weather patterns: drought and bushfire on the one hand, and storms and flooding on the other, associated with the opposite phases of the oscillation. Many areas of the city bordering bushland have experienced
bushfires, notably in 1994 and 2002 â€" these tend to occur during the spring and summer. The city is also prone to severe hail storms and wind storms. One such storm occurred in Sydney's eastern and city suburbs on the evening of 14 April 1999, producing massive hailstones of at least 9cm in diameter and resulting in insurance losses of around $1.5 billion in less than one hour.
Recent research by a Macquarie University atmospheric scientist suggests that land clearing in western Sydney has contributed to major changes in the city's climate.
[Sydney Morning Herald, June 29 2004. Climate change link to clearing.]Climate Table| | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) | 25.8 | 25.7 | 24.7 | 22.4 | 19.3 | 16.9 | 16.2 | 17.7 | 19.9 | 22.0 | 23.6 | 25.1 | 21.6 |
|---|
| Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) | 18.6 | 18.7 | 17.5 | 14.7 | 11.5 | 9.2 | 8.0 | 8.9 | 11.0 | 13.5 | 15.5 | 17.5 | 13.7 |
|---|
| Mean total rainfall (mm) | 103.3 | 117.4 | 131.2 | 127.2 | 123.3 | 128.1 | 98.1 | 81.5 | 68.7 | 76.9 | 83.1 | 78.1 | 1217.0 |
|---|
| Mean number of rain days | 12.1 | 12.3 | 13.3 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 11.4 | 10.3 | 9.9 | 10.3 | 11.5 | 11.4 | 11.5 | 138.0 |
|---|
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology |
Current Sydney Weather: current temperatures and four day outlook, Source: NSW GovtUrban structure
The extensive area covered by urban Sydney is formally divided into more than 300 suburbs (for addressing and postal purposes), and administered as 38 local government areas (in addition to the extensive responsibilities of the
Government of New South Wales and its agencies).
[Department of Local Government. Local Council Boundaries Sydney Outer (SO)] The
City of Sydney itself covers a fairly small area comprising the central business district and neighbouring inner-city suburbs. In addition, there are a number of regional descriptions which are used informally to conveniently describe large sections of the urban area. However it should be noted that there are many suburbs which are not conveniently covered by any of the following informal regional categories. The regions are
Eastern Suburbs,
Hills District,
Inner West,
Lower North Shore,
Northern Beaches,
North Shore,
Southern Sydney,
South-eastern Sydney,
South-western Sydney,
Sutherland Shire and
Western Sydney.
Sydney's central business district (CBD) extends southwards for about 2 kilometres (1.25
mi) from
Sydney Cove, the point of the first European settlement. Densely concentrated
skyscrapers and other buildings including historic sandstone buildings such as the
Sydney Town Hall and
Queen Victoria Building are interspersed by several parks such as
Wynyard and
Hyde Park. The Sydney CBD is bounded on the east side by a chain of parkland that extends from
Hyde Park through
the Domain and
Royal Botanic Gardens to
Farm Cove on the harbour. The west side is bounded by
Darling Harbour, a popular tourist and nightlife precinct while
Central station marks the southern end of the CBD.
George Street serves as the Sydney CBD's main north-south thoroughfare.
Although the CBD dominated the city's business and cultural life in the early days, other business/cultural districts have developed in a radial pattern since
World War II. As a result, the proportion of white-collar jobs located in the CBD declined from more than 60% at the end of World War II to less than 30% in 2004. Together with the commercial district of
North Sydney, joined to the CBD by the Harbour Bridge, the most significant outer business districts are
Parramatta in the central-west,
Blacktown in the west,
Bondi Junction in the east,
Liverpool in the southwest,
Chatswood to the north, and
Hurstville to the south.
Historically, Sydney was governed by
Cumberland County (1945-1964). Today there is no overall governing body for the Sydney metropolitan area. Local affairs for the metropolitan area are run by bodies known as
local government areas (LGAs). These areas all have elected councils and are responsible for a range of functions delegated to them by the
New South Wales State Government.
The
City of Sydney includes the central business area and some adjoining inner suburbs, and has in recent years been expanded through amalgamation with adjoining local government areas, such as South Sydney. It is led by the elected
Lord Mayor of Sydney and a council. The Lord Mayor, however, is sometimes treated as a representative of the whole city, for example during the Olympics.
The 38 LGAs in Sydney are:
*
Ashfield*
Auburn*
Bankstown*
Baulkham Hills*
Blacktown*
Botany Bay*
Burwood*
Camden*
Campbelltown*
Canada Bay*
Canterbury*
Fairfield*
Holroyd*
Hornsby*
Hunter's Hill*
Hurstville*
Kogarah*
Ku-ring-gai*
Lane Cove*
Leichhardt*
Liverpool*
Manly*
Marrickville*
Mosman*
North Sydney*
Parramatta*
Penrith*
Pittwater*
Randwick*
Rockdale*
Ryde*
Strathfield*
Sutherland*
Sydney*
Warringah*
Waverley*
Willoughby*
WoollahraMost citywide government activities are controlled by the state government. These include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, and planning of major infrastructure projects. Because a large proportion of New South Wales' population lives in Sydney, state governments have traditionally been reluctant to allow the development of citywide governmental bodies, which would tend to rival the state government. For this reason, Sydney has always been a focus for the politics of both State and
Federal Parliaments. For example, the boundaries of the City of Sydney LGA have been significantly altered by state governments on at least four occasions since 1945, with expected advantageous effect to the governing party in the
New South Wales Parliament at the time.
The largest economic sectors in Sydney, measured by numbers of people employed, include property and business services, retail, manufacturing, and health and community services.
[Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2002. Sydney - Basic Community Profile and Snapshot - 2001 Census] Since the 1980s, jobs have moved from manufacturing to the services and information sectors.
Sydney is the largest corporate and financial centre in Australia and is also an important financial centre in the
Asia Pacific.
[Daly, M. T. and Pritchard, B. 2000. Sydney:Australia's financial and commercial capital. In J. Connell (Ed.). Sydney the emergence of a global city. pp 76-95. Oxford University Press ISBN 0195507487, pp 167-188] The
Australian Stock Exchange and the
Reserve Bank of Australia are located in Sydney, as are the headquarters of 90 banks and more than half of Australia's top companies, and the regional headquarters for around 500 multinational corporations.
[City Commerce - City of Sydney Media Centre. Accessed 21 July, 2006.] Fox Studios Australia has large movie studios in the city.
The
Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE) is one of the
Asia Pacific's largest financial futures and options exchanges, with 64.3 million contracts traded during 2005. In global terms it is the 12th largest futures market in the world and the 19th largest including options.
[Overview, Sydney Futures Exchange website, accesssed 3 July 2006] With the increasing commercial role of Sydney's many medical laboratories and research centres, science and research is another strong growth sector .
Tourism plays an important role in Sydney's economy, with 7.8 million domestic visitors and 2.5 million international visitors in 2004.
[Tourism NSW. 2004.Tourism Data Card - Forecasts, Economic Impacts and selected Regional Data - 2004]As of September 2003, the unemployment rate in Sydney was 5.3%.
[Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. Sydney Statistical Division.] According to
The Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide
cost of living survey, Sydney is the sixteenth most expensive city in the world, while a
UBS survey ranks Sydney as 26th in the world in terms of net earnings.
[Richest Cities CityMayors.com, accessed 3 July 2006]As of December 2005, Sydney has the highest median house price of any Australian capital city at
$485 000.
[Real Estate Institute of Australia. December 14 2005. Still strong confidence in the housing market, Press Release] A report published by the OECD in November 2005, shows that Australia has the Western World's highest housing prices when measured against rental yields.
[Boilling, M. February 2 2006. City among most costly, Herald Sun]It has been classified as a "Beta"
global city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network.
[Beaverstock, J.V. et alA Roster of World Cities]As of 2003 there were 4,198,543 people living in Sydney, commonly referred to as Sydneysiders
[about.com, Strine and Aussie Slang. Sanger to Sydneysider], and a population density of 345.7 persons per square kilometre for the metropolitan area.
[Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. National Regional Profile: Sydney] Inner Sydney is the most densely populated place in Australia with 4023 persons per square kilometre.
[Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. National Regional Profile: Inner Sydney] In the 2001 census, the most common self-described ancestries identified for Sydney residents were
Australian,
English and
Irish. The Census also recorded that 1% of Sydney's population identified as being of
indigenous origin and 31.2% were born overseas. The three major sources of immigrants are the
United Kingdom,
China and
New Zealand. Significant numbers of immigrants also came from
Vietnam,
Lebanon,
Italy,
India and the
Philippines. Most Sydneysiders are native speakers of
English; many have a second language, the most common being
Chinese languages,
Arabic (including Lebanese) and
Greek.
Some ethnic groups are associated with the suburbs where they first settled: the
Italians with
Leichhardt,
Greeks with
Rockdale and
Hurstville,
Lebanese with
Lakemba and
Bankstown,
Koreans with
Campsie,
Jews with
Bondi and
Rose Bay,
Indians with
Westmead and
Parramatta,
Chinese with
Haymarket (where Sydney's
Chinatown has emerged) and
Vietnamese with
Cabramatta.
Redfern has a high concentration of indigenous Australians.
The median age of a Sydney resident is 34, with 12% of the population over 65 years.
15.2% of Sydney residents have educational attainment equal to at least a
bachelor's degree[The City of Sydney Community Profile - Sydney Statistical Division. 2006. What are our qualifications?, profile.id], which is lower than the national average of 19%. Approximately 67% of Sydney residents describe themselves as Christian, the most common denominations being Catholic and Anglican. About 9% of the population practises a non-Christian religion, the most common being Buddhism, and about 12% are not religious.
Sydney is home to some of Australia's most prominent universities, and is the site of Australia's first university, the
University of Sydney, established in 1850.
[The Australian Education Network University and College Guide. 2005. Rankings of Australian universities.] There are five other public universities operating primarily in Sydney: the
University of New South Wales,
Macquarie University, the
University of Technology, Sydney, the
University of Western Sydney, and the
Australian Catholic University (two out of six campuses). Other universities which operate secondary campuses in Sydney include the
University of Notre Dame Australia and the
University of Wollongong.
There are four multicampus government funded
Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes in Sydney which provide vocational training at a tertiary level: the
Sydney Institute of Technology,
Northern Sydney Institute of TAFE,
Western Sydney Institute of TAFE and
South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE.
Sydney has
public,
denominational, and
independent schools. Public schools, including pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, and special schools are administered by the
New South Wales Department of Education and Training. There are four state administered
education areas in Sydney, that together coordinate 919 schools. Out of the thirty
selective high schools in the state, twenty-five of those are located in Sydney.
|
Many of Sydney's cultural attractions are in the CBD. |
Arts and entertainment
Sydney has a wide variety of cultural sites and institutions. Sydney's iconic
Opera House has five theatres capable of hosting a range of performance styles; it is the home of
Opera Australia, the third busiest opera company in the world and the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
[http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/culture_arts.html] Other venues include the
Sydney Town Hall,
City Recital Hall, the State Theatre and the Wharf Theatre.
The
Sydney Dance Company under the leadership of
Graeme Murphy during the late
20th century has also gained acclaim. The
Sydney Theatre Company has a regular roster of local plays, such as noted playwright
David Williamson, classics and international playwrights. Other important theatre companies in Sydney include
Company B and
Griffin Theatre Company. From the
1940s through to the
1970s the
Sydney Push, a group of authors and political activists whose members included
Germaine Greer, influenced the city's cultural life.
The
National Institute of Dramatic Art, based in
Kensington, boasts internationally famous alumni such as
Mel Gibson and
Baz Luhrmann.
Sydney's role in the film industry has increased since the opening of
Fox Studios Australia in 1998. Prominent films which have been filmed in the city include
Moulin Rouge!,
Mission Impossible II,
Star Wars episodes
II and
III,
Superman Returns and
The Matrix. Films using Sydney as a setting include
Finding Nemo,
Strictly Ballroom,
Mission Impossible II and
Muriels Wedding. As of 2006, over 213 films have been set in Sydney.
[http://www.imdb.com/find?s=kw&q=Sydney]Sydney hosts many different festivals including the
Sydney Festival, a celebration involving both indoor and free outdoor performances throughout January; the
Big Day Out, a travelling
rock music festival which originated in Sydney; the
Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along
Oxford Street; the
Sydney Film Festival and many other smaller festivals such as
Tropfest and
Archibald Prize, a competition organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Australian
rock bands which formed in Sydney include
Midnight Oil,
INXS,
Radio Birdman,
indie rockers
The Clouds and
The Crystal Set, electronic music pioneers
Severed Heads, Single Gun Theory and
Itch-E and Scratch-E. Jazz groups such as the Sydney-based
The Necks have performed at
The Basement and the Harbourside Brasserie.
Sydney has several museums. The biggest are the
Australian Museum (natural history and anthropology), the
Powerhouse Museum (science, technology and design), the
Art Gallery of New South Wales, the
Museum of Contemporary Art and the
Australian National Maritime Museum.
Sydney is well endowed with
open spaces, and has many natural areas even within the city centre. Within the
Sydney central business district are the
Chinese Garden of Friendship and
Hyde Park, and the
Royal Botanical Gardens. The metropolitan area contains several
national parks, including the
Royal National Park, the second oldest national park in the world.
[NPWS website, Royal National Park]Media
Sydney has two main daily
newspapers.
The Sydney Morning Herald is a centrist
broadsheet, and is Sydney's newspaper of record with extensive coverage of domestic and international news, culture and business. It is also the oldest extant newspaper in Australia, having been published regularly since 1831. The Herald's competitor,
The Daily Telegraph, is a populist and often sensationalist
News Corporation-owned
tabloid. Both papers have tabloid counterparts published on Sunday, the
Sun-Herald and the
Sunday Telegraph respectively.
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Sydney is one of the first major world cities to bring in the New Year, and is famed for its fireworks. |
The three commercial
television networks (
Seven,
Nine and
Ten), as well as the government national broadcast services (
ABC and
SBS) each have their headquarters in Sydney. Historically, the networks have been based on the north shore, but the last decade has seen several move to the inner city.
Nine have kept their headquarters north of the harbour, in
Willoughby.
Ten have their studios in a redeveloped section of the inner-city suburb of
Pyrmont.
Seven also have headquarters in Pyrmont, a studio in
Epping, as well as a new purpose built news studio in the CBD. The ABC has a large headquarters and production facility in the neighbouring suburb of
Ultimo and SBS have their studios at
Artarmon.
Foxtel and
Optus both supply pay-TV over their cable services to most parts of the urban area. The five free-to-air networks have provided
digital transmissions in Sydney since January 2001. Additional services recently introduced include the ABC's second channel ABC2 (Channel 21), SBS's world news service SBS2, an on-air program guide (Channel 4), ABC news, sport, and weather items (Channel 41),
ChannelNSW: Government and Public Information (Channel 45), Australian Christian Channel (Channel 46), MacquarieBank TV (Channel 47), SportsTAB (Channel 48), Expo Home Shopping (Channel 49), and Federal parliamentary broadcasts.
Many
AM and
FM government, commercial and community
radio services broadcast in the Sydney area. The local
ABC radio station is
702 ABC Sydney (formerly 2BL). The
talkback radio genre is dominated by the perennial rivals
2GB and
2UE.
Vega is a new talk radio station on the FM band. Popular
music stations include
Triple M,
2Day FM and
Nova 96.9.
Triple J,
2SER and
FBi Radio provide a more independent, local and alternative sound. There are also a number of community stations broadcasting to a particular language group or local area. For a full list see
here.
Sport
Sydney is the headquarters of the
Australian Rugby League and is home to 8 of the 15
National Rugby League (NRL) teams (
Sydney Roosters,
South Sydney Rabbitohs,
Parramatta Eels,
Cronulla Sharks,
Wests Tigers,
Penrith Panthers,
Canterbury Bulldogs and
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles), as well as being the northern home of the
St George Illawarra Dragons (this team is half-based in
Wollongong).
In addition to the NRL Sydney has teams in most national competitions including the
Sydney Swans (
AFL),
Sydney FC (
A-League),
Sydney Kings and the
West Sydney Razorbacks (
NBL),
Sydney Uni Flames (
WNBL),
Sydney Blues (
Australian Major League Baseball) and the
Sydney Swifts in Australian
netball's
Commonwealth Bank Trophy. The New South Wales teams
New South Wales Blues (
First-class cricket) and the
New South Wales Waratahs (
Super 14 Rugby union) are also based in Sydney.
Sydney hosted the
1938 British Empire Games and the
2000 Summer Olympics. Sydney's most famous sports grounds include
Sydney Olympic Park which includes
Telstra Stadium, home to such events as the NRL grand final, the
rugby league State of Origin series and most recently the football
World Cup qualifier between and
Uruguay. It also hosted the final of the
2003 Rugby World Cup.
Sydney Football Stadium (also known as Aussie Stadium) is home to such clubs as Sydney Roosters, Sydney FC and the NSW Waratahs, and the neighbouring
Sydney Cricket Ground has been home to numerous sports for over a century, but is the main home for cricket and
Australian rules football in the city. The Sydney Swans play most of their home games on the Sydney Cricket Ground. They were the
Australian Football League premiers of 2005.
Sydney Harbour is famous for its yacht racing, the Boxing Day start of the
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and 18 foot (5.5 m) skiffs. The harbour is used for recreational boating, racing small yachts, recreational
fishing, and occasional
Dragon Boat racing. Sydney's beaches are popular recreation and sporting locations with both tourists and locals. Famous Sydney beaches include
Bondi Beach,
Manly Beach,
Palm Beach and
Cronulla Beach .
Health
The
Government of New South Wales operates 13 public
hospitals in the Sydney metropolitan region.
[NSW Health. December 2005. Services] Management of these hospitals and other specialist health facilities are coordinated by 4 health services, Sydney South West (SSWAHS), Sydney West (SWAHS), Northern Sydney and Central Coast (NSCCAHS) and the South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra (SESIAHS) Area Health Services. There are also a number of private hospitals in the city, many of which are aligned with religious organisations.
Transport
Most Sydney residents travel by car through the system of roads,
freeways and
tollways (known as motorways). The most important
trunk routes in the urban area form the
Metroad system. Sydney is also served by extensive train, bus and ferry networks.
Sydney trains are run by
CityRail, a corporation of the
New South Wales State Government. Trains run as suburban commuter rail services in the outer suburbs, then converge in an underground city loop service in the CBD. In the years following the 2000 Olympics, CityRail's performance declined significantly. In 2005, CityRail introduced a revised timetable and employed more drivers. A large infrastructure project, the
Clearways project, is scheduled to be completed by 2010.
[CityRail (2002). Rail Clearways Plan][Kerr, J. and A. Smith. July 22 2004. Panic stations over CityRail driver exodus. Sydney Morning Herald][Kerr, J. December 4 2004. Terminal dilemma. Sydney Morning Herald]Sydney has one privately operated
light rail line, the
Metro Light Rail, running from
Central Station to
Lilyfield along a former goods train line. There is also a small
monorail which runs in a loop around the main shopping district and
Darling Harbour. Sydney was formerly served by an extensive
tram network, which was progressively closed in the 1950s and 1960s. Most parts of the metropolitan area are served by buses, many of which follow the pre-1963 tram routes. In the city and inner
suburbs the state-owned
Sydney Buses has a monopoly. In the outer suburbs, service is contracted to many private bus companies.
Sydney Ferries, another State government-owned organisation, runs numerous commuter and tourist ferry services on Sydney Harbour and the
Parramatta River.
|
The new Sydney millennium train operates in Sydney Metropolitan area. |
Kingsford Smith International Airport, located in the suburb of
Mascot, is Sydney's main airport, and the oldest continuously operating commercial airport in the world. The smaller
Bankstown Airport mainly serves private and
general aviation. There are light aviation airfields at
Hoxton Park and
Camden.
RAAF Base Richmond lies to the north-west of the city. The question of whether Sydney needs a second international airport has raised much controversy. A 2003 study found that Kingsford Smith can manage as Sydney's sole international airport for 20 years with a significant increase in airport traffic predicted. The resulting expansion of the airport will have a substantial impact on the community, including additional aircraft noise affecting residents. Land has been acquired at
Badgerys Creek for a second airport and alternative sites have been mooted.
Sydney Buses operates over 300 routes, most of them located in the Eastern part of Sydney.To the south and west, most routes are operated by private bus companies. Routes are numbered following a regional pattern, so that the 100s serve the northern beaches, the 200s the north shore, the 300s the eastern suburbs, the 400s the inner west and south to Rockdale and Miranda and the 500s the west, including
Ryde and
Parramatta. Limited stops and express services replace the first digit of the route number with an L, E or X. School special services use numbers beginning with 6.
Utilities
Water storage and supply for Sydney is managed by the
Sydney Catchment Authority, which is an agency of the NSW Government that sells bulk water to
Sydney Water and other agencies. Water in the Sydney catchment is chiefly stored in dams in the
Upper Nepean Scheme, the
Blue Mountains,
Woronora Dam,
Warragamba Dam and the
Shoalhaven Scheme.
[Sydney Catchment Authority. History of Sydney's water supply] Historically low water levels in the catchment have led to water use restrictions and the NSW government is investigating alternative water supply options, including grey water recycling and the construction of a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant at Kurnell.
[Sydney Water. Sydney's desalination project] Sydney Water also collects the wastewater and sewerage produced by the city.
Three companies supply natural gas and electricity to Sydney:
Energy Australia,
AGL and
Integral Energy. Numerous telecommunications companies operate in Sydney providing terrestrial and mobile telecommunications services.
*
2000 Summer Olympics*
List of attractions in Sydney*
Museums in Sydney*
Buildings and architecture of Sydney*
Markets in Sydney*
History of New South Wales*
Sydney Riot of 1879*
2005 Cronulla riots*
Crime in Sydney*
Westies (people)*
Easties (people)*
World Youth Day 2008
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WikiSatellite view of Sydney at WikiMapia *
Australian Museum: Aboriginal people of coastal Sydney*
Sydney Metropolitan Strategy*
Sydney Weather: Current temparatures and Forecast (NSW Government)*
Sydney Weather Forecast (Bureau of Met)*
Google Maps: Sydney (satellite photographs)
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Historic photographs of Sydney buildingszh-yue:悉尼
