Is Sydney a global city?

Which city is this?

How many inhabitants has Sydney?Compare it with London

5,1 million pop in 2019

12,368 km²

Sydney

10 million pop in 2019

1,572 km²

London

Where is located Sydney in Australia?

Pacific Ocean

Learning question: Is Sydney a global city?

1) Using documents 1, 2 and 3, identify and describe the assets that Sydney values to be a global city.

To understand Sydney's assets

Doc.1 : Tourism, a key activity Welcoming nearly 5 million international tourists in 2018, the tourism generated 5% of the wealth produced by the city, notably because of emblematic places :

Source: textbook of geography Hachette 1ère, 2019 Map key translated

Doc. 2 : A polycentric city with many assets

Doc.3 : Sydney in GAWC and GPCI’s rankings : A number of organisations around the world have developed their own rankings that measure cities across a diverse range of social, economic, environmental and cultural indicators. Arguably, some rankings attempt to quantify cities in terms of their global status and influence, which provides us with an alternative understanding of how Sydney is positioned against other cities around the world. Next page are the rankings from GaWC (Loughborough University) and GPCI (Insitute for Urban Strategies – The Mori Memorial foundation)

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/microsites/geography/gawc/world2020t.html

Alpha

Alpha +

Alpha ++

Category

Madrid

Sao Paulo

Toronto

Beijing

Milan

Sydney

Dubai

Chicago

Shanghai

Tokyo

Singapore

Paris

Hong Kong

New York

London

City

Rank

2010

Doc.3-a : Globalisation and World Cities (GaWC Research Network), Loughborough University, 2020

Source : GPCI 2019 (https://mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/ius2/gpci2/2019.shtml ), GPCI 2022(https://mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/ius2/gpci2/index.shtml )

Photo via Global Power City Index 2022 https://mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/ius2/gpci2/index.shtml

15. Vienna (+ ?)

14. Copenhagen (+6)

13. Sydney (-3)

12. Madrid (+1)

11. Dubai (+8)

10. Shanghai (+20)

9. Melbourne (+2)

8. Berlin

7. Seoul

6. Amsterdam

5. Singapore

4. Paris

3. Tokyo

2. New York

1. London

2022

15. Zurich

14. Stockholm

13. Madrid

12. Los Angeles

11. Melbourne

10. Sydney

9. Hong Kong

8. Berlin

7. Seoul

6. Amsterdam

5. Singapore

4. Paris

3. Tokyo

2. New York

1. London

2019

Global City Power Index from Mori Memorial Foundation

Doc.3-b : The Global City Power Index

2) What are Sydney’s disadvantages in the competition between the world's major metropolises? (docs. 4 and 5)
3) Why did the article argue that Sydney was not a global city (doc.5)?

II) To measure the challenges of global competition

Sydney in GPCI’s rankings : A number of organisations around the world have developed their own rankings that measure cities across a diverse range of social, economic, environmental and cultural indicators. Arguably, some rankings attempt to quantify cities in terms of their global status and influence, which provides us with an alternative understanding of how Sydney is positioned against other cities around the world. Next page is the ranking from GPCI (Insitute for Urban Strategies – The Mori Memorial foundation)

Source : GPCI 2019 (https://mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/ius2/gpci2/2019.shtml ), GPCI 2022(https://mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/ius2/gpci2/index.shtml )

Photo via Global Power City Index 2022 https://mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/ius2/gpci2/index.shtml

15. Vienna (+ ?)

14. Copenhagen (+6)

13. Sydney (-3)

12. Madrid (+1)

11. Dubai (+8)

10. Shanghai (+20)

9. Melbourne (+2)

8. Berlin

7. Seoul

6. Amsterdam

5. Singapore

4. Paris

3. Tokyo

2. New York

1. London

2022

15. Zurich

14. Stockholm

13. Madrid

12. Los Angeles

11. Melbourne

10. Sydney

9. Hong Kong

8. Berlin

7. Seoul

6. Amsterdam

5. Singapore

4. Paris

3. Tokyo

2. New York

1. London

2019

Global City Power Index from Mori Memorial Foundation

Doc.3-b : The Global City Power Index

Source: distancede.com, 2023

Distance between five world metropolises in km (in time)

Sydney

Shanghai

7 850 (10h30)

New York

16 000 (21h10)

11 850 (15h15)

Los Angeles

12 400 (16h30)

10 450 (13h30)

4 000 (5h20)

London

17 000 (21h30)

9 200 (12h00)

5 580 (7h25)

8 800 (11h20)

Sydney

Shanghai

New York

Los Angeles

London

By Matt Wade

April 12th 2014

Doc.5 : Sydney not yet a true global city

It has become fashionable to label Sydney a global city – a dynamic urban gateway to the Asia-Pacific. Premier Barry O’Farrell even describes Sydney as “Australia’s only global city”. But do we really live up to that tag?
[…] Sydney has some glaring weaknesses for a city of global status. Greg Clark, a renowned British urbanist who has advised more than 30 cities on five continents, has identified at least three.
First, Sydney has “second-tier” city infrastructure that clashes with its global city economic profile.
“Sydney is already hosting more in terms of business, economic and commercial activity than its infrastructure can really sustain,” Clark told a seminar held by the Committee for Sydney policy and advocacy group on Friday. “There’s limited room for growth because of those infrastructure shortcomings.” Sydney has a very high level of car dependency by world city standards and a low level of mass transit coverage. The lack of an effective, city-wide public transport system threatens to stunt Sydney’s knowledge-intensive industries which are increasingly the life-blood of the city’s economy.
“Sydney’s transport system diminishes the chances of creative interaction between people and makes it difficult for businesses to open up new sites to open up new capacity,” Clark said.
This analysis exposes the fundamental weaknesses in Sydney’s public transport system and the need for massive investments to improve it. “You can’t name a successful global city that doesn't have a good public transport system.”
Second, Sydney is relatively small and very sparsely populated compared with cities that merit the "global" tag. Its population density is only about 40 per cent that of London and 20 per cent that of New York and Singapore. Clark pointed out that Sydney’s population density –2,000 per square kilometre – is comparable to that of Los Angeles, a city that has been falling on global city indexes. The low-density sprawl is stifling Sydney’s growth by reducing productivity and innovation.
The city would need more people and higher population density if it wanted to be “a city of real significance in the Asia-Pacific”, said Clark.
Third, Sydney lacks the innovation culture of a genuine global city. Clark said Sydney had half the high-tech employment of Toronto, Stockholm, London or Seattle and ranked “well outside the top ten” for research and development.
“I draw the conclusion,” said Clark. “that Sydney has superb assets and a wonderful opportunity to combine corporate success with liveability success, the fundamental problem has to do with gaps in infrastructure and the innovation system.”
Not matter what our politicians say about Sydney, they've got a lot of work to do before they can genuinely claim it's a global city.

Complete your worksheet

Is Sydney a global city?
Task 1: Examine each of the statements below.
Task 2: You need to then identify which of the global city criteria the statement relates to. Write this in the middle column.
Task 3: For each statement, consider if it adds suggests that Sydney is a global city. Add “Y” if it does, “N” if it does not.

III) To synthesize the arguments of the debate by organizing them:

Global City Y/N

Global City Criteria Concerned (Economic, Political, Cultural, Infrastructural and accessibility)

Sydney is the most popular city for international students. Its universities have over 50,000 international students.

Almost 3 million international tourists visit Sydney each year. It is the 42nd most visited city in the world.

The level of employment in innovative hightech industries is lower than in many other cities.

60% of the regional headquarters of companies that operate in the Asia-Pacific region are located in Sydney.

Sydney is considered to be one of the best cities in the world for quality of life.

Sydney is home to all the Australian television broadcasters and has world class advertising and animation industries.

The infrastructure which exists to support business is high standard.

Sydney is often seen as a place to visit on holiday and not a place to do business.

Sydney is one of the most multicultural cities in the world.

Sydney’s time zone allows it to do business with Asia and the USA during normal daylight working hours

Many of the multinational companies which are located in Sydney tend to be involved in local activities rather than make decisions of global importance.

Sydney is located a long way from the places it trades with.

Sydney airport flies to 46 international destinations. London Heathrow flies to 170.

One third of Sydney’s population speak a language other than English at home.

The infrastructure which supports business is not developed enough to allow fast economic growth.

Out of all the international companies in Australia, 65% are in Sydney.

The rate of economic growth in Sydney is very low. Over 150 cities in the world are growing at a faster rate.

Sydney does not have a city-wide public transport system. 70% of the population rely on cars.

45 of the 47 international banks that operate in Australia are found in Sydney.

The population of Sydney is 5,1 million. It is not yet a ‘megacity’.

Statement

In 2014 the Sydney Morning Herald had a section with the following headline: “Sydney not yet a true global city”. Is this statement still true? Use evidence from the table above and your previous answers to explain your view : Is Sydney a global city or Is Sydney a peripheral metropolis ?

IV) Let’s debate!

So is Sydney a global city or not?

Is Sydney a global city?

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