Three 'Must-Have' Priorities For A Global Sydney: Property Council

Sydney’s future is full of opportunity and now is the time to seize it according to new a new report, Global Sydney, released by the Property Council.

The new report, produced with research from Urbis and Knight Frank, highlights the three “must have” priorities that the government and property industry must embrace for Sydney to compete with other regional cities like Auckland, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as world leading ones like New York to be a truly global city.

The report has been released at a critical juncture with the City of Sydney’s draft Central Sydney Planning Strategy already under discussion and the release of the Greater Sydney Commission’s District Plans imminent.

Property Council NSW Executive Director Jane Fitzgerald said today that the new report takes the pulse of the city and recommends ways to enhance its competitiveness.

“Government and the property industry need to focus on the three must have priorities to make sure Sydney continues to rise in the global stakes – they are: mobility and productivity, fostering growth and creating efficiency in the broader planning system.

“Sydney is currently ranked the number one economic region in Australia with around $110 billion in gross regional product, 254,000 jobs in the CBD with 57,000 new jobs expected by 2020 and 58,000 people expected to live in the CBD by the same year.”

“But Sydney drops behind when compared to other major cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Auckland, New York and London on certain other factors.

“Sydney ranks poorly on ease of doing business and average internet speed but ranks better when you look at our potential economic and political risk.”

The three must haves to ensure a global Sydney are, according to the Property Council:
1. We must have world class mobility and productivity in our city
Transport solutions are needed to connect new areas of growth – the NSW government has shown great leadership in this regard with investment for WestConnex, the Metro and light rail but we need to ensure this continues and is integrated with property development.
2. We must have a city that fosters growth and encourages new business
Sydney must encourage technology and creative industries to set up shop here. Companies such as Atlassian and Google have elevated their presence and WeWork will occupy approximately 11,000 square metres of office space across our CBD. But we need to create micro-precincts where start-ups can be prioritised.

To compete against the tech hubs of New York, San Francisco and London, we need to have one strategic plan for Sydney that integrates the plans that already exists at a state, local and federal government level. Too many plans will achieve nothing.
3. We must have an efficient planning system
In Melbourne you can get a development approval in nine months, with the more onerous NSW legislation still ranked the worst in the country, it can sometimes take years.

We need the state government to continue the process of reforming our planning system, we need the ability to refresh degraded stock and encourage preferred land uses including commercial office space. This will make it easier to do business in our city.