Sydney’s Three Cities - a flawed vision?

Research by the University of Sydney's School of Architecture, Design and Planning into Sydney's metropolitan strategic plan, A Metropolis of Three Cities, finds that although a step in the right direction, flaws exist in several policies. At a time when more is being required of planning to bring about sustainable and equitable cities, the advent of a strategy for Sydney that attempts to generate a substantially new metropolitan structure is of significant interest. Yet as with any visionary plan, the question of whether the vision can guide development in the desired directions is paramount. A Metropolis of Three Cities - the Greater Sydney Region Plan attempts to align land use, transport and infrastructure planning to reshape Greater Sydney as three unique but connected cities. The strategic plan, prepared concurrently with Future Transport 2056 and the State Infrastructure Strategy, aims to rebalance growth, and deliver benefits equally and equitably to residents across Greater Sydney. Flawed Vision? Sydney's Three Cities Metropolitan Strategy a new paper co-authored by Associate Professor in Planning, Glen Searle from the School of Architecture, Design and Planning , addresses several conflicting policies in the metropolitan strategic plan: Jobs The strategy has incorporated proposals to generate jobs as part of the knowledge economy, around hospitals, universities and the second airport, as well as the existing concentration in Tech Central in central Sydney, though the imbalance in knowledge jobs between eastern and western Sydney seems unlikely to be shifted by the strategy.