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Social Structure & spatial patterns of advantage & disadvantage wealth, poverty & ethnicity
Social Structure:
Pattern of the interrelationships of people in society.
In every society there is some form of social structure
Social structure results in patterns of advantage and disadvantage
Advantage in life opportunities & social position is subject to different criteria ranging from the
income & wealth of households to the extent of personal freedom
Social structure is influenced by a variety of factors & patterns of advantage & disadvantage that can
be seen spatially by
Income & Poverty
Ethnicity
Educational levels & employment
Patterns of income & poverty:
Income is the amount of funds, goods or services received by an individual
Most income of people living in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Region (GSMR) is in the form of
money
Areas with highest percentage of high income households were Around the waterways of Sydney especially the Sydney Harbour foreshores
Large part of the northern suburbs
Areas of Georges River & Port Hacking
Areas of high income coincide largely with the broad pattern of wealth
Strong relationship between income & wealth of a individual
Wealth consists of physical assets such as buildings, property & financial assets
For most people their most important asset & wealth holding is their home
Most of the better quality homes in Sydney are in high income areas
In Sydney its unlikely anyone would be living in absolute poverty
Lowest level of weekly income recognised by the ABS is $300 which is used as an indicator of
relative poverty
Concentrations of low income households are in the inner city, west & south west
There were isolated pockets of poverty in the northern side of the harbour
Main reasons for spatial patterns of high & low income areas in GSMR:
Suburbanisation
High income & wealthy households mainly choose to live in the suburbs near natural
waterways & higher altitudes
Low income households are often one parent families & people aged over 60yrs
They live in flatter & less attractive areas in the west & south west of the city

Urban decay Urban dynamic that resulted in less attractive areas to live in
These areas in the inner city provide more affordable housing for low income households

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

Patterns of Ethnicity:
Existence of residential concentrations of ethnic groups seems to be an integral part of the process of
new immigrant populations entering alien territory
Common phenomenon in large cities in countries that accept large no. of migrants
Aust pursued active migration program over the last 50yrs
In the period after WWII migration to Aust was dominated by English speaking people from Britain &
Ireland with smaller no. of non English speaking people from countries like Italy & Greece
Main reasons for this migration were
Higher living standards in Aust
Problems arising from WWII such as homelessness & social
dislocation
Widespread poverty in rural Southern Europe
1980s change in immigration policy that favoured 2 main streams
refugee migrants from Indochina, the Middle East & Latin
America
Professional & business migrants from Southern, Eastern &
South East Asia
Large proportion of migrants who enter Aust settle in Sydney
E.G. In 2001 73% of Lebanese migrants settled in Sydney
Sydney has taken 43% of migrants entering Aust between 1996 & 2001
Long period of migration has strongly affected Sydney
1996 Census showed:
Over 1/3 of Sydneys pop was overseas born
6% speak a language other then English at home
Main source of overseas born people was from Britain & Ireland with 16.5%
Other sig groups from North East Asia, Middle East & New Zealand
Effect of this migration had varied spatial effects generally:
English speaking migrants from Britain & Ireland assimilated into the community with little evidence
of distinctive enclaves & segregation
Non English speaking migrants showed strong tendency to segregate into enclaves
Spatial clustering of migrants offers no. of advantages including:
Immediate opportunity of sheltering with family or friends
Feeling of security & support
Common language & customs
Assistance in finding employment

Spatial clustering or segregation tends to be supported by nature of migration process

Even if there were not obvious advantages from clustering its still likely to occur because of external
pressures such as
Newly arrived migrants into cities tend to occupy relatively unfavourable position within the
socioeconomic structure of their new society
Many migrants arrive with little money with access to only the lowest cost & poorest quality
housing stock
These factors result in many migrants living in the poorest quality housing areas of cities outside the
redevelopment zones

EXAMPLES OF THIS:
Vietnamese Migrants:
1970s Vietnamese migrants arrived in Sydney & settled in & around Cabramatta which had the
advantages of
cheap housing
being close to opportunities for employment in manufacturing
Vietnamese in Cabramatta in the Fairfield Local Gov Area are the most strongly concentrated
immigration pop in Sydney
1996 Census showed 42% of all Vietnam born people living in Sydney were in that area
1 in 7 residents of the Fairfield Local Gov Area came from Vietnam
Cabramatta has a thriving commercial centre & strong sense of community
Serious concerns in the community about drug dealing & crime
Recently arrived Afghan Refugees:
Research by Peter Waxman on Bosnian, Afghan & Iraqi humanitarian entrants to Aust showed the
location of public accommodation & of sponsors determined initial & secondary migration locations &
reinforced concentration of non English speakers in certain areas
Patterns of Educational Attainment:
Useful indicator in developed economies of patterns of advantage & disadvantage is education & uni
education
People with Uni qualifications are strongly concentrated on the north side of the harbour because
These are more attractive high income suburbs
Most of Sydneys unis are within reasonable travelling distance from these suburbs

Changing economic character, nature & location of residential land, commercial & industrial
development
Development of global economy:
1980s many developments that encouraged development of global economy
THESE INCLUDED
Advances in transport including jumbo jets & widespread use of containerisation & super tankers
Development of advanced information technology
Deregulation of financial systems in many countries
Greater encouragement of international trade
Sydney as a World City:
Factors that have made Sydney a World City
Low operating costs compared with many other cities
Gov policies that have been favourable to businesses & TNCs
Air connections the largest international & domestic airport
Local amenities cultural activities, climate, education & attractive lifestyle
Highly skilled & educated workforce
Because of these factors Sydney has become a sig world city not as important as New York, London &
Tokyo but comparable with Hong Kong, Singapore & Los Angeles
Sydneys Changing Economic Character:
Sydneys development as a global city brought about changes in the structure of employment
17% of employed people in Sydney work in fianc & business services comparable with London &
New York
Commercial Development:
Sydney role as a world city has had a no. of effects on the nature & location of commercial
development
The Commonwealth & NSW gov have regional headquarters program to provide incentives for TNCs
to locate their Asia Pacific regional headquarters in Sydney
Sydney is the location of advanced producer services required by TNCs & advanced local
organisations
Financial services are located almost exclusively in the CBD
Growth of Sydney & its emergence as a world city allowed other commercial districts to grow
Suburbanisation of many commercial activities
Commercial centres include Newcastle, Chatswood & Parramatta
Widespread suburbanisation of shopping
Large commercial shopping centre such as Castle Hill cater for suburban pop who drive cars & do not
rely on commercial transport
These developments have resulted in CBD that is more related to
Global & national business
Tourism
High quality shopping

Industrial Development:
In the immediate post WWII period Sydney grew rapidly as a industrial city protected by high tariffs
Since then the types & patterns of industry have changed
1970s 1990s Aust manufacturing was exposed to greater global comp as tariffs & other forms of
protection were reduced
Sydney lost much of its manufacturing capacity in cars, clothing & textiles
Successor of producer & financial services with their above average income levels made it difficult for
manufacturing to compete for labour & land as they could not pass on the increased costs
Increasing share of import export activities in transport, storage & wholesaling that stimulated air &
road transport activity in the inner city resulting in closing & relocating manufacturing from traditional
areas
Demand for better quality housing in their inner city put pressure on traditional manufacturing
activities in competing for land with gentrification changing many old buildings
As a result of these forces industry has developed more complex location
Industrial parks in places such as Blacktown point to a suburbanisation of industry
High tech industry is also suburbanised
Main tech location is the area from North Ryde to North Sydney
This area known as Sydneys silicon corridor
Location of over 5000 high tech companies including Microsoft & IBM
Activities include internet services, computers, electronics, medical services & film
Factors affecting location in this area
Sydneys culture & lifestyle
Competitively priced labour
Highly developed communications structure
Highly skilled & multilingual workforce
High level of intellectual property provided by local laws
Nature & location of residential land:
Nature & location of residential land in Sydney has been affected by
Physical geography of GSMR
Position of the harbour has divided the city into 2 broad areas
Hilly area to the north of the harbour which is most attractive for residential development
Area to the south & west of the harbour which is less attractive for residential development
Suburbanisation resulted in sprawl of residential areas from the original settlement around the present
day CBD
Urban decay & renewal has resulted in development of new residential areas closer to the CBD &
gentrification.
2001 census showed gentrification in the inner city suburbs was pushing renters into outer suburbs &
further north towards Gosford & Wyong
Urban consolidation has meant settlement in the inner city area has become more intense
2002 70% of new residences in Sydney were a result of suburbanisation & 30% were a result of
urban consolidation
Exurbanisation has been a factor but only a minor one

Culture of Place:
Culture refers to the way of life of a group of people
Culture of a place refers expressed in its architecture, streetscape, heritage, colour, energy & lifestyles
It will be reflected in how people behave, how they look, their attitudes & perceptions & the nature of
the built environment
Large cities in the developed work taken care to develop distinctive sense of place
Sydney is made up of many smaller distinctive places each with their own communities & culture
Places such as Leichhardt, Blacktown, Mosman & Castle Hill are all very distinctive places with a
distinctive culture of place
Collectively they combine to make Sydney a distinctive place
Sydneys CBD & Inner Metropolitan Sydney (IMS)
Architecture
Sydney had many buildings with distinctive architecture
2 best known are the Sydney Harbour Bridge & Opera House
Many important heritage buildings like the QVB
Streetscape
Sydney grew from a small cove settlement with narrow streets
Never been any attempt to redesign the street pattern as in Paris in the 19th century
Some narrow streets resulted in the distinctive streetscapes of The Rocks
Other distinctive streetscapes include Circular Quay & Martin Place
Pitt Street Mall has become highly distinctive along with Chinatown & Darling Harbour
Distinctive streetscapes in inner city suburbs such as Paddington & Newtown
Noise, colour, street life & vitality
CBD & IMS has variety of noises ranging from bang & roar of heavy equipment on sites of urban
renewal to gentle buzz of cafes
Sydney has variety of colours
It can be city of torrential rain or brilliant whit sunlight or misty grey smog & fog can envelope the
city
City of sparkling emerald blue of the waterways, the bluish white of the great masses of vertical glass
& the yellow brown of old sandstone
Hyde Park with its Moreton Bay figs & lawns provides a slash of green in what is overwhelmingly a
concrete & glass city
Sydney CBD & IMS does not have they highly distinctive streets & NY & Paris
CBD has few permanent residents & does not have the street life of NY & Paris where people meet in
the streets & eat in nearby cafes & restaurants
Increasing signs of this in IMS
During lunch breaks many areas of the CBD come alive with people movement & noise
Pitt Street Mall is mostly alive with pedestrians, bushers, shoppers & tourists
Dixon Street & southern George Street are enlivened by Chinese restaurants & shops

Oxford St in Paddington on the edge of the CBD is a wonderful street for cafes & distinctive shops
Sydneys vitality reflected in the noise & bustle of Darling Harbour, the Quay & special parades &
ceremonies such as ANZAC day

Lifestyles
Lifestyle vary greatly
Abundance of world class entertainment including opera, concerts & theatre
World class restaurants & creative cuisine
Abundance of sporting facilities, family style restaurants & diverse entertainment
Also the urban poor
Lifestyles are divers & depend on income & taste
Growth, development, future trends & ecological sustainability:
Growth, development & future trends of Sydney
Sydney has grown at a rapid & undesirable rate
E.G.
- 1 million more people are tipped to come into Sydney in the next 20yrs
- 100 New residents entering Sydney per day which is expected to continue for 25years
- 70% of new arrivals will be accommodated in existing suburbs
- Baulkham Hills Shire has a pop growing at a rate triple the Sydney average Between 1996 and 2001 its
pop expanded by 16.5%
- 2016 Sydney basin pop will grow by 16% & by 2026 it will grow by 29%
- 650 000 homes will be needed in the next 25yrs & 70% of them will be squeezed into existing suburbs
- 70 million flights a yr will arrive at & depart from Syd airport within 15yrs doubling current movements
- every day an extra 40 homes are built
Ageing pop puts pressure on housing as the no. of people per dwelling falls
E.G.
- By 2012 there will be more people over 65 then under 15 having a huge impact on home design &
services like hospitals & transport
- Household sizes are falling
- 2.7 people is the average no. of people per household
Rapid growth resulted in sprawl of suburbanisation & made Sydney spatially very large & this has
created problems
Accommodating growing pop will be difficult
Expected urban consolidation will cater for more then 30% of the future pop
Remainder will be in new suburbs to the north & south west
Urban sprawl
E.G.
- Agricultural lands need protection from the urban sprawl & to ensure Sydneys supply of leafy
greens

The Sydney Morning Heralds 30/5/05 Campaign For Sydney showed .

Ecological Sustainability:
Ecological sustainability is a major concern globally
Development of large urban centres such as Sydney has major impacts on the its environment
For Sydney to be containable and sustainable it means growing within resource limits & improving on
natural & biodiversity endowments when and where we can
Careful planning of new areas & the revitalisation of existing communities is needed to increase the
diversity of housing choices to achieve sustainability & affordability
Such a large urban area:
Has huge demand for natural resources
E.G. Syd pop has doubled since 1950 but consumption has tripled
Obliterates the natural hydrological system within its area
Producers waste products including solid & liquid waste, sewerage, air pollutants, heat & noise
which alter the environment around it
Reduces biomass & alters species of plants & animals in & around it
Create new land through reclamation & landfill

These impacts make up the ecological footprint of a city

Footprint provides an estimate of the total area of productive land & water required to produce all
resources consumed & assimilate all waste products produced
Sydney large city where people work to produce G/S & information
Large no. of people live in Sydney because of its liveability & access to its facilities & urban area

Liveability of cities includes:

Opportunities for employment
Availability of health & recreation services
Availability of housing
Education & community factors
Entertainment
Sense of community & opportunity to develop social activities & relationships
Large cities have range of inputs necessary to provide liveability including land, water, food,
energy, building materials & waste outputs
Building liveable communities is vital to retain a creative workforce

Ecologically sustainable development of Sydney & other large cities depends on reducing
resource inputs & waste outputs while maintaining liveability of urban areas
Gov can contribute to ecologically sustainable development through legislation that acts in 2 ways
Encouraging households & industry to reduce the amount of resources they consume such
as encouraging energy efficient water heating & increasing the price of water to discourage
its wasteful use

E.G. New homes have to reduce water use by 40%

Encouraging reduction in the amount of waste created such as reducing packaging &
recycling materials
2000 Olympic village included sustainable features such as
solar power
water efficient facilities such as special shower heads & recycled water for
non drinking purposes
conservation zones
State gov attempting to reduce water consumption in Sydney
E.G 2002 average person was using 411 litres per day by 2011 State gov wants to reduce this to 329
litres per day
Edward J Blakely the Professor of Urban & Regional Planning at the Uni of Syd said
Sydney urgently needs a strategy that co-ordinates across gov; which has the means to guide & measure our
direction, to ensure we meet the social & economic challengesover the next 30yrs
Impacts on Ecological Sustainable Development & gov Strategies:
The ecological sustainability of Sydney depends on effectively reducing resource inputs & waste outputs
while maintaining the liveability of the urban areas.
Water:
After yrs of profligate water use in the face of one of the worst drought for decades our water
supply has never been lower
An antediluvian attitude to water recycling could mean billions of $ are wasted on energy hungry
desalinisation to provide the city with fresh water
91% of NSW in drought
Sydneys dam levels have fallen to 38.8% of capacity
Every yr Sydney Water discharges about 450 gigalitres of waste water into rivers & the ocean
recycling only 3.2% of effluent
This is expected to rise to 4.6% after a new water reclamation plant starts operating in Wollongong
in Oct
Overall water consumption has tripled since 1950 despite a recent decline.
Nearly 11% of piped water is lost through leaks.
Gov water strategies:
State gov is relying on building its way out of a water shortage with an expensive energy
intensive & greenhouse gas polluting desalinisation plant
Instead it should be treating water as a scarce resource that should be priced appropriately
Gov should adopt recommendations drawn up last yr by its own experts which included making
water restrictions permanent
At the very least residents of Sydney must stop using quality water for non drinking purposes
Recycling water would reduce the amount of water diverted from our rivers & cut the amount of
polluting wastewater discharged into oceans
Storm water could also be used for agriculture, public parks & golf course irrigation & to re store
suburban creeks
Sydney Waters pricing is based on recovering the costs incurred in supplying water but puts no
value on water itself
Wholesale step pricing, charging big users higher prices should also be introduced to remove the
incentive for Sydney Water to sell more water
The authority should be penalised when it buys more water than it needs from the Sydney
Catchment Authority
Installation of water meters in individual units would also reduce demand

Non drinking water should be used to cool power plants & oil refineries & in paper mills, carpet
dryers & on construction sites for dust control
In the longer term businesses need to rethink & restructure to dramatically cut water & energy use
as well as pollution
NSW should plan for a new dam

Problems in Air Quality:

Air quality is under threat because State gov failed to shift people out of their cars & onto public
transport
Car dependency is growing faster than the pop
Tiny airborne particles emitted from cars linked to increased respiratory problems, aggravation of
asthma, more hospital emissions & premature deaths
Cleaner fuels & more sophisticated engines have made offset by the growth in car use
Building more toll roads ahead of demand will only stimulate more car use
Sydneys air quality only meets 4 of 6 national goals & its photochemical smog continually
breaches the Aust standard
Smog is becoming worse despite cleaner fuel & better vehicle tech because on weekdays as 4.1
million people each make an average 3.78 trips by car
Cars main source of pollution & car use is tipped to rise by 32% by 2020
Maintaining air & water quality will be a continuing challenge
E.G.
- The gov has stopped monitoring air toxins & stations capable of reading air standards have been cut by a
because of budget restrictions
- 2004 gov scrapped its gas fuelled bus program
- Carbon dioxide emissions from cars are forecast to rise to 72% during the next 15yrs
- Air quality guidelines were exceeded in Sydneys south western suburbs on 9 days last yr
- Topography of Syd means air quality is consistently worse in western Sydney
Gov Air Quality Strategies:
State gov must invest in modern public transport , focus on local & regional centres so people can
walk & ride bikes for short trips & put job centres on an expanded public transport grid so
communters have a choice of travel modes
Gov needs to pursue building reform to cut home energy demand
Need to est. a single state authority responsible for air quality as an April report by the auditor
general identified this lack of accountability as a problem
NSW State department of Environment & Conservation has the responsibility for monitoring air
quality & coordinating the gov action for air policy it does not have the resources or power to
implement anything

Problems with Bushland

Groups such as the National Parks Association of NSW want to see a greenbelt of parks around
the city to contain the urban sprawl & protect biological diversity
Parks & open space are scare in the citys west compared with other areas
With increased density across the city parks & reserves will become more contentious
Planned new suburbs on the fringes will subsume agricultural land, with farmers & academics
fearing threats to food supply notably leafy greens, mushrooms & other perishable veges
Gov Strategy
Attempts are being made to finalise native vegetation laws but both environmentalists & farmers
are unhappy with the proposed legislation
Gov is promising a plan to protect agriculture in the Sydney Basin
The gov must develop tough unambiguous guidelines that give farmers planning certainty & the
Department of Infrastructure, Planning & Natural Resources and the authority & incentive to
prosecute illegal land clearers.

Problems in Public Transport

Only 4.7% of Baulk ham Hills residents were able to take a train or bus from near their home to
work
Alternatively in Waverly more then 21% of workers rely solely on a train, bus or ferry to get to
their jobs
No new lines are under way to expand the system & Chatswood to Epping link is an inferior
version of the circuit to Parramatta first envisaged
50 yrs ago half of all journeys to work were by train, now fewer then 10% are & public transport
use is falling by the day
The train system loss 6 million trips in 2004 as commuters abandoned the network
Work related public transport use is down to 10.6% of all journeys
Government spending is only 5% of what it needs to be to prevent the rail system collapsing
On a Friday night a pedestrian can beat a bus from Central Station to Circular Quay
Public Transport Gov strategy
Public transport needs to be transformed into one service run by one agency
Integrated services & fares across all modes are needed
Frequent & faster services are needed with standardised stops
Higher & more realistic fares along with a revamp of staffing costs & maintenance
Plans for increased mass transit facilities with increased busways & railways
E.G.
- $1 Billion is being spent to untangle the citys maze of intersecting lines & mainly to improve the no. of
trains that arrive on time

Traffic Congestion Problems

Rapid creation of a CBD of offices, hotels & shops around the airport, immune from state planning
laws will worsen traffic
Traffic congestion as been pushed by an expanding road network with motorist underred by a
profusion of new tolls
Truck volumes will nearly triple in the next 15yrs even if as planned rail takes 40% of container
freight

E.G.
- Almost all commuters in Sydneys newest suburbs drive to work
- National cost of road congestion in terms of wasted time, fuel, air pollution & stress is tipped to rise to
$8.8 billion a yr by 2015
- Car use will increase by 1/3 by 2020
- 91% of all residents in Baulkham hills travel to work by car
- Work related public transport use is down to 10.6% of all journeys
- Train system lost 6 million trips last yr as commuters abandoned the network
- Gov spending is only 5% of what it has been told by experts is needed to stop the rail system collapsing
- Social isolation of people without cars
E.G.
- By 2001 more then 150 000 homes in Sydney had 3 or more cars while only 13% of homes were
without a car
- Large areas of land devoted to parking & roads

Traffic Congestion Gov strategy

To complete Sydneys orbital motorway plus- M4 Airport tunnel
Road projects are intended to contain demand not stimulate it
All major suburban corridors are to have fixed public transport
Four new rail lines will be located in the Hills District, Leppington, cross Harbour & Randwick
Three metros will be located from Dee Why Miranda, Victoria Road Maroubra and Parramatta
Road North Sydney
Four light rail lines located at Parramatta, Epping, Circular Quay, Lilyfield & Burwood
Build dedicated freight railway to three depots
Energy Problems
Each yr Sydney uses 2.2% more electricity then the year before
Peak demand times are forecast to rise by 2.9% a yr a yr as the use of air conditioning grows
Poor housing design has made buildings hotter in summer & colder in winter leading to sky high sales
of air conditioners causing growth in demand energy
State owned buildings are only compelled to but 6% of their power from renewable energy sources
Energy demand needs to be curbed by weaning Sydney residents off highly polluting coal fired plants
with a mixture of gas & renewable energies such as wind & solar
Gov strategy for energy:

At the NSW labor conference Mr Carr announced 2 gas fired power stations would be built to meet
peak demand which is really a short term fix

The Building Sustainability Index requires new homes to cut energy use by 25%, there are few
suggestions on curbing use or increasing prices

BASIX guidelines for new housing encourage people to install energy efficient appliances & hot
water systems & to use insulating glass or double glazing

Introduction of smart metering by Energy Australia encourages users to switch off when demand if
high

Higher prices for power, tougher energy efficiency ratings for electricity appliances & five star
energy efficiency standards for all new commercial buildings are needed to reduce energy use

Building managers must be encouraged to turn off lights in empty offices or pay more

12% of household electricity is wasted through stand by power consumption

Solar hot water systems could be made mandatory in new suburbs with a gov subsidy to cover
upfront costs, cutting residents power use over the long term
The renewable energy sector must be supported with grants & tax incentives while the coal & gas
industries should be penalised for greenhouse gas emissions

Waste Disposal Problems

Disposing of solid waste will become more difficult
Landfill has been a traditional solution but this limited within the GSMR
2001 northern suburbs of Sydney ran out of landfill space
Disposing of sewerage & waste water will become more difficult
Every day Sydney empties more then 1 billion litres of poorly treated effluent waste water into the
ocean
Sydney sends more then 7 times the amount of primary sewerage into the ocean than any other water
utility in the country