Sydney moves up the ranks of global cities through infrastructure investment
Investment in infrastructure and commercial real estate has placed Sydney hot on the heels of the world’s top cities, a new report shows.
The harbour city has moved up in the latest rankings from JLL and The Business of Cities, graduating from the group of “new world cities” to “contenders”, as it starts to take on more of the assets and characteristics of the world’s seven leading metropolises.
London took the crown of “the big seven” cities, followed by New York, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and new-comer Seoul.
Sydney placed ninth in the next tier of established world cities, with Los Angeles and the two alpha Chinese cities Shanghai and Beijing.
JLL Australia’s chief executive Stephen Conry said transport infrastructure was transforming Sydney.
“The fact that Greater Sydney is in the middle of a huge transformation on the infrastructure front is great news in this regard,” he said.
“The CBD light rail, the first stage of the Sydney Metro and the WestConnex road system – all will begin to come online over the next five years, and all will have significant impacts on the movement of people across the metropolis.”
Mr Conry noted increased competition meant it was necessary for global cities such as Sydney to ramp up efforts in “future-proofing” their infrastructure and economic base.
“Sydney is midway through major reform processes and has the challenge to ensure these arrangements are fit for purpose,” he said, adding that affordability was another major issue it needed to address.
Infrastructure building is happening right across the city Photo: Edwina Pickles
The report ranked Sydney second in the world for its transparency in the real estate market after London, and 17th for its level of direct commercial property investment, excluding infrastructure, totalling $US24 billion ($30.5 billion) in the three years to June 2017.
More than $62 billion is being pumped into the Sydney CBD’s government infrastructure, office, hotel and residential projects, recent research by Cushman and Wakefield found. Transport infrastructure, including the Sydney Metro, Sydney Light Rail, the WestConnex and upgrades of the Circular Quay ferry wharves, accounted for $50 billion of that.
“Sydney is strengthening through its renewed focus on metropolitan governance and infrastructure, supporting an increasingly dynamic real estate sector,” the JLL and The Business of Cities report said.
But Sydney’s long commute times, congestion and low public transport usage and coverage penalised the city’s performance on the infrastructure front.
“Cities that have underinvested in their metropolitan infrastructure are now seen to be falling behind.
“The long-term process of infrastructure investment means that these gaps are likely to grow before those in deficit start to catch up.”
