City of Sydney

City of Sydney New South Wales
Location in Metropolitan Sydney
Population	169,505 (2011)[1] (20th)
• Density	6,780.2/km2 (17,561/sq mi)
Established	20 July 1842
Area	25 km2 (9.7 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Lord Mayor	Clover Moore (Independent)
Council seat	Sydney CBD (Town Hall)
Region	Metropolitan Sydney
State electorate(s)	Sydney Balmain Heffron Marrickville
Federal Division(s)	Sydney Wentworth Kingsford Smith
Website	www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
LGAs around City of Sydney: Lane Cove Willoughby North Sydney / Mosman Leichhardt City of Sydney Woollahra Marrickville Botany Bay Randwick

The City of Sydney coat of arms

The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

The central business district of Sydney is roughly bounded by Circular Quay and Sydney Harbour to the north, Macquarie Street to the east, Darling Harbour to the west and Liverpool Street and Central railway station to the south.

On 6 February 2004, the former local government area of the City of South Sydney was formally merged into the City of Sydney. Suburbs within the boundaries of the City of Sydney before the merger include the actual downtown or central business district of Sydney itself, Pyrmont and Ultimo to the west, Haymarket to the south and Woolloomooloo to the east and other suburbs. Suburbs within the City of South Sydney before the merger included Alexandria, Darlington (now mostly occupied by the University of Sydney), Erskineville, Newtown, Redfern, Glebe, Waterloo, Paddington.

The leader of the City of Sydney holds the title of the Lord Mayor of Sydney. The current Lord Mayor is Cr. Clover Moore.

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

Suburbs within or partially within the City of Sydney are:

Localities in the City of Sydney are:

Demographics

At the 2011 Census, there were 169,505 people in the Sydney local government area, of these 52.8% were male and 47.2% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.3% of the population. The median age of people in the City of Sydney was 32 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 7.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 7.9% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 25.5% were married and 10.1% were either divorced or separated.^[1]

Population growth in the City of Sydney between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 3.31%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 4.57%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Sydney local government area was a little over half the national average.^[2] The median weekly income for residents within the City of Sydney was more than 1.5 times the national average.^[1][3]

The proportion of dwellings in the City of Sydney that are apartments or units is 73.6%, which is substantially different to the Australian average of 13.6%. The proportion of residents in the Sydney local government area that claimed Australian ancestry was approximately half the national average.^[1]

Selected historical census data for Sydney local government area
Census year			1996[4] a	2001[2][5]	2006[3]	2011[1]
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	87,874	124,512	156,571	169,505
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales				10th
		% of New South Wales population				0.92%
		% of Australian population	0.49%	0.66%	0.79%	0.79%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English				19.3%
		Australian				13.9%
		Chinese				9.7%
		Irish				8.5%
		Scottish				5.8%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Mandarin			3.7%	5.1%
		Cantonese			3.3%	3.2%
		Thai			n/c	2.1%
		Indonesian			1.7%	1.9%
		Korean			1.6%	1.6%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		No religion	26.7%	21.9%	23.7%	33.6%
		Catholic	23.6%	20.9%	18.3%	19.0%
		Anglican	14.7%	12.2%	10.0%	9.0%
		Buddhism	2.9%	5.0%	5.2%	6.5%
		Eastern Orthodox	3.9%	3.2%	2.6%	2.6%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income			A$717	A$888
		% of Australian median income			153.9%	153.9%
Family income		Median weekly family income			A$1,204	A$2,273
		% of Australian median income			117.2%	153.5%
Household income		Median weekly household income			A$1,819	A$1,639
		% of Australian median income			105.9%	132.8%

^a  1996 Census figures refer to the City of Sydney prior to its merger with the City of South Sydney.

Politics

The Town Hall, seat of the City Council

As noted above, the electoral boundary of the City of Sydney have been significantly altered by state governments on at least four occasions since 1945, with advantageous effect to the governing party in the New South Wales Parliament at the time. Successive State governments of both major parties, Labor and Liberal, have re-drawn the electoral boundaries to include inner suburbs that are traditionally supportive of them, and to exclude suburbs that are traditionally hostile. In 1972 the Council had prepared the City of Sydney Strategic Plan, only the second city (after New York) to prepare a comprehensive assessment and plan of major issues for the future. With triennial reviews, this guided development of the City for twenty years,^[6] and a similar planning process has continued.

A 1987 Liberal re-organisation saw Sydney Council split, with southern suburbs forming a new South Sydney Council. This was thought to advantage the Liberal government of the day, as the southern suburbs had traditionally voted Labor.

In 2004, the Labor State Government undid this change, again merging the councils of the City of Sydney and the South Sydney Council. Critics claimed that this was performed with the intention of creating a "super-council" which would be under the control of Labor, which also controlled the State Government. Subsequent to this merger, an election took place on 27 March 2004 which resulted in the independent candidate Clover Moore defeating the high-profile Labor candidate, former federal minister Michael Lee and winning the position of Lord Mayor. Critics of the merger claimed that this was a result of a voter backlash against the party for attempting to create the "super-council".

The daily administration of the City of Sydney is performed by its General Manager, currently Monica Barone, who reports to the Council.

Current composition and election method

Sydney City Council is composed of ten Councillors, including the Lord Mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The Lord Mayor is directly elected while the nine other Councillors are elected proportionally. The most recent election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council, including the Lord Mayor, is as follows:^[7]

The current Council, elected in 2012, in order of election, is:^[7]

History

Lower George Street, Sydney in about 1828

The name Sydney comes from "Sydney Cove" which is where the English admiral Arthur Phillip established the first settlement, after arriving with the First Fleet. On 26 January 1788, he named it after Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, who was the home secretary at the time, and the man responsible for the plan for the convict colony in Australia.

The "City of Sydney" was established on 20 July 1842^[8] by the Corporation Act which encompasses present-day Woolloomooloo, Surry Hills, Chippendale and Pyrmont, an area of 11.65 km². There were six wards established by boundary posts. A boundary post still exists in front of Sydney Square.

The boundaries of the City of Sydney have changed fairly regularly since 1900. The Municipality of Camperdown was merged with the city in 1909. Added in 1949 were Alexandria, Darlington, Erskineville, Newtown, Redfern, Glebe, Waterloo, and Paddington. In 1968 the boundaries were changed and many of these suburbs moved to be part of a new municipality of South Sydney. South Sydney was brought back into the city in 1982, but became separate again under the City of Sydney Act of 1988 and then became smaller than its original size at 6.19 km². It grew again in February 2004 with the merger of the two council areas, and now has a population of approximately 170,000 people.

The City of Sydney is a major supporter of the Sydney Peace Prize.

Boundary changes

• 

  Boundaries pre 1909

• 

  Boundaries 1909-1949

• 

  Boundaries 1949-1968

• 

  Boundaries 1968-1982

• 

  Boundaries 1982-1988

• 

  Boundaries 1989-2003

Sister cities

Sydney City Council maintains sister city relations with the following cities:^[9]

• San Francisco, California, USA, since 1968
• Nagoya, Japan, since 1980
• Wellington, New Zealand, since 1982
• Portsmouth, United Kingdom, since 1984
• Guangzhou, China, since 1985
• Florence, Italy, since 1986

Friendship Cities

• Paris, France, since 1998
• Berlin, Germany, since 2000

Athens

Dublin

Economy

The City of Sydney contains Sydney's central business district. This includes a prominent financial hub surrounding Martin Place. Over 600,000 people travel into the City of Sydney each day to for work or sightseeing.

See also

• Coat of arms of Sydney
• List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney
• City of Sydney Library

External links

• Official website for the City of Sydney
• City of Sydney travel guide from Wikivoyage
• A Photographer's Guide to Sydney Skyline

References

Coordinates: 33°52′S 151°12′E / 33.867°S 151.200°E / -33.867; 151.200