Transition Challenges and Opportunities in the Sydney Region

This is destined to be a large and growing section as we dig deeper and uncover more information and more opportunities as well as challenges. What you see here is likely to be incomplete and new content will always be welcome.

The Sydney Region

What do we mean by the Sydney Region? The Transition Sydney team examined this question and debated the answer over an extended period. We looked at the "Sydney Statistical Division" (used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and for planning and possibly electoral purposes); we looked at the region from a water catchment authority view and we looked at it from the view of local government areas. None of these covered the same geographical area of course!

Ultimately, with a nod to the 'bioregional' movements of the past, we decided to settle on the Sydney Basin Bioregion. This is actually a large area extending well beyond the Sydney metropolitan region. It extends as far as Murrurrundi in the north, Dunedoo in the west and Ulladulla in the south. The bioregion has common characteristics of geology, fauna and flora and there is a high degree of human interaction between Sydney and the populations in this region.

You can read more about the Sydney Basin Bioregion here

There are of course other Transition Initiatives active in this Bioregion outside the Sydney metropolitan area - in the Wingecarribbee Shire, Katoomba and Newcastle -  and hopefully many more in the months and years ahead. Our selection of the Bioregion as a focus for our interest does not suggest that we seek any sort of control over these initiatives; our intention is solely to support and network with all the initiatives that appear and want to be involved and supported.

Transition initiatives are, by nature and necessity, focused on local areas and each one of the 40 metropolitan local government areas and those in other areas and subregions across the bioregion will be uniquely different in their activities and their output. The sharing of information and resources and the coordination of plans where strong interdependencies between locations are identified in the process of energy descent planning will be something that will evolve and find its own level as we all move ahead. Top

Transition-relevant Information about the Region

 People everwhere!

The population of the Sydney Statistical Division as at the 2006 census was just over 4.1 million people. This is about one quarter of Australia's total population! This population is spread over the greater Sydney area with varying densities. There are about 1.5 million private dwellings housing our population, around 900,000 of these being stand alone dwelling, around 200,000 semi-detached and 400,000 units/flats. That's a lot of mouths to feed, a lot of people on the roads and public transport and a lot of consumption, a lot of industry a lot of GHG emissions and a lot of waste. Click here for ABS statistics on the Sydney Region.The density of settlement as you would expect is highest as near the CBD and the waterways. Click here for a map showing the population densities in the Sydney Statistical Division. 

Within the Sydney Basin Bioregion are several other statistical subdivisions including  Newcastle and Illawarra. The population of these areas represent approximately 500,000 and 400,000 people respectively. Many workers from these areas commute to Sydney to work on a daily basis, adding to the road traffic and public transport congestions and associated environmental impact. In addition the balance of the Hunter statistical subdivision has close to 96,000 people.

So between them these three large urban conurbations and their surrounding coutryside house the majority of the population of NSW and over a quarter of Australia's entire population. As the map below shows, the population density in NSW is highest in these regions. This is where the people are, folks, so this is where the vulnerability is high and the transition initiatives are needed!

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Population Growth & Housing

Sydney's population is projected to grow by more than 1.1 million people by 2030 - heading to a total of 5.3 million people. That is a lot more people to house, to feed, to provide employment opportunities to and a massive additional burden on already overstretched transport and energy infrastructure.

Where will these people live in Sydney? Over the past four decades, most of the additional population has been accommodated in sprawling, car-dependent McMansion developments in the south-west and west following the routes of major highways or rail lines, exactly the wrong sort of development for a post peak oil future. More recently, there had been greater emphasis on 'densifying' re-development of older suburbs closer to the CDB with townhouses and apartment blocks replacing cottages, disused factories, warehouses and the like. This "in-fill' development, especially along existing public transport routes - expecially rail, is causing much consternation among long term residents of these suburbs, but is potentially a much more sustainable form of development provided it is done right. Whether it is being done right at the moment is moot. Time alone will tell. The NSW State Planning Authority has been working for some time to a Sydney Metropolitan Strategy to address the issues surrounding Sydney's growth and its associated challenges. There is a considerable amount of useful information about the strategy on the department's website that you will find here. It is highly recommended reading, containing a lot of relevant information dealing with the issues of concern to those involved or considering nvolvement in Transition initiatives. Importantly, the Sydney Metropolitan Strategy is scheduled for a major review in 2010, so the months ahead provide an opportunity for citizens and community organisations to put their views forward and seek to improve the sustainability and resilience considerations and impacts of the strategy.

Accompanying this large population growth is a visible change in the demographics of how we live, with many more single person households that at any point in Sydney's past. This trend impacts on per-household energy use and waste production in a number of ways, positive and negative. See here an interesting research paper from City Futures at University of NSW. Top

Energy

With a large share of the population of NSW and a lot of industry, our Sydney region is a major energy user. A high and growing proportion of single-person dwellings and home units in Sydney also makes the per-capita consumption high compared to other areas.

It is difficult to locate statistics on total energy consumption in the region. The most recent statistics (at this point) we have been able to find are in the attached report here which examines (among other things)  electricity and gas consumption in the Hunter, Gosford and Wyong areas and compares them with Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Illawarra regions. While the purpose of this report is not the measurement of usage, the statistics are useful.

Electricity and Gas are the two main energy sources used in NSW and in Sydney.  98% of the electricity used in NSW is generated in coal-fired power stations. (see here for source). There were 62 electricity generating power stations in NSW  with a capacity of more than 1 megawatt in 2005, using a wide variety of energy sources from solar to micro-hydro. See here for a list of them that was provided to the NSW Parliament in January 2006. The vast bulk of the electricity generated was from coal fired stations however. 30% of the electricity is used in households and the balance in industry .

The bottom line is that we are using energy from a very 'dirty' source and comes from a fair distance, with accompanying losses through grid-leakage, so every effort to reduce our usage or replace coal-fired electricity with electricity from cleaner sources is needed.

 Transition initiatives in Sydney and beyond may not have the capacity to build their own local electricitry generation facilities, but they can mobilise the voice of the community to both governments and the business sector to generate more of our usage more locally and using cleaner sources.

That said, there are many possibilities for local, small-scale, renewable energy generation using solar and wind. Even fossil fuel alternatives such  biogas or natural gas are preferable to coal and can be done at a small scale and local. Organisations such as the Alternative Technology Association (ATA)  and the Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society (ANZSES) have for years been promoting such solutions, generating prototypes and  offering information, education and guidance in these areas. Such organisations are destined to be a vitally inmportant part of the grassroots efforts of our communities to design and realise better ways of meeting our energy needs in the future. Top

Transport

Transport in the Sydney region is probably the most talked about and contentious issue in the public and political arenas. Successive governments for decades have failed to meet the public's expectations to plan and deliver a workable and afforable road system for their vehicles or public transport system systems. In 2009, the roads are regularly gridlocked at certain places and times of day, and the rail and bus systems are unable to meet passenger load demands in workday peak hours. Essentially, investment in transport infrastructure has not been sufficient to keep up with the demands of an ever increasing population.

The business heart of Sydney is centred on either side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the CBD and North Sydney. This area houses many transnational businesses using it as a regional headquarters for their South-east Asian operations, as well as national headquarters of major Australian businesses. It has grown into the role of a major financial hub for South-East Asia assisted by Australian government policy and strategy over several decades specifically aimed at achieving just this outcome. One consequence of the dominance of this CDB/North Sydney business centre is that  the movement of workers into and out of the city on a daily basis is massive - with close to 400,000 workers and students commuting daily into the CBD during the working week. This means major motor vehicle traffic problems and overcrowded trains and buses. The Metropolitan Strategy of the State Planning authority does not ignore these issues and part of its major thrust is to develop the industry, commerce and employment opportunities in and around the 7 (or 8) "cities" of the Sydney region 

The distribution of public transport routes is also a problem. Those living close to rail lines are advantaged while those who live in the corridoor suburbs but away from train lines are poorly serviced by local bus services and have little option other than to resort to diving their car - even if only to get to a train station. These car-dependent suburbs will continue to add to road congestion and GHG emissions until Sydney's mass transit infrastructure (public or privately run) catches up with the realities of where people live and where they work. The NSW State Government has the major responsibility for and influence on the transport system and road system in the Sydney region (and elsewhere in NSW) and the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA), State Transit Authority (STA) and the State Planning Authority (along with State Treasury) are the main instrumentalities that are charged with bringing about any planned changes.

Food and agriculture

With such a large resident population and increased further by a significant transient interstate and international tourist population (particuarly in the CBD and inner city areas) the Sydney region consumes masses of food on a daily basis. As such, it is importing masses of embedded emissions, fossil fuel energy and water into itself as well. Where this food comes from and where it ends up are vital sustainability questions. Here we will just scratch the surface of the big and complex issue of Sydney's food supply.

Let us start at the international level. Despite being a major producer and exporter of agricultural produce, Australia imports a frightening amount of food. Most of our food exports are, as you would expect, meat and grains which by and large are grown in large acreage highly mechanised farms well away from the Sydney metropolitan regions. Their produce might come through Sydney on its ways to sea or air freight at our ports and airport. For Australia, and for the growing regions they come from, these exports contribute to the economy in a substantial way. For Sydney the balance sheet is somewhat less favourable with pollution and traffic congestion offsetting the local business and employment benefit. Our food imports a dominated by processed foods (including tonnes of canned and frozen vegetables, seafoods etc) and what we might call luxury foods (coffee, tea, chocolate and so on).

Ecological Footprint

(as soon as I can get to it)

Climate

(ditto!)

Employment

(ditto!)

Governance and Decision-Making

(ditto!)

Community

(and ditto again - and while you're at it - why not send your ideas to content@transitionsydney.org.au!)