After last month arguing that Sydney could overcome its population pressures by simply planning better, pro-immigration lobby group – The Committee for Sydney – has released a new report bemoaning that Sydney’s liveability is being crushed by rapid population growth. From News.com.au:
Sydney was in the bottom two of the 33 cities in the report for public transport coverage and efficiency, the cost of living for expats and students, the variety of cultural attractions, technology and digital readiness for the future, and perceptions of its night-life offerings.
“The knock-on impacts of the city growing at such a fast pace are strains upon our overall quality of life as well as public infrastructure,” Committee for Sydney executive chairman Michael Rose said…
The elephant in the room is housing affordability…
Everybody who uses public transport in Sydney often enough will have a horror story to tell, and this negative perception has been echoed in the report… road congestion is an increasing concern, with the report flagging that Sydney has recently become more congested more quickly than most of its peer cities…
These results are hardly surprising given the massive increase in traffic congestion across Sydney as the city’s population has ballooned:
Whereas housing affordability has deteriorated badly relative to incomes:
Infrastructure Australia projects that liveability in Sydney will get much worse as the city’s population balloons to 7.4 million people mid-century:
As you can see above, under all build-out scenarios, liveability in Sydney will be crushed via increased traffic congestion and reduced access to jobs, schools, hospitals and open space.
One wonders whether these Committee for Sydney fools actually bothered to read Infrastructure Australia’s report? Because if they did, they might think twice before spinning urban planning fairy tales.
The mass immigration ‘Big Australia’ program guarantees falling liveability. So why won’t the Committee for Sydney back lower, more sustainable, immigration levels?
