A fig-lined avenue in Hyde Park

Hyde Park is a large park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern side of the Sydney central business district. It is the southernmost of a chain of parkland that extends north to the shore of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour). It is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the southern end and rounded at the northern end. It is bordered on the west by Elizabeth Street, on the east by College Street, on the north by St. James Road and Prince Albert Road and on the south by Liverpool Street. It is 16 hectares in area.^[1]

Around the park's boundaries lie the Supreme Court of New South Wales, St. James Church, Hyde Park Barracks and Sydney Hospital to the north, St Mary's Cathedral, the Australian Museum and Sydney Grammar School to the east, the Downing Centre to the south, the David Jones Limited flagship store and the CBD to the west. It is divided in two by the east-west running Park Street.

Hyde Park contains well-kept gardens and approximately 580 trees; a mixture of Hills Figs^[2], Palms and other varieties. It is famed for its magnificent fig tree lined avenues. Sandringham Gardens sit on the eastern side of the park, close to the intersection of Park Street and College Street.

History[link]

Avenue in Hyde Park, circa 1900

Hyde Park was named after the original Hyde Park in London. The park is pock marked with drain lids, many of which lead down to Busby's Bore, the first large-scale attempt at a water source system after the backing up of Tank Stream, the Sydney colony's primary water source. Busby's Bore was built between 1827 and 1837 using convict labour and fresh water from Lachlan Swamp (which later became known as Centennial Park) to the city.

Hyde Park, looking towards the corner of College and William Streets, circa 1900

Hyde Park and St Mary's Cathedral in the 1940s

From the very early days of the colony, the open area to the south east of the settlement was a favorite place for sport and recreation. It was known variously as 'The Common', the 'Exercising Ground', the 'Cricket Ground' and the 'Race Course. On 13 October 1810, Governor Macquarie separated the area from the Domain to the north, named it Hyde Park and dedicated it for the "recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of the town and a field of exercises for the troops". He kept the Domain for his own exclusive use.

Many sports were played at Hyde Park, including cricket, rugby, horse racing, quoits and hurling; however, sports people using Hyde Park had to share it with both the military, who trained on it and practised drill work, the public, who cut paths across the playing fields, stray dogs, cattle, goats, sheep and other animals, as well as sports people, whose activities sometimes clashed. The quoit players, in particular, used an area close to the cricket pitch and often damaged it.

In 2005 a number of disease-affected trees were discovered and felled.^[3] Following investigations a significant proportion of the trees were found to be infected with three different fungi. Currently a Draft Tree Management Plan is being considered under which about 230 diseased trees will be removed and replaced.^[4]

Horse racing[link]

Seven Arab horses taken on board the First Fleet at the Cape Colony (now South Africa) were the first horses to be brought to Australia. The first thoroughbred to be brought to Australia was Rockingham in 1799. By 1800 there were 200 horses in the colony which grew to 1100 by 1810. A race ground on the Hawkesbury River near Richmond was probably Australia's first racecourse being used as early as 1806. Match races were run there as part of a holiday at Parramatta in April 1810.

Only two days after Governor Macquarie dedicated Hyde Park for 'recreation and amusement' it became the site of Australia's first official horse race meeting organised on 15, 17 and 19 October 1810 by the officers of the 73rd Regiment (Macquarie's regiment). The meetings to devise the rules and organise the event were held in the officers' mess and many of the horses were owned by the officers.

Painting of Hyde Park, 1842

The race meeting consisted of a series of heats with weights set depending on the sex and age of a horse. There were also a number of match races between two horses and sweepstake prizes offered. Governor Macquarie himself attended each day of the meeting.

This format for race meetings was followed in the colony for the next 50 years. Owners mostly rode their own horses and the courses were marked by flags and posts. Novelty events were often included.

Meetings continued to be held at Hyde Park up until the formation of the Sydney Turf Club in 1825 when they were moved to the 'Bellevue' course. Meetings were also run at Parramatta and Camperdown. The Australian Racing and Jockey Club was formed in 1828 with the encouragement of Governor Darling but the colony could not support two race clubs and both folded in 1831.

Cricket[link]

Although some research indicates that cricket was played before 1803 at the southern end of the Common near where the War Memorial is today, the first confirmed match took place on the Common in 1803. The players were the civilians and officers from the supply ship Calcutta. The cricket ground was laid out in the north-western section of the park (just behind the current entrance to St James railway station) and all major games were played there until 1856.

The first fully recorded match took place in Hyde Park between the 17th and 39th Regiments on 7 May 1832. However, by the 1850s running problems with other users of the Park, the public, the military and players of other sports, ultimately caused cricket matches to be moved to the Domain where unfortunately, similar problems were also encountered.

Boxing[link]

Looking toward Elizabeth Street

Organised bareknuckle fights were probably common in the early colony and officers of the NSW Corps were known to have arranged fights between convicts. The first recorded fight took place on the road to Botany about half a mile from the Racecourse in 1814. This would put it near the current location of the War Memorial. As if the boxing bout was not enough, the combatants, John Berringer (also known as John Parton) and Charles Sefton, were first required to run a mile. Both Berrenger and Sefton has been sentenced to death in Britain but had their sentences commuted to transportation to NSW. The fight lasted 56 rounds and was won by Berringer.

Rugby[link]

On 17 June 1865 the first known rugby match to be played in Australia took place in Hyde Park between members of Australia's first rugby club, the Sydney Football Club, which had been established that month. In the July that year, the Sydney Club played the Australian Club in Hyde Park, in the first inter-club game.

In 1856, Hyde Park was turned into public gardens and sporting activity all but ceased. Cricket and football clubs had to find other places to play. Cricket was played at the Domain and both sports were also played at Moore Park and the Garrison Ground (now the Sydney Cricket Ground).

Monuments[link]

ANZAC War Memorial

The centrepiece of Hyde Park is the Archibald Fountain. The fountain was designed by François-Léon Sicard and donated by J.F. Archibald in 1932 in honour of Australia's contribution to World War I in France. Also at the northern end are the Nagoya Gardens featuring a giant outdoor chess set and the entrance to the underground St James railway station.

The fountain features in the notable Australian B-grade horror film Howling III: The Marsupials (1987).

At the park's southern end is the ANZAC War Memorial behind the 'Lake of Reflections' or 'Pool of Remembrance' and the entrances to the Museum railway station. A monument consisting of a 104-millimetre gun from the German light cruiser SMS Emden stands at the south-eastern, Oxford Street entry of the park. It was built as a memorial to the Australian Imperial Force of World War I. Fund raising for a memorial began on 25 April 1916, the first anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landing at Anzac Cove for the Battle of Gallipoli.^[5] It was opened on 24 November 1934 by His Royal Highness Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.

The western, or Elizabeth Street side, at the Bathurst Street entrance of the park sits beside the 125 foot Obelisk decorated with Egyptian features. It was erected in 1857 and unveiled by the then Mayor, George Thornton. But the monument is actually a sewer vent, and soon the joke around town was to call it 'Thornton's Scent Bottle'.^[6] Further south from here is another Middle Eastern inspired monument by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows dedicated to the fallen Sydneysiders of the Great War.

Images[link]

• 

  Captain Cook statue by Thomas Woolner

• 

  Archibald Fountain

• 

  Water fountain, Hyde Park, Sydney

• 

  Sandringham Gardens

• 

  The Archibald Fountain (1932)

• 

  Archibald Fountain in 2010

• 

  The Obelisk in the early 1900s

• 

  The Obelisk in 2007

References[link]

• Pollard, Jack (1990) Australia Test Match Grounds London: Willow Books
• Vamplew, Wray; Moore, Katharine; O'Hara, John; Cashman, Richard; and Jobling, Ian [editors] (1997) The Oxford Companion to Australian Sport Second Edition Melbourne: Oxford University Press
• History of Hyde Park [1]

External links[link]

• YouTube video showing Archibald Fountain and part of Hyde Park
• YouTube video showing giant chess set in Hyde Park
• YouTube video showing Sandringham Gardens

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hyde Park, Sydney

Coordinates: 33°52′24″S 151°12′41″E / 33.87333°S 151.21139°E / -33.87333; 151.21139

Sydney New South Wales
The Sydney Opera House and Sydney CBD at dusk from Jeffrey Street, Kirribilli
Sydney
Population:	4,627,345[1] (1st)
• Density:	2058/km² (5,330.2/sq mi) (2006)[2]
Established:	26 January 1788
Coordinates:	33°51′35.9″S 151°12′40″E / 33.859972°S 151.21111°E / -33.859972; 151.21111Coordinates: 33°51′35.9″S 151°12′40″E / 33.859972°S 151.21111°E / -33.859972; 151.21111
Area:	12144.6 km² (4,689.1 sq mi)
Time zone:  • Summer (DST)	AEST (UTC+10) AEDT (UTC+11)
Location:	881 km (547 mi) NE of Melbourne 938 km (583 mi) S of Brisbane 286 km (178 mi) NE of Canberra 3970 km (2,467 mi) E of Perth 1406 km (874 mi) E of Adelaide
LGA:	various (38)
County:	Cumberland
State electorate:	various (49)
Federal Division:	various (24)
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 21.7 °C 71 °F 13.8 °C 57 °F 1,212.8 mm 47.7 in

Sydney ( /sɪdni/)^[3] is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is classified as an Alpha+ World City indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world.^[4]

Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people.^[1] Inhabitants of Sydney are called Sydneysiders, comprising a cosmopolitan and international population.^[5]

The site of the first British colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet as a penal colony.^[6] The city is built on hills surrounding Port Jackson which is commonly known as Sydney Harbour, where the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge feature prominently. The hinterland of the metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and the coastal regions feature many bays, rivers, inlets and beaches including the famous Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. Within the city are many notable parks, including Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Sydney ranks among the top global cities in the world.^{[7][8][9][10]} In 2010, Sydney was ranked 7th in Asia and 28th globally for economic innovation in the Innovation Cities Top 100 Index by innovation agency 2thinknow.^[11] Sydney also ranks among the top 10 most liveable cities in the world according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting, The Economist and Monocle^[12][13][14] and is considered among the top fashion capitals in the world.^[15] It was also ranked in the top 10 global university cities according to RMIT University^[16]—which limited its selection to cities already ranked in the "top 100 most liveable cities".

It has hosted major international sporting events, including the 1938 British Empire Games and the 2000 Summer Olympics. The main airport serving Sydney is Sydney Airport^[17] and the main port in the city is Sydney Harbour.

History[link]

Radio carbon dating suggests that the Sydney region has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years.^[18]

The traditional indigenous inhabitants of Sydney Cove are the Cadigal people, whose land once stretched from south of Port Jackson to Petersham.^[19] While estimates of the population numbers prior to the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 remains contentious, approximately 4,000–8,000 Aboriginal people lived in the Sydney region prior to contact with British settlers. The British called the indigenous people the "Eora",^[20] because being asked where they came from, these people would answer: "Eora", meaning "here", or "from this place" in their language.^[19] There were three language groups in the Sydney region, which were divided into dialects spoken by smaller clans. The principal languages were Darug (the Cadigal, original inhabitants of the City of Sydney, spoke a coastal dialect of Darug), Dharawal and Guringai. Each clan had a territory, the location of each territory determined the resources available. Although urbanisation has destroyed much evidence of these settlements (such as shell middens), a number of Sydney rock engravings, carvings and rock art remain visible in the Hawkesbury sandstone of the Sydney basin.^[21]

A Direct North General View of Sydney Cove, painted by convict and artist Thomas Watling in 1794

In 1770, British sea captain Lieutenant James Cook landed in Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. It is here that Cook made first contact with an Aboriginal community known as the Gweagal.^[22] Under instruction from the British government, a convict settlement was founded by Arthur Phillip, who arrived at Botany Bay with a fleet of 11 ships on 18 January 1788. This site was soon determined to be unsuitable for habitation, owing to poor soil and a lack of reliable fresh water. Phillip subsequently founded the colony one inlet further up the coast, at Sydney Cove on Port Jackson on 26 January 1788. However the official proclamation of the founding and naming of Sydney took place only on 7 February 1788 when he named it after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney, in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. The original name was intended to be Albion until Phillip decided upon Sydney.^[23]

In April 1789, shortly after the arrival in Botany Bay of the French expedition led by La Perouse, a catastrophic epidemic disease—thought to be smallpox—spread through the Eora people and surrounding groups, with the result that local Aborigines died in their thousands, and bodies could often be seen bobbing in the water in Sydney Harbour.^[24] The cause of the epidemic has always been a matter of speculation and controversy, introduction by the British being among the most likely explanations. In any event, the results were catastrophic for the Eora people and their kin and by the early 1800s the Aboriginal population of the Sydney basin "had been reduced to only 10 percent of the 1788 estimate",^[25] or an estimated 500 to 1000 Aboriginal people between Broken Bay and Botany Bay.^[20]

Sydney harbour in 1932

There was violent resistance to British settlement, notably by the warrior Pemulwuy in the area around Botany Bay, and conflicts were common in the area surrounding the Hawkesbury River. By 1820 there were only a few hundred Aborigines and Governor Macquarie had begun initiatives to 'civilise, Christianise and educate' the Aborigines by removing them from their clans.^[20] Macquarie's tenure as Governor of New South Wales was a period when Sydney was improved from its basic beginnings. Roads, bridges, wharves and public buildings were constructed by British and Irish convicts, and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, well-established thoroughfares and an organised constabulary.

The 1830s and 1840s were periods of urban development including the development of the first suburbs, as the town grew rapidly when ships began arriving from Britain and Ireland with immigrants looking to start a new life in a new country. On 20 July 1842 the municipal council of Sydney was incorporated and the town was declared the first city in Australia, with John Hosking the first elected mayor.^[26] The first of several Australian gold rushes started in 1851, and the port of Sydney has since seen many waves of people arriving from around the world.

Rapid suburban development began in the last quarter of the 19th century with the advent of steam-powered tramways and railways. With industrialisation Sydney expanded rapidly and, by the early 20th century, it had a population of more than a million. In 1929, the novelist Arthur Henry Adams called it the "Siren City of the South" and the "Athens of Australia".^[27] The Great Depression hit Sydney badly. One of the highlights of the Depression era, however, was the completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932.^[28] There has traditionally been a rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne since the gold rushes of the 1850s made the capital of Victoria Australia's largest and richest city.^[29] Sydney overtook Melbourne in population in the early years of the 20th century,^[30] and continues to be the largest city in Australia. During the 1970s and 1980s, Sydney's CBD, with a great number of financial institutions including the headquarters of the Reserve Bank, surpassed Melbourne as the nation's financial capital.^[31] Throughout the 20th century, especially in the decades immediately following World War II, Sydney continued to expand as large numbers of European and later Asian immigrants took up residence in the metropolitan area.

Geography[link]

Topography[link]

Aerial view of Sydney (May 2012) looking east.

Sydney's urban area is in a coastal basin, which is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Royal National Park to the south. It lies on a submergent coastline, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys (ria) carved in the Hawkesbury sandstone. Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is one such ria.^[32] The Sydney area is not affected by significant earthquakes.

The urban area has around 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach. Sydney's urban area covers 1,687 km² (651 sq mi) as of 2001.^[33] The Sydney Statistical Division, used for census data, is the unofficial metropolitan area^[34] and covers 12,145 km² (4,689 sq mi).^[35] This area includes the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains, and national parks and other unurbanised land.

Geographically, Sydney lies over two regions: the Cumberland Plain, a relatively flat region lying to the south and west of the harbour, and the Hornsby Plateau, a sandstone plateau lying mainly to the north of the harbour and dissected by steep valleys. The parts of the city with the oldest European development are located in the flat areas south of the harbour. The North Shore was slower to develop because of its hilly topography and lack of access across the harbour. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932 and linked the North Shore to the rest of the city.^[36]

Geology[link]

Sydney is mostly Triassic rock, with a some recent igneous dykes and the volcanic neck. The Hawkesbury sandstone is some 200 metres (660 ft) thick, with shale lenses and fossil riverbeds dotted throughout it. Almost all of the rocks exposed around Sydney will be sandstone. The sand that was to become this sandstone was washed from Broken Hill and laid down in the Triassic period, about two hundred million years ago, a time when plants were ferns, reptiles were becoming dinosaurs, and mammals did not exist yet. The Sydney Basin sits on the east coast of Australia, which is made up of a basin filled with near horizontal sandstones and shales of Permian to Triassic age that overlie older basement rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. The sedimentary rocks have been subject to uplift with gentle folding and minor faulting during the formation of the Great Dividing Range. Erosion by coastal streams have created a landscape of deep-cliffed gorges and remains of plateaus across. The Sydney Basin bioregion includes coastal landscapes of cliffs, beaches and estuaries.^[37]

Sydney is situated on low, rolling hills with wide valleys, situated in a rain-shadow zone below the Blue Mountains.^[38]

Climate[link]

Avalon beach during spring

Sydney has a temperate climate with warm summers and mild winters. Rainfall is spread throughout the year.^[39] The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs. The warmest month is January, with an average air temperature range at Observatory Hill of 18.6–25.8 °C (65–78 °F). An average of 14.6 days a year have temperatures of more than 30 °C (86.0 °F).

In winter, temperatures rarely drop below 5 °C (41 °F) in coastal areas. The coldest month is July, with an average range of 8.0–16.2 °C (46–61 °F). Rainfall is fairly evenly spread through the year, but is slightly higher during the first half of the year, when easterly winds dominate.^{[citation needed]} The average annual rainfall, with moderate to low variability, is 1,217 mm (48 in), falling on an average 138 days a year.^[40] Snowfall was last reported in the Sydney City area in 1836.^[41] However, a July 2008 fall of graupel, or soft hail, mistaken by many for snow, has raised the possibility that the 1836 event was not snow, either.^[42] Extreme temperatures have ranged from 45.3 °C (113.5 °F) on 14 January 1939 at the end of a four-day heatwave across Australia and 2.1 °C (35.8 °F), the lowest recorded minimum at Observatory Hill.^[43]

The city is not affected by cyclones. The El Niño Southern Oscillation plays an important role in determining Sydney's weather patterns: drought and bushfire on the one hand, and storms and flooding on the other, associated with the opposite phases of the oscillation. Many areas of the city bordering bushland have experienced bushfires, these tend to occur during the spring and summer. The city is also prone to severe hail storms and wind storms. One such storm was the 1999 hailstorm, which severely damaged Sydney's eastern and city suburbs. The storm produced massive hailstones of at least 9 cm (3.5 in) in diameter and resulting in insurance losses of around A$1.7 billion in less than five hours.^[44] The next notable event was in the first weeks of February 2010 when Sydney received some of the highest rainfalls in 25 years, which caused flash flooding and traffic chaos.^[44]

The Bureau of Meteorology has reported that 2002 through 2005 were the warmest summers in Sydney since records began in 1859.^[45] The summer of 2007–08, however, proved to be one of the coolest summers on record.^[46] Warmer and drier conditions came back in 2009 and 2010 that recorded above average temperatures. 2011 recorded above average rainfall.^[47] In 2009 the dry conditions brought a severe dust storm towards eastern Australia.^[48][49]

Average annual temperature of the sea is above 21 °C (70 °F), from 19 °C (66 °F) in July to 24 °C (75 °F) in January.^[50]

Urban structure[link]

Sydney's Northern Beaches. The metropolitan area is characterised by large areas of urban sprawl, and, on the eastern side, beaches along the Tasman Sea

Sydney's Central Business District (CBD) extends southwards for about 3 kilometres (2 mi) from Sydney Cove to the area around Central station. The Sydney CBD is bounded on the east side by a chain of parkland, and the west by Darling Harbour, a tourist and nightlife precinct. Although the CBD dominated the city's business and cultural life in the early days, other business/cultural districts have developed in a radial pattern since World War II. As a result, the proportion of white-collar jobs located in the CBD declined from more than 60 per cent at the end of World War II to less than 30 per cent in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

Together with the commercial district of North Sydney, joined to the CBD by the Harbour Bridge, the most significant outer business districts are Parramatta^[52] in the central-west, Penrith^[53] in the west, Bondi Junction in the east, Liverpool^[54] in the southwest, Chatswood to the north, and Hurstville to the south.

The extensive area covered by urban Sydney is formally divided into 649^[55] suburbs (for addressing and postal purposes), and administered as 40^[56] local government areas. There is no metropolitan-wide government, but the government of New South Wales and its agencies have extensive responsibilities in providing metropolitan services.^[57] The City of Sydney itself covers a fairly small area comprising the central business district and its neighbouring inner-city suburbs. In addition, regional descriptions are used informally to conveniently describe larger sections of the urban area. These include Eastern Suburbs, Hills District, Inner West, Canterbury-Bankstown, Greater Western Sydney, Northern Beaches, Northern Suburbs, North Shore, St George, Southern Sydney, South-western Sydney, Sutherland Shire and Western Sydney.

View of Sydney from Sydney Tower.

Parks and open spaces[link]

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

Sydney is well-endowed with open spaces and access to waterways, and has many natural areas, even in the city centre. Within the CBD are the Chinese Garden of Friendship, Sydney Park, Hyde Park, The Domain and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The metropolitan area contains several national parks, including the Royal National Park, the second oldest national park in the world, and several parks in Sydney's far west which are part of the World Heritage listed Greater Blue Mountains Area.^[58]

The Domain was established by Governor Arthur Phillip, just six months after the arrival of the first fleet. Originally established as being exclusive to Governors, it was opened to the public in the 1830s. Hyde Park was dedicated on 13 October 1810 by Governor Macquarie for the "recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of the town and a field of exercises for the troops". To celebrate the first 100 years of European settlement, Centennial Park was dedicated by Sir Henry Parkes in January 1888. Similarly, Bicentennial Park was opened on 1 January 1988 to commemorate 200 years since European settlement.^[59] 1988's Bicentennial celebrations also saw the opening of the Chinese Garden of Friendship, designed by the City of Sydney's Chinese sister city Guangzhou.

Architecture[link]

Martin Place in Sydney's CBD with the General Post Office (1866–1891), an example of the city's colonial architecture.

Sydney has various heritage listed buildings, including Sydney Town Hall, The Queen Victoria Building, Parliament House, and the Australian Museum. There is no architecture style that entirely characterises the whole of Sydney. Prominent styles include Gothic Revival, Georgian, Classical, Romanesque, Italianate, Federation, Edwardian, Second Empire, Queen Anne, as well as more contemporary styles. The first substantial buildings designed for Sydney were by transported convict Francis Greenway, who designed such buildings and structures as the Macquarie Lighthouse, Hyde Park Barracks, St James' King Street and Government House.^[60]

The atrium of 1 Bligh Street, a contemporary example of Sydney's architecture.

Other prominent architects were James Barnet, who designed the General Post Office, The Customs House, and various court houses; and Edmund Blacket, who designed St. Andrew's Cathedral and St Philip's Church.

More contemporary architecture includes the Sydney Opera House, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon.^[61] Described as an "artistic monument", it is one of the most recognisable landmarks in both Sydney and Australia and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[62]

Harry Seidler built modernist homes and skyscrapers in Sydney, and designed prominent buildings such as the MLC Centre, the Capita Centre, and Australia Square. Seidler's designs contrasted with the Sydney school of the 1950s and 1960s, who favoured more natural and organic designs, often hidden from view in bushland. This style of architecture often utilised natural local materials as structural elements.^[63] These views were shared by Glen Murcutt, who believed that a building should blend in with its environment. Sydney has the largest skyline in Australia.^[64] Current height restrictions limit future buildings to the height of 235 metres, in part due to the close proximity of Sydney Airport.

Economy[link]

Sydney's central business district, the financial and economic hub of Australia, seen from the Balmain wharf at dusk

As the financial and economic hub of Australia, Sydney has grown to become a wealthy and prosperous city. The largest economic sectors in Sydney, as measured by the number of people employed, include property and business services, retail, manufacturing, and health and community services.^[65] Since the 1980s, jobs have moved from manufacturing to the services and information sectors. Sydney provides approximately 25 percent of the country's total GDP.^[66] The Australian Securities Exchange and the Reserve Bank of Australia are located in Sydney, as are the headquarters of 90 banks and more than half of Australia's top companies, and the regional headquarters for around 500 multinational corporations.^[66] Of the ten largest corporations in Australia by revenue,^[67] four have headquarters in Sydney: Caltex Australia, the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and Woolworths. Of the 54 authorised deposit-taking banks in Australia, 44 are based in Sydney including nine of the 11 foreign subsidiary banks in Australia and all of the 29 local branches of foreign banks. Major authorised foreign banks in Sydney include Citigroup, UBS Australia, Mizuho Corporate Bank, HSBC Bank Australia and Deutsche Bank. Shopping locations in Sydney include Pitt Street, George Street, King Street, Market Street, and Castlereagh Street, shopping complexes such as the Queen Victoria Building and Westfield Sydney, arcades such as The Strand Arcade and Mid City Centre, and department stores such as Myer and David Jones, all of which are in the shopping district in the city centre, a place to find major international brand name labels. Also in the city centre is Chinatown, which includes Paddys Markets, which is Sydney's city markets, a place for bargain hunting.

Outside the city centre there are number of other shopping destinations of interest. Inner eastern suburbs such as Potts Point, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills provide a diverse range of shops for the culturally creative and alternative lifestyle groups that live there, whilst other inner eastern areas like Paddington and Woollahra are home to boutiques selling more niche products. Inner western suburbs like Newtown and Glebe cater more towards students and alternative lifestyles. Double Bay in Sydney's harbourside eastern suburbs is un upmarket area known for its expensive boutiques. Seaside areas, including Bondi Beach in the eastern beaches area and Manly in the northern beaches area, have a retail scene based upon their beach locations, with many surfing and surfer style clothing shops. Sydney received 7.8 million domestic visitors and 2.5 million international visitors in 2004.^[68] In 2007, the (then) Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma established Events New South Wales to "market Sydney and NSW as a leading global events destination". Fox Studios Australia has large film studios in the city.

As of 2004, the unemployment rate in Sydney was 4.9 percent.^[69] According to The Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide cost of living survey, Sydney is the sixteenth most expensive city in the world, while a UBS survey ranks Sydney as 15th in the world in terms of net earnings.^[70] As of September 2009, Sydney has the highest median house price of any Australian capital city at $636,822,^[71] and a median unit price of $500,000.^[72] Sydney also has the highest median rent prices of any Australian city at $450 a week. The Sydney Region accounts for 12 percent (approximately $1 billion per annum) of the total agricultural production, by value, of NSW.^[73] Sydney provides 55% of NSW's flower production and 58% of its turf production, as well as 44% of state's nurseries.^[74] In 1994–1995 Sydney produced 44% of New South Wales' poultry meat and 48% of the state's eggs.^[75]

Demographics[link]

Friendship Arch in Cabramatta, a suburb home to a large proportion of Sydney's Vietnamese population

The 2006 census reported 4,119,190 residents in the Sydney Statistical Division,^[80] of which 3,641,422 lived in Sydney's Urban Centre.^[81] Inner Sydney was the most densely populated place in Australia with 4,023 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,420 /sq mi).^[82] In the 2006 census, the most common self-described ancestries identified for Sydney residents were Australian, English, Irish, Scottish, and Chinese.^[83] The Census also recorded that 1.1% of Sydney's population identified as being of indigenous origin, and 31.7% were born overseas.^[80] Asian Australians made up 18.8% of the population in Sydney's Urban Centre and 16.9% of the wider Statistical Division.^[84] The three major sources of immigrants are the United Kingdom, China and New Zealand, followed by Vietnam, Lebanon, India, Italy, and the Philippines.^[80] Many residents are native speakers of English; many have a second language, the most common being Arabic (predominantly Lebanese Arabic), Cantonese, Mandarin, Greek and Vietnamese.^[80] Sydney has the seventh-largest percentage of foreign-born individuals in the world.^[85] Immigrants account for 75% of Sydney's annual population growth.^[86]

The median age of Sydney residents is 34; 12% of the population is over 65 years old.^[69] 15.2% of residents have educational attainment equal to at least a bachelor's degree,^[87] In the 2006 census, 64% of the residents identified themselves as Christians, 14.1% had no religion, 10.4% left the question blank, 4.4% were Muslims, 3.7% were Buddhists, 1.7% were Hindus, 0.9% were Jewish and 0.4 were Bahai.^[88]

Culture[link]

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi Beach

As a dynamic cultural hub, Sydney has many fine and internationally known museums and galleries, such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the White Rabbit Gallery, Brett Whiteley Studio, Museum of Sydney and the Powerhouse Museum, in addition to a thriving commercial gallery scene of contemporary art, mainly in the inner-city areas of Waterloo, Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Chippendale, Newtown and Woollahra.

Sydney hosts many different festivals and some of Australia's largest social and cultural events. These include the Sydney Festival, Australia's largest arts festival which is a celebration involving both indoor and free outdoor performances throughout January; the Biennale of Sydney dedicated to international and Australian contemporary art; the Big Day Out, a travelling rock-music festival which originated in Sydney; the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along Oxford Street; the Sydney Film Festival and many other smaller film festivals such as the short film Tropfest and Flickerfest. Sculpture by the Sea, Australia's largest outdoor sculpture exhibit, began at Bondi Beach in 1996.

Australia's premier prize for portraiture, the Archibald Prize is organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The Sydney Royal Easter Show is held every year at Sydney Olympic Park, the final of Australian Idol takes place on the steps of the Opera House, and Australian Fashion Week takes place in April/May and September. Sydney's New Year's Eve and Australia Day celebrations are the largest in Australia.

A survey based on tracking the frequency of words and phrases in the media, cited Sydney as number 9 on a list of the world's top fashion cities in 2009.^[89] The city is the site of the world renowned Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, which occurs biannually, and is home to many of Australia's premier fashion houses. Most international designers have a major presence in Sydney and Australia's Next Top Model is one of the most watched shows on national television.

Entertainment and performing arts[link]

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia

Sydney's cultural institutions include the Sydney's famous Opera House. It has five halls, including a large concert hall and opera and drama theatres; it is the home of Opera Australia—the third-busiest opera company in the world, and the Sydney Symphony under the leadership of Vladimir Ashkenazy.^[90] Other venues include the Sydney Town Hall, City Recital Hall, the State Theatre, the Theatre Royal, Sydney, the Sydney Theatre and the Wharf Theatre, the Capitol Theatre and the Lyric and Star Theatres at The Star. The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is located adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens and serves the Australian music community through music education and biannual Australian Music Examination Board exams. The Sydney Dance Company was under the leadership of Graeme Murphy during the late 20th century. The Sydney Theatre Company has a regular roster of local plays, such as noted playwright David Williamson, classics and international playwrights. In 2007, The New Theatre celebrated 75 years of continuous production in Sydney. Other important theatre companies in Sydney include Company B and Griffin Theatre Company. From the 1940s through to the 1970s the Sydney Push, a group of authors and political activists whose members included Germaine Greer, influenced the city's cultural life. The National Institute of Dramatic Art, based in Kensington, boasts internationally famous alumni such as Mel Gibson, Judy Davis, Baz Luhrmann and Cate Blanchett. Sydney's role in the film industry has increased since the opening of Fox Studios Australia in 1998.

Prominent films that have been filmed in the city include Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Moulin Rouge!, Mission: Impossible II, Star Wars episodes II and III, Superman Returns, Dark City, Son of the Mask, Stealth, Dil Chahta Hai, Happy Feet, Australia and The Matrix. Films using Sydney as a setting include Finding Nemo, Strictly Ballroom, Muriel's Wedding, Our Lips Are Sealed, and Dirty Deeds. Many Bollywood movies have also been filmed in Sydney including Singh Is Kinng, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Chak De India, Heyy Babyy. As of 2006, over 229 films have been set in, or featured Sydney.^[91] Sydney's most popular nightspots include Kings Cross, Oxford Street, Darling Harbour, Circular Quay and The Rocks, which all contain various bars, nightclubs and restaurants. The Star is Sydney's only casino and is situated around Darling Harbour. There are many traditional pubs, cafes and restaurants in inner-city areas such as Newtown, Balmain, Leichhardt and Surry Hills. Sydney's main live music hubs include areas such as Newtown and Annandale, which nurtured acts such as AC/DC, Bliss n Eso, Sparkadia, Midnight Oil and INXS. Other popular nightspots tend to be spread throughout the city in areas such as Bondi, Manly, Cronulla and Parramatta.

Tourism[link]