Sydney is Australia’s most liveable capital city, according to a new urban research report, but it isn’t without its setbacks – one major one in particular.
RMIT University’s Centre for Urban Research Creating Liveable Cities in Australia report found that the New South Wales capital falls well behind other major cities in terms of public transport.
A mere two per cent of suburbs met Transport for NSW targets that aim for all residences to be within 400 metres of a bus stop serviced every 30 minutes, or within 800 metres of a train station serviced every 15 minutes.
Only 38 per cent of homes in Sydney met the ‘ambitious’ standards for access to public transport.
Sydney is Australia’s most liveable capital city, according to a recent urban research report – but it isn’t without its setbacks
The report found that the New South Wales capital falls well behind other major cities in terms of public transport
‘Infrastructure provision is not keeping up with short, medium and long-term targets, especially in outer-suburban areas,’ said Dr Lucy Gunn, lead author of the report.
One problem for the sprawling city is that the policies are designed for higher density urban areas, and therefore fail the lower density areas in Sydney’s outer suburbs.
Another additional problem is that many of Sydney’s suburbs are not as ‘walkable’ as they should be – where walkability is determined by high-dwelling density, streets designed with walking in mind and destinations such as schools and healthcare.
‘Walkable neighbourhoods have shops and services and good public transport, but this can’t be achieved with Sydney’s density policy of 15 dwellings per hectare,’ said Dr Gunn.
A mere two per cent of suburbs met Transport for NSW targets that aim for all residences to be within 400 metres of a bus stop serviced every 30 minutes, or within 800 metres of a train station serviced every 15 minutes
Areas where Sydney performed better than other cities, meanwhile, included access to open public spaces, access to food environments and opportunities for employment
‘Sydney’s suburban development average of 18 dwellings per hectare is higher than other cities, but still very low, and well below the 25 dwellings per hectare required to create walkable neighbourhoods.’
The report further found that Sydney falls short on housing affordability, forcing many residents to opt for less liveable areas in order to get away from exorbitant property prices.
Areas where Sydney performed better than other cities, meanwhile, included access to open public spaces, access to food environments and opportunities for employment.
The research report promises to measure Sydney’s liveability policies against how well they are being implemented, and how the city rates on national liveability indicators in comparison to other capitals.
The research team will be releasing liveability scorecards for the other major capital cities throughout 2018.