Cities of Opportunity 7 Sydney
Cities of Opportunity 7 analyzes the development of 30 global cities, and through their performance seeks to add insight on the policies and actions that make cities function best.
Released September 2016
#10 overall
Sydney is ranked 10th overall in Cities of Opportunity 7 — and 3rd overall of Asia-Pacific cities in the report behind Singapore and Hong Kong—with top 10 finishes in half of the indicators. Its strongest indicator continues to be sustainability and the natural environment (#1, tied with Stockholm), but its largest jump is in transportation and infrastructure, leaping 15 places into the top ten cities (#10).
Still #1 in sustainability and the natural environment
Sydney retains its top score in sustainability and the natural environment this year, tying Stockholm again for #1. It ranks in the top 5 in 3 of the 7 variables, most notably #2 in air quality. Sydney also benefits from low natural disaster exposure, finishing 4th in a tie with Toronto. Improving its water-related business risk (#17) could help it become sole leader in this indicator.
Tied for 1st in sustainability
#3 in health, safety, and security
Tying Toronto for 2nd in our last report, Sydney falls to #3 in this one, scoring in the top 10 in 5 of 6 variables, notably end of life care (#2, again behind London); low crime rate (#5); and, political environment (#6).
#9 in intellectual capital
Australia’s largest city decreases slightly overall in intellectual capital and innovation, finishing #9 from #8 in 2014. Sydney ranks 6th in entrepreneurial environment and, climbing 1 place, also finishes #6 in university rankings.
Room for improvement: technology readiness
Although ranking 3rd in mobile broadband speed (behind Singapore and Amsterdam), Sydney drops much farther down the table in this indicator overall (#14), which reflects its performance across the other variables present here; including #14 for ICT usage, #21 for broadband quality, and #30 for software development and media design.
Knocked from the top in demographics and livability
Despite placing in the top half in 4 of its 7 variables, the biggest slide for Sydney comes in demographics and livability, in which it drops 11 places from the top-performing city to #12, tied with Tokyo. Its success in quality of living (#2) and relocation attractiveness (#3) is outweighed by low scores in entertainment and attractions (#22) and working age population (#27), as well as by middling results in city brand, senior well-being, and YouthfulCities.
Challenges ahead: growing as a gateway
The lowest performance in an indicator for Sydney is as a city gateway, in which it drops 5 places to 18th. Excellent results in airport to CBD access (#5, tied with Madrid) and top 100 airports (#9) are offset by much lower scores in passenger flows (#21), international tourists (#23), and hotel rooms and airport connectivity (#25 in both). By addressing and improving these areas, Sydney can rise even higher in the overall rankings.
Contacts
Sean Gregory
Managing Partner, Deals Chief Operating Officer
PwC Australia
+61 (2) 8266 2253 sean.gregory@pwc.com
Jeremy Thorpe
Partner, Economics & Policy
PwC Australia
+61 (2) 8266 3370 jeremy.thorpe@pwc.com
Clara Cutajar
Partner, Infrastructure & Urban Renewal Lead
PwC Australia
+61 (2) 8266 3497 clara.cutajar@pwc.com
Joseph Carrozzi
Markets Managing Partner, Sydney
PwC Australia
+61 (2) 8266 1144 joseph.carrozzi@pwc.com
On Brexit…
The UK vote to exit the EU came after the time period our data reflects. London’s top performance, as that of all our cities, is based on results mostly from 2014 and 2015. In future editions, we will try to gauge the impact, if any. Right now, the city remains one of the world’s most cosmopolitan, and a major financial center with a rich foundation of human capital and flexible tradition to build on.