The answer would be to build a critical mass of infrastructure, employment and services, at the centre of the metropolitan area, to overcome the problems in the east while servicing the burgeoning population and economic growth in the west.
Fortunately that place exists already: Parramatta. The city has the edge at the centre of the metropolis because of its 360-degree panorama of the challenges and opportunities in the east as well as those in the west.
Parramatta has the ability to play a significant role in ensuring Sydney’s global competitiveness for it could unlock the potential of the region and support the vitality of Global Sydney, given more investment.
From a small clearing in the hostile bush, in 1788, Parramatta has evolved as Sydney’s premier regional city and economic capital of Western Sydney.
At a regional level, the gross regional product (GRP) of Western Sydney compares favourably with that of Global Sydney (which includes North Sydney and the eastern and inner suburbs).
Parramatta is not "way out west", "out there", or separated from the "real Sydney" – a Sydney CBD-centric perception requiring a paradigm shift – but an integral part of Sydney’s current and future prosperity.
Many would be surprised by its size and characteristics, seemingly unaware that it is second largest employer outside the Sydney CBD.
Giving weight to Parramatta’s substantial connection with "real Sydney", the state government sees Parramatta joining Global Economic Corridor – an arc which currently stretches from North Ryde, through the Sydney CBD to Port Botany and Sydney Airport.
Parramatta can become increasingly more important at a regional, state, national and international level – witness the standing worldwide of medical research at Westmead – by leveraging its location at the centre of the metropolis.
Parramatta City Council’s, CEO, Dr Robert Lang, regards Parramatta as better placed than elsewhere to provide solutions facing Sydney.
"We know the future growth of Sydney will be in the west Ö Parramatta is rising to the challenge to cater for the increased demand in services," he said.
He has been heard to remark: "If Parramatta succeeds, Sydney succeeds."
What, then, will eventuate is a metropolis with two significant economic hubs supporting the growth of Australia’s and financial capital and global city.
One hub in the east, another in the west, with Parramatta’s servicing close to an estimated 50 per cent of the metropolitan population, within several decades, offering jobs closer to home and an improved work-life balance for residents – it’s the Parramatta factor.
Parramatta was "invented" 224 years ago; the region supported, at the time, the growth of the colony just as it will play a key role in the sustainability of Global Sydney, into the future.
