In March, the Committee for Sydney published the 2024 Benchmarking Sydney Report. It was the first report of its kind since the COVID-19 Pandemic. The report uses several categories to define a city’s activities and activation. These include economic activity, culture, mobility and future-proofing. Furthermore, it positions Sydney amongst a peer group of ten global cities, including Amsterdam, Miami, Hong Kong and Toronto. The report paints a holistic picture of where Sydney is at. It also shows how we should position ourselves globally to attract innovation, grow local culture and enhance perceptions of what Sydney offers.
Rationale
To understand the report’s findings, it helps to consider the rationale of the Benchmarking approach.
Sydney is not a city operating at the scale of London, Shanghai or New York. We are a city renowned for our symbiosis of nature and urban landscapes, harbour attractions and sunlight. There is burgeoning international recognition of our dualistic culture. This combines a laid-back, stereotypical Aussie ethos with fast-paced, increasingly globalised urban and economic activity.
The peer cities share with Sydney attributes that facilitate nuanced analysis. They are mid-sized with a five million median population. Additionally, they are experiencing substantial and fast-paced development. They also grapple with intense climate-based urban challenges like urban heat inequality and flooding danger. Furthermore, they have substantial waterfront areas. This creates a unique set of challenges and opportunities for urban design, housing, art and business.
Culture: Cause for Celebration or Concern?
Insofar as Art Pharmacy concerns itself with fostering an advanced public art scene in Sydney, the report’s findings on cultural activation are instructive. They show us what we can celebrate and what we have to work on.
In 2024, Sydney ranks in the top third of peer cities for culture overall. It is rising for cultural visitation, variety and night-time reputation. We ranked third for the number of highly rated attractions in the inner city. We also had the highest visitor return rate among measured peers. Furthermore, we were one of only four peers rated a top 30 destination for music lovers.
These statistics are no doubt bolstered by government programs like Creative Communities. This suite of policies outlines the NSW government’s commitment to growing creative spaces across the state. It also invests in Western Sydney creative projects and engages the grassroots for the next generation of great artists and makers (Destination NSW, 2023).
Sydney’s Galleries are Performing Well
Our galleries are doing the right things too. Sydney ranked first out of six for a bounceback in visitors to the Art Gallery of NSW. This means we retain loyal gallery-goers. It also reflects well on the continuing breadth and variety of exhibitions across art venues. These positive outcomes rebuke tired refrains about Sydney’s lack of high-quality cultural events. They offer compelling evidence to rebut Sydney’s persistent perception problem. Fixing our perception problem and celebrating the report’s positives are crucial takeaways.
However, Sydney has some work to do once the bright lights fade. The report shows that short-term visitors are happier with their experience than those who stay longer. The city also remains divided in terms of how different groups experience nightlife. We ranked 23rd out of 49 for how happy longer-term expats are with cultural offerings. Worryingly, we ranked 7th out of 7 for a safe night-time environment for women.
To address the first concern, governments and institutions must focus on building cultural and artistic offerings all year round. Events like Vivid, the Sydney Festival and the Biennale draw large crowds yearly. However, outside those festival seasons, it is harder for the average punter to easily attend cultural events. To address the second concern, improving lighting across the city and bolstering public transport to and from events will help make Sydney safer for everyone.
Costs of Creativity: Too Much to Handle?
The report also shows that Sydney’s artistic development must confront the extraordinary cost of being a Sydneysider. A lack of rental controls, ballooning prices of essential goods and the stagflation of wages create perfect conditions for an exodus of people in the creative industries. Freelancing, piece-rate work and project-based employment are unstable by default. They should not be so unsustainable as to be unliveable in a city committed to investing in cultural projects. Calls for more arts funding too often go unanswered by governments. As a result, the onus falls on local councils, NGOs, philanthropists and investors to support and fund initiatives.
Funding choices should be made considerately to engage the diversity of creative professionals in Sydney. Governments may prefer to fund stadium development or sports grounds. However, other well-resourced organisations and companies must look to build up independent and small-scale events alongside those proposed by larger institutions and festivals.
The Role of Independent Venues
An example can be found in Phoenix Central Park, a theatre and music venue forming part of the Central Park activation supported by Judith Neilson. Phoenix holds music and live performance events in its unique space. Tickets are usually available only by random ballot. Some nights feature Aussie acts like Beryl presenting new indie rock music. Other nights feature international artists like Satch Hoyt, a stalwart of experimental ambient sound. The best part is that these performances are absolutely free.
Intimate venues like Phoenix can be found if you know where to look. However, they are overwhelmingly concentrated in the CBD and inner west of Sydney. It is also ultimately unsustainable for Sydney’s cultural scene to be primarily supported by private investors. There must be a greater commitment by the public service to nurture local talent and alleviate the crushing cost pressures of living in this city. We can only create when given the space and time to do so.
Therein lies a key issue flagged in the Benchmarking Report: Sydney’s cultural development is not experienced equally across the city by socioeconomic and geographic standards.
Looking forward
A concerted effort to spread the fruits of Sydney’s cultural offerings around many city areas is crucial to bolstering our international reputation. While it is unhelpful to perpetuate the myth that artistic experimentation and activation are not occurring everywhere in Sydney at the hands of many diverse creators, we still have a way to go. The funding has not yet flowed beyond the so-called “latte line” to the degree it should if we hope to nurture diverse creative projects around Sydney. Investment in Western and Southern Sydney to build up large-capacity art and music venues is a promising step in the right direction, and attention should also be paid to creative projects in the Southern and Northwestern areas so that all of Sydney can benefit from the vibrancy our city is capable of fostering. A genuinely inclusive and diverse future plan for Sydney’s continuing urban activation and development is not a choice but a mandate.
Article summary by Lauren Lancaster.
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