Population Growth In Sydney Essay

Examine How Population Growth in Sydney Affects Infrastructure

Sydney is the capital city of New South Wales and the most populated city in Australia and Oceania.

Located on Australia’s east coast, the city surrounds the world’s largest natural harbour. The Sydney

area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians since the Upper Paleolithic [1] era (50,000 – 10,000

years ago). British settlers first arrived in Sydney in 1788 to establish Sydney as a penal colony. Convict

transportation stopped in the mid-19 th century and thus, the city transformed from a colonial outpost to

a major global cultural and economic centre.

Sydney population by year

1796 2,953 [2]

1800 3,000

[3]

1851 39,000

1911 629,503

1954 1,863,217

1981 3,204,696

2011 4,627,345 [4]

New

hospitals were built in hopes to cater to the needs of a growing population in Kingswood, Blacktown,

Westmead, and Mt. Druitt [6] .

The motor vehicle was the biggest factor in Sydney’s urban development since World War II [7] . The

spread of low density housing in the outer suburbs of Sydney had made car ownership a necessity for

hundreds of thousands of households. The percentage of journeys taken by car has increased from 13

percent in 1947 to 50 percent in 1960 and to 70 percent in 1971 [7] . The most important roads in Sydney

were the 9 Metroads, which included the 110 kilometer Sydney Orbital Network.

Obtaining sufficient amounts of clean fresh water was a struggle during the early colonial stages of

Sydney. A catchment basin called the Tank Stream sourced water from the area that became Sydney’s

central business district but was little more than an open sewer by the end of the 18 th century [8] . The

Botany Swamps Scheme was one of several operations during the mid-19 th century that constituted the

construction of steam pumping stations, wells, tunnels, and small dams to cater to the needs