Sydney Art Zone’s “Indicative City”

Sydney Art Zone is imagined as the central vision of The Bays. It is imagined as the heart of a future city, a city that exports culture, ideas, information and art.

From its commencement as an idea, through its development over decades, it will drive the cultural purpose of The Bays, its social character and its economic longevity.

Why Art?

Sydney today, is one of the world’s Top 10 Global Cities. (The Globalization and World Cities Research Network currently ranks Sydney at No 9 in its list of Global Cities)

A tandem ranking, The Ecomomist’s list of Liveable Cities, also ranks Sydney in the world’s Top 10 Liveable Cities. (Currently at No 7)

Sydney, is the only city on both lists. We can therefore identify ourselves as the most liveable global city or/also as the only global liveable city.

Either way, since the attraction and retention of talent is the highest priority for all Global Cities, liveability is very likely Sydney’s most important competitive advantage. It is by concentrating on our strengths as a Liveable City that we can best protect our ranking as a leading Global City.

While economic activity is the main measure of global city rankings, each city holds it position through unique and authentic cultural differentiation.

Indeed, Sydney’s ranking as a Top 10 Global City has been built already, on culture and nature. Is it possible to imagine Sydney reaching this position without the Sydney Opera House and its spectacular setting on the edge of a valley drowned by the Pacific Ocean?

Cultural complexity engenders place attachment. It follows that a culturally empowered and active core, to Greater Sydney, is imperative.

Social connectedness is the principal vehicle for happiness and wellbeing in cities. City centres play an increasingly important role in providing behavioural settings for social interaction.

Vibrant urban centres function best when people mix with ambiguity of purpose; without being conspicuous as being there for any particular purpose. Sydney Art Zone believes that The Bays should be developed as a vibrant new waterfront precinct, born of new thinking and where art and human imagination thrive; a place where people gather spontaneously to work, to live or just for the pleasure of being there.