Freeways lost on the way to Sydney's post-CBD

In line with the integrated core-periphery model, NSW's Department of Main Roads proposed a project in the late 1960s known as North Western Expressway, linking Sydney CBD to its north-western suburbs and ultimately the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway to Newcastle. The route traversed inner-west neighbourhoods including Glebe, Annandale, Lilyfield and Rozelle, former working-class areas which by the 1970s were at an advanced stage of gentrification. For the new professional inhabitantsworking in fields like "public administration, academia, media, advertising, architecture, design, and the arts, these charming 19th century streetscapes lined with workingmen's cottages and terraces, close to the city centre's office jobs and rich cultural amenities, were ideal 'lifestyle' locations". This youthful cohort had the qualifications and political connections to wage a potent campaign against this encroachment on their turf, which ultimately proved successful. On regaining office at the 1977 NSW state election, Labor scrapped the project.

That was the death knell of motorways crossing inner Sydney for decades and the consequences are plain to see. If post-war planners were seized by a vision of metropolitan integration, present day reality is akin to a condition of disintegration. Loss of close socio-economic diversity in the core was not relieved by rapid, far-reaching transport connections with the periphery. Central Sydney turned its back on Greater Sydney. Imitating their precursors who stopped North Western Expressway, a new wave of political and municipal leaders shrugged off broader regional priorities and hurried to refashion the CBD in their own image. Raymond E Murphy, author of the classic textbook TheCentral Business District: A Study in Urban Geography (1971), considered the CBD an outward formation, drawing "its business from the whole urban area and from all … classes of people". On this definition Sydney isn't so much a CBD anymore as an exclusive playground for its high-end workers and growing number of well-heeled residents.

Classic CBD - Sydney, 1960s, bustling and proletarian

One visible manifestation of this is a progressing 'luxurisation' of the streetscape. Today's relaxed ambience – even before the pandemic − and upscale establishments stand in contrast to the bustling city of decades ago with its traffic and distinct proletarian aspect. Traditional rows of discount stores and intermittent warehouses have in stretches been displaced by large block-like glass and concrete facades brandishing global brands, above hip boutiques, eateries and banks of street furniture. This amenity grab was achieved by furtive step-by-step obstructions to motor vehicles, still the largest dimension of modern transportation. As CBD entry points are aligned to a handful of public transport corridors, withdrawal of parking spaces and a creeping cordon of pedestrianised streets and plazas, light-rail lines, criss-crossing bike lanes and falling speed limits deter driving and help keep most of Sydney's population away in their distant abodes. If current trends continue the CBD is destined to become a gated resort-style campus for the Western Pacific Region’s high-flying globetrotters.

Post-CBD - Sydney, 2021, upscale and exclusive

There is no widely accepted term to describe this new urban phenomenon in central Sydney and other world cities, but ‘post-CBD’ is as good as any.