6.2 The Grain of Sydney

“Sydney’s growth has both unified and divided, fragmented and combined spaces that are simultaneously local, metropolitan, and global. Like other large metropolises, Sydney functions as a city, in social, political, economic, or planning terms. ... Yet Sydney is far too diverse for there to be any simple divisions, and imagined divisions are at least as important as those that can be formally measured.” (Connell 2000; p.16)

A rich city is one that has a rich texture of numerous intermingled grains and a number of these qualities could easily be identified within Sydney. Sydney has a rich streak of open spaces and wild natural spaces close to the city centre with fingers of bushland and the ocean providing a balance to man-made constructed elements. Despite an apparent coarse grain with divisions such as the Eastern suburbs versus the Western suburbs, there is a fine grain of a diversity of cultures present and each suburb has its own different flavour to it.