Greater Sydney Region Plan – Metropolis of Three Cities
Core idea
Three-city polycentric structure
Why it matters
Aligns land use and transport
Description
Greater Sydney's 'Metropolis of Three Cities' plan (2018) restructures the region around three connected city centres — the established Eastern Harbour City, the Central River City, and a new Western Parkland City around a future airport — to balance growth and access.
Significance
Sydney's three-cities plan is a leading contemporary model of polycentric metropolitan strategy, explicitly planning to rebalance a region by growing new centres rather than reinforcing a single dominant core.
What became of it
Published in 2018 by the Greater Sydney Commission as a statutory 40-year vision and 20-year plan, it reorganised metropolitan governance around three cities — the Eastern Harbour City, Central River City and Western Parkland City — and has shaped district plans, infrastructure sequencing and the Western Sydney Aerotropolis. It remains the guiding regional framework, though delivery of jobs and the 30-minute-city goal in the west has been uneven.
Critique
Academic critics argue the three-cities polycentric vision risks entrenching east–west inequality, as the Western Parkland City still lacks the jobs and services needed to match its planned population.
What shaped it
- The 15-Minute City (2016)
- The compact city (1973-1990s)
- Transit-oriented development (TOD) (1993)
- Sustainable development (Brundtland) (1987)
- The Just City (Fainstein) (2010)
- SDG 11 — Sustainable Cities (2015)
Plans it influenced
Sources
- https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/plans-for-your-area/a-metropolis-of-three-cities
- https://apo.org.au/node/138896