3 The Greater Sydney Commission’s Thought Leadership Paper titled “A Metropolis that Works” was issued in October 2018 and it sets out the case for retaining and managing all industrial land in the Harbour City. The paper states that the Thought Leadership Papers are intended to “provoke discussion and debate”. The Urban Taskforce has had a number of its developer members raise considerable concern about the inflexible nature of the freezing of industrial land particularly when many sites are under-utilised yet are in areas with high land value and are desirable locations for a mixed use approach. Below we have outlined a number of statements by the GSC paper with a critique from our perspective. THE GREATER SYDNEY COMMISSION’S APPROACH TO PROTECTING LOW RISE INDUSTRIAL LAND IS OUT OF DATE GREATER SYDNEY COMMISSION URBAN TASKFORCE There are only 295 hectares of industrial land across Greater Sydney and that with an annual take up rate of 150 hectares we have less than two years forward supply. There are extensive areas of industrial land that are caught up in slow government zoning processes. There is over 10,000 hectares of land in the South West around the Aerotropolis that could provide over 100 years of supply. Our Urban Taskforce members are aware of over 1,200 hectares of currently zoned, undeveloped industrial land. 35 percent of the workforce is engaged in industrial and urban service activities. The GSC also says that industrial and urban service uses only contribute 5 percent of Gross Domestic Product so it seems unlikely that this would translate to so many jobs. All industrial and urban service land is assumed to be incompatible with other uses including residential. In verbal presentations the GSC has said typical uses are Concrete Batching Plants or Car Crash Repair bodies. It is incorrect to use extreme examples of industrial uses like concrete batching plants as being typical of industrial zoning. There are many uses that fit within the zoning definitions of Industrial and Urban Service uses including Light Industrial. Light Industrial is defined as uses that do not interfere with the amenity of the neighbourhood. These uses are compatible with residential uses and can add vitality to urban precincts. Enrico Moretti’s book “The New Geography of Jobs” outlines the dramatic swing away from manufacturing jobs. He has a graph showing that since 1985 America has lost an average of 372,000 manufacturing jobs a year for 25 years. That is 9,300,000 old jobs that are now moving to new types of jobs. GREATER SYDNEY COMMISSION URBAN TASKFORCE Industrial land near Port Botany is essential for the efficient distribution of goods across the metropolitan area. The Moorebank Intermodal terminal is being established for the distribution of freight and logistics. Qube and Amazon are locating at Moorebank. The industrial uses are moving west. Great Cities are more that their residential neighbourhoods. Managing industrial and urban services land requires protection from competing uses such as residential. Great cities need to balance all uses and many uses classified as industrial or urban services are very compatible with residential (ie kids indoor play zones, gyms, food preparation). As Sydney grows a greater number of people, particularly younger people, prefer a bustling, cosmopolitan mixed use environment where jobs, amenities and residential uses are all together. The GSC seems to have only focused on a mono zoning of industrial jobs and missed the potential for a much more exciting approach to urban living.