By Manabu Suzuki, Resident of Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia
Date : 5 September 2004

Dear politicians, city planners, business community leaders and all Sydneysiders......

I am a proud resident of the city of Parramatta, located in the very heart of the Sydney Metropolitan area. I enjoy the life here with fantastic shops, restaurants and cafes. I celebrate Parramatta's cultural diversity as well as Anglo-Celtic heritages and... also the local football team - Parramatta Eels! Last but not least, I enjoy the feeling of being an important part of Australia's history in the 21st century. Because I believe Parramatta is destined to play a crucial role in building our brighter economic future. I am glad to be here to present my point of view about Parramatta's now and future, and its importance to the entire Greater Sydney and Australia.

I am originally from Japan. I moved to Australia four years ago and settled in Parramatta just two years ago. Some of my Aussie friends think the life here is quite different from Japan, but it's not so... because I find much more similarities than differences in the lifestyle between Australia and Japan. For instance, my hometown Kashiwa city is indeed the Japanese version of Parramatta! Kashiwa is one of Tokyo's suburban centres just like Parramatta being one of Sydney's major satellite cities. Kashiwa has so many things in common with Parramatta, including vibrant shopping precincts, large train stations, nice urban parklands, police headquarters, lakes, motorways, road-side warehouses and even its own professional football team. These amazing similarities make me feel as if I have been living in Parramatta for many years.

I describe Parramatta as Sydney's natural & cultural crossroads. This is the point where Sydney harbour's saltwater meets Upper Parramatta River's freshwater. In the past, Parramatta was the first main contact point where European settlers met local Dharug Aborigines. Nowadays, Parramatta seems to be the crossroads of many ethnic groups living in this multicultural hub of Sydney. More importantly, Parramatta is the point where the Past meets the Future. We all know Parramatta has many significant cultural heritages from the past, and at the same time, it will become one of the most futuristic places in Australia. The Parramatta CBD is in the boom of futuristic urban redevelopments, to name a few, $1 billion Civic Place project, Parramatta Transport Interchange, Parramatta Justice Hub, Westfields' skybridge and cinema complex, Riverbanks' premium outlet mall etc..

Parramatta's advantage is its central location. It is located at the geographic and demographic centre of Sydney Metropolitan area, in other words, Sydney's over 4 million population is distributed evenly in the east and west, or north and south, of the Parramatta CBD. It is also the major transportation hub in the west of the Sydney CBD, as described "All roads lead to Parramatta". As a result, more than 2 million people can be reachable within the 30-minute drive to or from Parramatta. This explains why there have been significant commercial developments in Parramatta.

Another important feature of Parramatta is that it is "the capital of Western Sydney". It is the undisputed commercial, business and cultural centre of the West - already the home of half the population of Sydney. Western Sydney is the fastest growing region and it will continue to be so, as it seems to be the only area that will accommodate the majority of growing population in Greater Sydney. Hence Parramatta has the potential of further growth.

What Parra matters does matter for everyone in Sydney.... Given its central location in Greater Sydney and its leading role in the West, Parramatta's success is the key to Sydney's brighter economic future. However, are our politicians, business leaders and urban planners working hard to accomplish this goal? Yes they do in some aspects, but I also have the impression that their policies are wishy-washy, lack of coordination and direction... That is why I sometimes feel frustrated with all the wrong decisions that has been made, as well as all the right things that has not been done... to Parramatta.

We all know so many challenges are ahead of us. I summarise the challenges into the three areas:

1. Business Development
2. Public Transport Development
3. Cityscape Development

1. Business Development

Parramatta is one of Sydney's major business districts. Parramatta CBD's workforce has doubled in the recent two decades, already outnumbered that of North Sydney and Chatswood to become the second largest CBDs in the Greater Sydney.

The areas surrounding Parramatta CBD also have great diversity for employment opportunities. Westmead is one of the country's largest medical and pharmaceutical precincts. Rydalmere, Camellia and Clyde are favoured areas for various manufacturers. With all these business developments, Parramatta is widely known as the "Sydney's second CBD".

"Second CBD" has two different meanings. One meaning is historically it was the second CBD built. The other meaning is that it is the second largest CBD. Our common sense tells us Parramatta is Sydney's number two - the second largest and the second most important - CBD. However, I do not agree with the idea that Parramatta always sits in the second position behind the Sydney CBD. Parramatta needs to grow faster, until it equals to, or at least comparable with, the Sydney CBD. Because Parramatta is already the natural centre of two million residents in Western Sydney.

Western Sydney is the economic powerhouse of Australia. However this region still has the problem of socio-economic disadvantages compared to other parts of Sydney, eg.. higher unemployment rate, lower average income, low availability of professional jobs etc.. At present, the richest area in the West is still behind Sydney's average, according to the 2001 Census, (Relative Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas).

This is the main reason why Parramatta must grow faster. Parramatta needs to create diverse employment opportunities, including higher-paid ones, for the growing population in the Western region. For example, Parramatta's further growth will enable the residents in Holroyd, Blacktown, Fairfield and Auburn to "work locally" in the Parramatta area without having to travel to Sydney CBD, at the same time, it will also provide the people in Strathfield, Bankstown and Liverpool with alternative job opportunities other than Sydney CBD.

To help Parramatta boost further growth, we need to put more focus on its "image issue"... to change Sydneysider's negative image of Parramatta (eg... "too far west from Sydney CBD", "the culture is a bit too rough", "less decent compared to the North Shore" etc...), into positive ones. Parramatta needs to get rid of the so called "Postcode Prejudice" by creating a new and more prestigeous image of "Postcode 2150".

The local residents all know Parramatta has changed. It is no longer "wild west", but rather a "cosmopolitan city in the heart of Sydney". With the opening of the "Art Deco" Roxy bar, premium Irish bars such as "PJ Gallagher's", Sydney's best Malaysian restaurant "Temasek" and its vibrant cafe culture, we see more people visiting Parramatta's "Latin Quarter" than that of Leichhardt's. This is really a nice place to be, to live in, to work in....Let everybody know about it!

Marketing Parramatta to the World is very important at this stage. Parramatta First project is a good start. A better city image will help attract prestigeous companies, including multinational ones, to set up their offices in Parramatta.

Parramatta - day and night

2. Public Transport Development

As Parramatta is located in the centre of Sydney, this city is often in the centre of Sydney's major urban problems. I think the public transport is the King of all Sydney's problems at present.

Although Sydney has extensive railway network, Cityrail probably is one of the most poorly managed transport systems in the developed world. Sydney commuters are so frustrated and sick of unreliable services, poor management regarding its inability to resolve the chronic driver shortage, too many cancelled services, signal station failures, infamous "revised timetable" and the like....

Besides the Ciyrail issues, all other transport issues need to be looked at. For example, Parramatta has 4 different means of transport from or to the Sydney CBD - trains, ferries, buses and private cars. However, with all the infrastructures we have, the transport system itself is neither integrated nor efficiently managed. I describe this as a "spewed spaghetti system" - a messy and stinky combination of unintegrated and unreliable systems. This costs us all heaps.

The transportation issues need to be solved immediately, due to Sydney's growing population. Fortunately, we only have 4 million population here and its employment opportunities are relatively spread out, that enables most of us to commute to work by private cars. However, if Sydney's population were to grow to 6 or 8 million, it will be a different story. Although 6 million population compared to the current 4 million might seem to be only 50% increase, but the traffic probably will double, or even more, because traffic always grows much faster than the population.

We know the traffic situation of M4 and M5 in the morning rush hours. The queues of the commuter cars sometimes become 10-20 km long, towards the Sydney CBD. Can you imagine what happens if the traffic doubles? What is the implication of this to our air quality, fossil fuel consumption and all our precious time lost in chronic traffic jams?

Hence we all know the beef up of traffic infrastructure is an urgent issue. At the same time, we need to strive to shift our traffic from private cars to public transport such as trains, lightrails and buses - as the public transport can carry far more people than private cars, with less environmental impact. I believe it is something Sydneysiders can learn from some of the World's major cities such as London, Paris and New York- all these cities are equipped with excellent network of public transport.

I was disappointed by this decision. Although I understand that the project's $1.2 billion cost would be the considerable burden for all NSW taxpayers if this line is underutilised, but I still believe the full rail link between Parramatta to Chatswood should be built, from the urban strategy point of view.

1. The full rail link would be the key infrastructure to integrate Sydney's three major suburban CBDs - Chatswood, North Ryde and Parramatta. These three CBDs already play the key role in decentralising the employment opportunities in Greater Sydney area, with their combined workforce is already more than a half of the Sydney CBD. The full rail link will help further growth of the three CBDs by enabling the workers to travel from east to west, or vice versa, without relying on private cars.
2. The further growth of the three suburban CBDs is important in providing millions of outer ring suburb residents with employment opportunities closer to their home, without having to travel to Sydney CBD. As a result, it would ease the southbound traffic from Chatswood to Sydney CBD, as well as the eastbound traffic from Parramatta to Sydney CBD, in the morning rush hours.
3. As public transport is the key infrastructure in Sydney's urban planning, the "expected patronage" and "project costs" should not be the only basis of the "Go or No-Go" decision making. If our politicians and bureaucrats had had more insight in Sydney's future, they would have considered the factors such as "the environmental and economic benefit of less road traffic if Parramatta to Chatswood rail link is built" etc.

Parramatta local leaders need to cooperate with the Rivercat management to increase the patronage, by building commuter carparks near Charles Street Wharf, or increasing the direct bus service to there etc.... Besides, Parramatta Riverbank shopping centre is having the fashion outlet mall "Brand Smart" in this November, I think this is a good chance to promote the Rivercat services, for example, what about selling "ferry to shop" tickets? - a combined ticket of the ferry ride and the shopping coupon in the Brand Smart. This is one of the many ideas to help boost the Rivercat patronage as well as promoting the tourism and shopping in Parramatta.

We want better public transport!

3.Cityscape Development

Cityscape is the visual presentation of modern cities. I think Sydney CBD has one of the most beautiful cityscapes in the World, where skyscrapers are in perfect harmony with Port Jackson's waterview, dotted with some remarkable landmarks such as Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Circular Quay.

In the contrast, Sydney's suburban CBDs are still in the process of developing its own cityscape. Parramatta is not an exception. Although it has so many heritage buildings and gardens, all these good things are not in harmony with its modern buildings and infrastrutctures. For example, when we enjoy the view of Art Deco Roxy building, we also see the dark, ugly-looking carparks behind it. The Brislington cottage is nice but it is obscured by the huge, dull-looking buildings nearby... It is a shame that not many people describe Parramatta as a nice, beautiful city.

To make Parramatta more visually entertaining city, is not an easy task. Because modern Parramatta has three different faces : it is a city, and is a suburb, also is a commercial centre. That means many different kind of developments could take place here, including unit development, shopping centre development, transportation facility development, office building development etc. There are no easy answers in coordinating those developments to create harmony each other, while conserving heritage buildings. Having said that, I think the following two things are the keys to success.

1. Riverside landscaping
2. Increasing visibility

Riverside landscaping... Parramatta River is the natural landmark and also the cultural identity of the city. In the recent couple of years, we have made remarkable progress in the riverside beautification. The river banks used to be a boring place with full of weed, now it becomes "Darling harbour of the West".The landscaped riverside walk is in a beautiful harmony with the historic Lennox Bridge, with some fashionable cafes and restaurants are around there. It has already become something we can boast of.

What I would like to see is the further landscaping of the river, including the extended beautifucation of the west of Lennox Bridge, as well as that of the east of Charles Street Wharf. This will provide us with the vehicle-free, two-kilometre historic riverside walk from Parramatta Park to the University of Western Sydney campus. When it is completed, Parramatta will be honoured as one the most walker-friendly cities in Sydney.

I also like to see the symbolic facilities of Parramatta's riverside lifestyle. For example, we can make swimming pools in the river banks, from where we can enjoy the seamless view of the river and the city...."Artificial beach" may be another option so that we can lie down to relax in a sun-drenched afternoon.... Although Parramatta is not a coastal city, we can still develop a lifestyle to enjoy water and sun here, as much as Manly people do.

Increasing visibility... People's safety is the common problem of modern Australian cities, including Parramatta. As Sydney's crime rate has been rising in the recent decades and many Sydneysiders lament that this "once worry-free city" has totally changed.

Sydney's crime scenes are so complex that there seems no simple solutions to dramatically decrease the crimes in a short period of time. Having said that, I believe a better city design can contribute to a less crime environment. "Visibility" is the key word for this.

"Increased visibility" means more open and see-through feature, and less hidden and dark places, in the city streets and public spaces. In a "visible" environment, people are required to behave in public because they are always visible by others. I think it is safer to be in a "visible" city because the majority of Sydneysiders behave in good manners in public places, while some people tend to malbehave in the dark places where nobody is watching them.

Recently, Parramatta has done one good thing, to give the Church Street mall a see-through feature, by removing a kebab stand that used to block the view. As a result, I felt much safer now to hang around this area. I think any future developments in Parramatta should be incorporated to the city planning that increases overall visibility. It will help Parramatta to become one of the safest cities in Sydney.

Parramatta's landmark - Riverside

Parramatta - the leading city in the heart of Sydney - is also the word that symbolises Sydney's future. As a proud member of Parramatta community, I would like to contribute myself to build a better future in this city, as long as Parra is the word that matters for Sydney, New South Wales and Australia.