How has Pyrmont-Ultimo changed historically in terms of its communities and redevelopments?

Authors Avatar

10.Inquiry question

How has Pyrmont-Ultimo changed historically in terms of its communities and redevelopments?

 The proposal of the Pyrmont Point project, between the Council of the City of Sydney and the Land Commission of New South Wales, 1981, describes the Pyrmont-ultimo peninsula as,

                               ‘…a quality residential development on the last significant headland in Sydney Harbour’.

This belief was a realisation by many in the late 20th Century and was reinforced by the actions of local government and many major construction firms.

The Pyrmont-Ultimo peninsula was once occupied primarily of ‘blue-collar’ workers, surrounded by derelict industrial waterfronts and working-class terraces that dominated the industrialised land. Over the past decade, massive urban renewal programs transformed the two inner-city suburbs. The redevelopment of decayed buildings of the working-class, improved both the employment opportunities and quality of infrastructure. Due to the constant fluctuations in redevelopment and development, the areas’ population also fluctuated over the years.

In 1875, Pyrmont reached its climax in residential development and by 1981 the population had exceeded 19,100 (the highest in New South Wales at the time) and a building boom of 3,699 dwellings. At the turn of the century, the population of the peninsula peaked at 30,000- the highest it would ever reach as stated by Micheal R. Mathews. Thereafter the population declined 5 per cent per year. This rapid decline was a result of the high amounts of industrial expansion in Pyrmont-Ultimo. Industries such as the CSR Sugar Refinery needed resizing and so terraces were demolished close by for expansion. This site has now been reconstructed into the 24 hour entertainment facility of Star City.

After the 1960’s, whole blocks were demolished by industry and government. Streets including Point Street, Bulwara Road, Allen Street and Fig Street  were depleted and nothing took there place. By 1976, the population in the peninsula decreased from 30,000 in the early 20th century to just 703 who were mainly workers of local industries. Of these 703 residents Micheal R. Matthews stated many of the workers included 43 engineers; 14 clerks; 24 boiler makers and machinists; 25 builders; 30 stonemasons; 3 dairy men; 16 blacksmiths and 13 butchers. All these employees were employed by the one hundred industries that monopolised Pyrmont-Ultimo in addition to there families that shared homes with these workers and due to the dramatic changes these sort of industries no longer exist.

Join now!

Nowadays the types of residents of the peninsula have changed significantly due to the transformation of the peninsulas facilities and its close perimeter to the City Business District. Younger residents have replaced older residents. With 20-29 year olds now representing 55.3 per cent of the population and people over 65 represent just 1.4 percent of Pyrmont-Ultimo, with the lowest of the population is those aged 5-9 years, at 0.9 percent. Some 24 percent of these new residents have university degrees compared with 16 percent in 1999 and 24 percent of households earn more than $78,000 a year in comparison to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay