CASE OF SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

a case study of the two largest Australian cities, Sydney and Melbourne, in an attempt to further
illuminate the conceptual framework and analytical debates

They started as remote British colonial outposts in the early 19th century; grew into significant
cities by the end of the century, as the mid-century Gold Rush attracted large numbers of
immigrants.

In the 2nd half of the century,

Gold Rush turned Melbourne, alongside Chicago, into the fastest growing New World city

Melbourne entered the league of the top 20 largest cities in the world

As Gold Rush ended, Melbourne stagnated and Sydney gradually took over as the largest
Australian city.

After the 1901

After the British colonies in Australia unified new nation, the Commonwealth of Australia, the
rivalry between the two cities developed as a permanent feature of the economic and cultural
landscape

21st Century

At the beginning of the 21st Century, Melbourne has surpassed Sydney in terms of its immigrant
entries
Cultural Cringe

the feeling of cultural inferiority in relation to the distant metropolises

Australia is visually placed in the middle of the globe. This means that the rest of the world is,
literally, on the other side of the earth.

It takes a minimum of 20 hours for European countries to reach either Melbourne or Sydney.

The distance cause a cultural break in relation to the distant northern-hemisphere countries at
that time.

through its famous landmarks: Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney has
achieved the‘first name familiarity’and‘single-photo recognizability’that Melbourne seems
to lack.

Over recent years, Sydney has regularly featured on various ‘global city lists’, unlike Melbourne.

Melbourne the ‘knowledge city’

‘knowledge city’ image has been heavily reliant on its seven universities and a large, visible
presence of the international student population.

Melbourne has been ranked fifth among the global university cities, behind London, Boston, Paris
and Tokyo while Sydney ranked sixth

Global University City Index feature those cities where there is meeting between their size,
liveability and connectedness. They are home to knowledge workers and research clusters that
make them a significant driving force of the knowledge economy.