KEY POINTS:
Fawlty towers produced some memorable moments.
Among my favourites is a classic Basil Fawlty line, which arises out of a rhetorical question. Speaking with his wife, Sybil, Basil muses: "Happiness? Yes dear, I remember that."
Putting Basil's cynicism to one side, it is unquestionably the case that every human being pursues this blessed state. For the citizens of Sydney, a new global survey shows, happiness is commonplace.
The other night, as chairman of the Committee for Sydney, I was asked to speak at a cocktail function, convened to hear the results of the Veolia Environnement global survey of 14 cities, from Alexandria, through Chicago and Shanghai, to Tokyo. Sydney was among this group and 630 Sydneysiders were included in the 8500 interviews conducted by Ipsos, an international market survey firm.
The theme for the survey results, titled Veolia Observatory of Urban Lifestyles: 2008 - Life in the City is taken from Shakespeare's Coriolanus, which poses the question: "What is the city but the people?"
Veolia is, of course, a global company with interests in technology and services ranging from water and waste management, through energy, to passenger transport and freight. In Sydney, among many other initiatives, the desalination plant at Kurnell is a Veolia project.
The survey results are of real interest but, even without them, as dusk fell, looking out from Level 41 of the Chifley Tower, over the sweep of the Sydney Opera House and the harbour, through Garden Island to Bondi, it's clear that while Sydney has got a number of decisions wrong over the years, it has got a lot right.
The survey bears out this thinking. Sydney was grouped with Chicago and Los Angeles among the easy to live in cities of the world. It's easy to see why.
Turning to the details, 48 per cent of Sydneysiders were born here, against a global average of 52 per cent locally born. But 60 per cent of the city's residents have lived in Sydney for 20 years and 72 per cent plan to stay for the long haul. More convincingly, 74 per cent of Sydneysiders would like their kids to grow up in the metropolis. All these figures were above the global averages.
Despite constant pressure on mortgages, Sydneysiders spend on average 30 per cent of their monthly incomes on housing. The global average is a touch higher, at 31 per cent.
But more Sydneysiders (52 per cent) own their own home than the global average of 43 per cent.
Travelling, Sydneysiders are often wedded to their car keys. Some 73 per cent rely on the car, against a global average of 53 per cent.
Globally, in the 14 cities surveyed, some 66 per cent of citizens use public transport. In Sydney, the figure is down to 42 per cent. Not surprisingly, Sydneysiders are less than glowing in their references to the city's public transport network.
But overall satisfaction is high, with some 89 per cent of Sydneysiders being either somewhat or very satisfied with the city (global average: 83 per cent). On the subject of neighbourhoods, the figure of 88 per cent easily trumps the global satisfaction rating of 76 per cent. According to Ipsos, Sydney enjoys its sporting and cultural activities and the diversity of our population. Personal safety is also seen as a positive. But then the figures start to tell a different tale.
Transport facilities lag behind global satisfaction levels (28 per cent as against 36 per cent internationally).
And for a city which has given the world Utzon's Opera House, Bradfield's Harbour Bridge and the enjoyable precincts of Harry Seidler's Australia Square or Francis Greenway's Macquarie Street, architecture is seen as being less than impressive (13 per cent as against 19 per cent). City planners might care to take note.
But it is cost of living that troubles Sydneysiders. A Sydney resident says: "Everything's gone up ... real estate, beer prices, even a cup of coffee is expensive."
Along with public transport, Sydney's high costs are a source of concern. Although, as one speaker at the Veolia function noted, having just returned from London, Sydney didn't compare too badly.
In a nutshell, as with so many international surveys, Sydney fared well. That's not to say there is any room for complacency. Public transport needs to improve markedly, as the state Government recently acknowledged with its new Metro proposal for the northwest of the city to the CBD. The M4 East Tollway is to be extended, hopefully all the way to Sydney Airport. And the gaps in the tollways to the north and south need to be completed.
What's more, it's to be hoped that the Sydney 2030 proposals being pursued by Lord Mayor Clover Moore, including proposals for light rail and greater pedestrian access, are acknowledged and eventually resourced in Macquarie St and Canberra. Comparatively, Sydney could learn a good deal from other global cities, from the cultural assets of New York and Paris, through to the economic dynamism of Shanghai.
This perhaps raises the question of what component parts might make up an ideal city.
The survey's responses lead to several conclusions. The focus groups which complemented the 8500 respondents, suggested to Ipsos that an ideal city would embody the lifestyle of Sydney or Chicago, coupled with the public transport systems which serve Tokyo. New York's diverse population combined with the warmth of Alexandria, and Berliners' easy capacity to make contact with other people would also be important. Finally, Prague's magnificent architecture should be combined with the economic energy of a Shanghai or Beijing, and the splendid cultural offerings of Paris.
Having said all this, Sydney is possessed of extraordinary appeal.
It is indeed a relatively easy place to live; lacking some of the tensions and problems that are found elsewhere. It's a good place to pursue happiness.Stephen Loosley, a former federal president of the Labor Party and a senator, chairs the business advocacy group Committee for Sydney.
