Le paradoxe de Sydney

Voici un article tiré du Sydney Morning Herald, la référence locale, qui explique pourquoi un Sydneysider sur 5 veut quitter la ville, alors même qu'elle atteint la première place de "ville la plus agréable du monde" dans de nombreux classements... Fort intéressant!

Is there a Sydney paradox? How can the world's greatest city be so unappreciated by its citizens that they are leaving it for pastures north, south and increasingly west? Have you never heard of the Sydney paradox? Let me explain.
It comes down to two new pieces of news that Sydneysiders got at the weekend. There was good news and bad news. First, as Sydneysiders are usually sunny and optimistic, here's the good news. Sydney was voted the number one city in the world, according to Simon Anholt's world-renowned City Brands Index. The index ranks the world's top 40 cities in terms of economic influence, quality of life, natural beauty and friendliness, and Sydney came out on top again. And in a great all-round result for Australia, Melbourne came sixth.
But Sydneysiders are also always looking for something to worry about so here's the bad news. According to a report on the front page of the Herald yesterday, Sydneysiders are leaving town in droves, because of housing costs, transport and overall liveability.
How can this be? We're the world's number one city, but everyone is shooting through? It depends on whether you think globally or locally. By global city standards, Sydney is not crowded, rushed, polluted or even expensive. You can get a high-flying job with beaches on your doorstep. But by Australian city standards, Sydney is the big smoke.
People who are in the globalised part of the workforce tend to see Sydney in all its glory. Occupations in "Global Sydney" include jobs in the financial markets, media, advertising, movies, sport and recreation. So if you are a globe trotter, returning expatriate, visiting business professional, or even a high-flying rust-belt refugee from Victoria or South Australia, who can therefore afford to live by the beach or the harbour, then Sydney does have the best of both worlds.
You are living in one of the most influential global cities but with an attractive climate, lifestyle and fun people. As many visitors comment, it's like a big cosmopolitan city and a resort rolled into one.
The view of Sydney from overseas is similar to the view of Sydney's globalised workforce, so it is no surprise that immigrants seek out Sydney as their number one choice for settlement - even if Sydney is not attracting migrants domestically, from other states.
There is no doubt Sydney is Australia's global city and it is not surprising the world sees it this way. After all, 10 of the top 20 listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange are Sydney-based. In terms of trade, NSW has 15,600 exporting businesses - the most in the country - despite the resources boom in the west and the north. Sydney's cosmopolitan nature also helps. Think of Sydney's great overseas-born entrepreneurs, from Frank Lowy to Bing Lee.
Through local eyes, it's a different story. If you're in the non-exporting, non-global part of Sydney, life can be a bit different. It can be tough earning domestic Sydney wages but paying global Sydney mortgages.
But interstate migration is not just about the push away from Sydney due to high housing costs, it is also about the pull towards the economic opportunity of the resource-rich states, Western Australia and Queensland.
I was in Perth last week and was shown some population data. There is clearly a "Gilly" effect at work. Adam Gilchrist may be remembered for his lusty big hitting and effective wicketkeeping but when he moved from Lismore to Perth he started a national trend. New population data show the cricket star was followed west by a large number of eastern staters, particularly from NSW. Western Australia and Queensland have attracted large numbers of interstate migrants, while NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and, to a small extent, Victoria have experienced net losses. The West Australian mining boom has even attracted new sources of international migrants from Brazil - literally from Rio to Freo - but that's another story.
So there you have it: the Sydney paradox is explained. But perhaps it's not a paradox after all but a simple matter of supply and demand. The whole world thinks Sydney is hot, the price goes up, and many punters choose to shift because they can't afford the price or see better value elsewhere. This is why the Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry, told a Sydney business audience last year that he'll see them in Perth in five years, as "resources get re-allocated" to the resource-rich states thanks to demand from China, India and the emerging economies.