Metropolis divided : the political dynamic of spatial inequality and migrant settlement in Sydney

Contrary to the argument that high immigration does not exacerbate population pressures in Sydney, not only is this citys population growing, it is also bifurcating. There are now two Sydneys one increasingly dominated by low to moderate-income non-English-speaking migrant communities in the West and South West and the other comprised of established inner affluent areas and predominantly English-speaking aspirational areas on the metropolitan periphery. In the high migrant, low to moderate-income areas in the West and South Western suburbs, Australian-born residents are moving out at greater rates than overseas-born residents. In turn, low and moderate-income overseas arrivals continue to settle disproportionately in these locations. These geographic changes have political implications. Since the early 1990s, the Labor Partys federal representation in Sydney has shrunk and is now confined to seats in these locations. While Labor is unlikely to lose these seats, it is equally unlikely to gain seats elsewhere in Sydney. Copyright. Monash University and the author/s