Bolstering our area's ability to identify, manage and respond to acute shocks and chronic stresses expected to impact residents and businesses is the focus of the City of Sydney's draft Resilience Strategy 2023-2028.
Approved by Council for public exhibition, the City of Sydney is calling on residents to provide feedback about the trials they expect to face and their experiences dealing with short and long-term challenges.
In the last few years, residents have been impacted by chronic stresses like a lack of Affordable Housing and food insecurity, as well as shocks like a pandemic and the severe building fire in Surry Hills.
"The Randle Street blaze showed how shocks can hit the city without warning with impacts felt for months. City of Sydney employees quickly mobilised to support affected residents, working closely with agencies and the NSW Government to safely manage the immediate fallout and get people back into their homes as quickly as the situation allowed," Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore AO said.
"Building resilience is complex and requires co-operation across many levels of government and the business community. Having strong plans and directions is key to succeeding.
"We continue to bounce back following the pandemic which impacted so many facets of our lives. Many residents have already told us there's room to improve in preparing for such shocks, and we want them to be a big part of developing emergency planning to make sure we capture everyone's needs.
"As our climate changes, so too must our planning. We will continue this vital work building resilience to make sure we are in the best possible position to adapt and thrive when the time comes."
Potential shocks and stresses Sydney could face in the coming years include extreme weather events, cyber attacks, water and food insecurity, increasing inequality, and a lack of Affordable Housing.
The Resilience Strategy has set out five key themes for a more prosperous city:
- An equitable, inclusive, and connected community
- A climate-resilient community
- Places, buildings, and resilient infrastructure
- A robust local economy
- A prepared community.
Among the goals of these directions will be to advocate for more climate-proof Affordable and Social Housing, update flood models, look at ways to make housing better suited to increased heat, investigate ways to bolster waste management capacity, work with vulnerable communities to better prepare them for a changing climate and strengthen communications channels for our diverse communities.
While the City of Sydney can prepare and manage some aspects, collaboration with other agencies is key to success. The City of Sydney will work with all levels of government, the business community, and residents to improve collective resilience.
This work builds on the success of Resilient Sydney's work to prepare the entire Sydney metropolitan area for similar shocks and stresses. The City of Sydney hosts the Resilient Sydney program and network on behalf of the 33 metropolitan councils.
The City of Sydney's draft Resilience Strategy 2023-2028 is available here. Residents and businesses are encouraged to provide their feedback before consultation closes on 28 August 2023.
