Town Hall House
456 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
City of Sydney Floor Space and Employment Survey
Glebe Point Road
Introduction
The City of Sydney undertakes its comprehensive Floor Space and Employment Survey (FES) every five years to coincide with the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Census of Population and Housing. The latest FES is the second to encompass those areas amalgamated into the City of Sydney from the former South Sydney and Leichhardt Councils in 2004, and allows the City of Sydney to investigate and report on changes in workforce, businesses and floor space across Surveys.
The FES collects data on all businesses, floor space uses and employment numbers for every building or property within the City of Sydney local government area (LGA). It provides a snapshot of the built form, land uses and economic activity of the City of Sydney every five years. The field data captured for the current Survey was undertaken during 2012.
The data collection phase of the FES involves field surveyors visiting every business in the City of Sydney to determine what industry the business is in, how many workers are in each business, and the floor space use of each business through visual inspection and the use of existing floor space. Information for various capacity measures such as quantity of seating, parking, rooms and units are also collected. Residential uses are only surveyed from the street and validated by checking existing floor plans. The data is entered into a Geographic Information System (GIS) database to allow 2- and 3-dimensional mapping, analysis and reporting.
The data is used by both internal and external stakeholders as a basis for strategic planning, policy formulation, business development and forecasting.
The Glebe Point Road Village encompasses the area from Blackwattle Bay in the north to Parramatta Road in the south, and from Wattle Street, Ultimo in the east to Forest Lodge in the west (see Figure 1).
The Glebe Point Road Village is predominantly historic terraces and apartments. The area is close to the CBD and surrounded by extensive foreshore parklands. Neighbouring universities and educational institutions shape the area’s daily life.
The 2012 FES collected data from 3,962 sites in the Village, including 903 business premises. The total internal floor space surveyed was 2,126,424m², an increase of 6.5% from the previous Survey. Data on a further 1,155,644m² of external area (including parks, backyards, balconies, pools etc.) was also collected.
Figure 2 shows the extent of the Glebe Point Road Village, looking north. Residential uses are shown in dark red, and are predominantly multi-storey apartment blocks and terrace housing located throughout the Village, whilst business uses are shown in light brown and are largely located in the south-eastern and southern sections of the Village. The eastern half of the Village is dominated by Wentworth Park.
Figure 2. The Glebe Point Road Village looking north.
In 2006, the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Estimated Resident population (ERP) stated that there were 18,294 residents living in Glebe Point Road Village. By 2011, the ERP for Glebe Point Road Village had risen to 20,127, an increase of 10.0% over five years. The proportion of the City of Sydney’s residents in Glebe Point Road Village fell from 11.7% in 2006 to 11.0% in 2011. As of 2011, the Glebe Point Road Village remains the third most populous of the City of Sydney’s ten villages It is estimated that Glebe Point Road Village will accommodate approximately 10.9% of the City of Sydney’s residents by 2016 with 23,150 residents, and 9.5% by 2031 with 25,655 residents.[1] The proportion of City of Sydney residents living in the Glebe Point Road Village is forecast to diminish in the future as the City of Sydney experiences relatively higher population growth in other areas.
The Glebe Point Road Village resident population was housed in 9,922 dwellings at the time of the Survey. The dwelling stock of the Village is dominated by multi-storey apartment blocks (with 55.5% of dwellings) and terrace houses (26.6%). There was a 4.2% increase in the number of dwellings between the two Surveys. Over the next few years, the redevelopment of Harold Park will see the number of dwellings grow by more than 10%, whilst further residential growth will predominantly occur from small infill developments, with a few medium density projects.[2]
Employment in the Glebe Point Road Village increased by 37.8% between the Surveys, from 7,295 in 2007 to 10,052 in 2012. The proportion of full-time employment decreased slightly from 68.0% in 2007 to 66.5% in 2012. There were an additional 175 businesses counted in 2012 compared to 2007, an increase of 24.0%. Over the same period, the average number of workers per business decreased from 10.0% to 9.0%.
The number of parking spaces in the Village increased by 5.6% overall between 2007 and 2012, largely associated with multi-storey apartment construction.
When looking at Visitor Accommodation in the Village, there had been a marginal increase in the number of rooms between the Surveys. There was a 1.5% increase in the number of hotel rooms, and a 3.6% increase in the number of backpacker beds. However, Serviced Apartments experienced strong growth of 360% bringing the total of Serviced Apartments from 10 in 2007 to 46 in 2012.
The key totals for the 2007 and 2012 Surveys are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1. Key Totals for Glebe Point Road Village, 2007-2012Category / 2007 / 2012 / Change / % Change
General
Sites Surveyed / 3,960 / 3,962 / 2 / 0.1%
Buildings Surveyed / 3,893 / 3,879 / -14 / -0.4%
Businesses Surveyed / 728 / 903 / 175 / 24.0%
Areas
Internal Floor Area (m²) / 1,996,513 / 2,126,424 / 129,912 / 6.5%
External Area (m²) / 1,155,148 / 1,155,644 / 496 / 0.0%
Total Surveyed Area (m²) / 3,151,660 / 3,282,069 / 130,408 / 4.1%
Employment
Full-time Employment / 4,959 / 6,681 / 1,722 / 34.7%
Part-time Employment / 2,336 / 3,371 / 1,035 / 44.3%
Total Employment / 7,295 / 10,052 / 2,757 / 37.8%
Residential
Number of Dwellings / 9,525 / 9,922 / 397 / 4.2%
Buildings with Dwellings / 3,530 / 3,523 / -7 / -0.2%
Population / 18,294 / 20,127 / 1,833 / 10.0%
Occupancy Rate / 1.92 / 2.03 / - / -
Tenant Parking
Internal Parking Spaces / 5,367 / 5,901 / 534 / 9.9%
External Parking Spaces / 2,307 / 2,202 / -105 / -4.6%
Total Parking Spaces / 7,674 / 8,103 / 429 / 5.6%
Visitor Accommodation
Hotel Accommodation (Rooms) / 137 / 139 / 2 / 1.5%
Serviced Apartments (Units) / 10 / 46 / 36 / 360.0%
Backpacker Accommodation (Beds) / 112 / 116 / 4 / 3.6%
Industry Classification
The FES codes each business establishment based on a modified Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) – 2006. ANZSIC classifies the primary activity of a business into 16 ‘Divisions’ and then into 506 4-digit ‘Industries’. The Survey has further subdivided these into 644 unique business uses. This allows for more detailed analysis of business, employment and floor space uses.
The 644 business uses have been re-categorised into a ‘City-Based Industry Sector’ Classification based on the method used by the City of Greater London. This classification better reflects the mix of uses within the business community of city centres such as the City of Sydney. There are nineteen ‘business’ related industry divisions, and a further five ‘non-business’ related industry divisions within the City-Based Industry Sector Classification. This allows the analysis of industry groups such as Creative Industries, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Tourist, Cultural and Leisure.
Table 2 following shows the breakdown by City-Based Industry of employment, businesses and (business) floor space for the Glebe Point Road Village in 2012. During the Survey, data was collected on 903 businesses; there were 10,052 workers counted; and businesses occupied 521,327m² of internal floor space.
The predominant Industry Sector in the Glebe Point Road Village is Food and Drink, with the highest proportions of businesses and employment, however, floor area is highest in the Tourist, Cultural and Leisure industry sector. Three Industry Sectors employ more than 1,000 workers within the Glebe Point Road Village, including Creative industries, Food and Drink and Retail and Personal Services. The Village has a diversified industry mix interspersed with the third highest residential population in the City of Sydney LGA. Tables 3, 5 and 6 (following) show the changes in the number of businesses, employment and business floor space use by each of the City-Based Industry Sectors between 2007 and 2012.
Business Establishments
Between 2007 and 2012 the number of businesses in the Glebe Point Road Village increased by 24.0%, from 728 to 903 businesses. The largest sectoral increase occurred in the Food and Drink Industry, with an additional 47 business establishments compared to 2007. There were an additional 30 Creative Industriesbusinesses compared to 2007. There was an increase in the number of business establishments in fourteen of the nineteen sectors.
Of the 728 business located in the Village in 2007, 617 were still operating in the same location in 2012. There were a large number of new businesses commencements in the Creative Industries, Food and Drink, Health, Retail and Personal Services, Professional and Business Services industry sectors. The area’s predominant industry, Food and Drink, had the largest business turnover number (30 ceasing or moving operation, with 77 commencing), whilst at the same time showing the greatest growth in absolute numbers (47 establishments).
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Table 2. Overview of City-Based Industry Sectors, Glebe Point Road Village, 2012City-Based Industry Sector / Businesses / % of Total Businesses / Employment / % of Total Employment / Business Floor Area / % Business Floor Area
Community / 26 / 2.9% / 521 / 5.2% / 56,144 / 10.8%
Creative Industries / 76 / 8.4% / 1,348 / 13.4% / 36,758 / 7.1%
Finance and Financial Services / 20 / 2.2% / 379 / 3.8% / 6,668 / 1.3%
Food and Drink / 227 / 25.1% / 1,980 / 19.7% / 42,551 / 8.2%
Government / 18 / 2.0% / 292 / 2.9% / 36,620 / 7.0%
Health / 50 / 5.5% / 341 / 3.4% / 13,141 / 2.5%
Higher Education and Research / 14 / 1.6% / 546 / 5.4% / 33,186 / 6.4%
ICT / 34 / 3.8% / 622 / 6.2% / 17,334 / 3.3%
Life Science (Bio-tech) / 16 / 1.8% / 154 / 1.5% / 4,062 / 0.8%
Manufacturing / 10 / 1.1% / 58 / 0.6% / 6,064 / 1.2%
Motor Vehicle / 17 / 1.9% / 244 / 2.4% / 17,213 / 3.3%
Natural Resource-Based Industries / 0 / 0.0% / 0 / 0.0% / 0 / 0.0%
Other* / 2 / 0.2% / 32 / 0.3% / 0 / 0.0%
Professional and Business Services / 63 / 7.0% / 975 / 9.7% / 27,318 / 5.2%
Property Development and Operation / 33 / 3.7% / 312 / 3.1% / 12,672 / 2.4%
Retail and Personal Services / 173 / 19.2% / 1,056 / 10.5% / 60,239 / 11.6%
Social Capital / 39 / 4.3% / 697 / 6.9% / 33,164 / 6.4%
Tourist, Cultural and Leisure / 68 / 7.5% / 393 / 3.9% / 99,702 / 19.1%
Transport and Logistics / 17 / 1.9% / 94 / 0.9% / 16,833 / 3.2%
Utilities** / 0 / 0.0% / 8 / 0.1% / 1,658 / 0.3%
Total / 903 / 100.0% / 10,052 / 100.0% / 521,327 / 100.0%
City-Based Industry Sector / 2007 / % of 2007 Businesses / 2012 / % of 2012 Businesses / Change
2007-2012 / % Change 2007-2012
Community / 26 / 3.6% / 26 / 2.9% / 0 / 0.0%
Creative Industries / 46 / 6.3% / 76 / 8.4% / 30 / 65.2%
Finance and Financial Services / 12 / 1.6% / 20 / 2.2% / 8 / 66.7%
Food and Drink / 180 / 24.7% / 227 / 25.1% / 47 / 26.1%
Government / 18 / 2.5% / 18 / 2.0% / 0 / 0.0%
Health / 30 / 4.1% / 50 / 5.5% / 20 / 66.7%
Higher Education and Research / 9 / 1.2% / 14 / 1.6% / 5 / 55.6%
ICT / 23 / 3.2% / 34 / 3.8% / 11 / 47.8%
Life Science (Bio-tech) / 12 / 1.6% / 16 / 1.8% / 4 / 33.3%
Manufacturing / 9 / 1.2% / 10 / 1.1% / 1 / 11.1%
Motor Vehicle / 14 / 1.9% / 17 / 1.9% / 3 / 21.4%
Natural Resource-Based Industries / 0 / 0.0% / 0 / 0.0% / 0 / NA
Other / 2 / 0.3% / 2 / 0.2% / 0 / 0.0%
Professional and Business Services / 45 / 6.2% / 63 / 7.0% / 18 / 40.0%
Property Development and Operation / 23 / 3.2% / 33 / 3.7% / 10 / 43.5%
Retail and Personal Services / 169 / 23.2% / 173 / 19.2% / 4 / 2.4%
Social Capital / 29 / 4.0% / 39 / 4.3% / 10 / 34.5%
Tourist, Cultural and Leisure / 59 / 8.1% / 68 / 7.5% / 9 / 15.3%
Transport and Logistics / 22 / 3.0% / 17 / 1.9% / -5 / -22.7%
Utilities / 0 / 0.0% / 0 / 0.0% / 0 / NA
Total / 728 / 100.0% / 903 / 100.0% / 175 / 24.0%
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Table 4. Recent and Established Businesses By City-Based Industry Sectors, Glebe Point Road Village, 2012City-Based Industry Sector / Established
(Pre-2008) / Commenced
2008-2012 / % Established
Community / 22 / 4 / 84.6%
Creative Industries / 34 / 42 / 44.7%
Finance and Financial Services / 11 / 9 / 55.0%
Food and Drink / 150 / 77 / 66.1%
Government / 16 / 2 / 88.9%
Health / 26 / 24 / 52.0%
Higher Education and Research / 11 / 3 / 78.6%
ICT / 19 / 15 / 55.9%
Life Science (Bio-tech) / 11 / 5 / 68.8%
Manufacturing / 7 / 3 / 70.0%
Motor Vehicle / 12 / 5 / 70.6%
Natural Resource-Based Industries / 0 / 0 / NA
Other / 2 / 0 / 100.0%
Professional and Business Services / 33 / 30 / 52.4%
Property Development and Operation / 21 / 12 / 63.6%
Retail and Personal Services / 142 / 31 / 82.1%
Social Capital / 28 / 11 / 71.8%
Tourist, Cultural and Leisure / 58 / 10 / 85.3%
Transport and Logistics / 14 / 3 / 82.4%
Utilities / 0 / 0 / NA
Total / 617 / 286 / 68.3%
Figures 3a and 3b show the percentage share of the top six City-Based Industry Sectors in 2007 and 2012. Food and Drink has increased its share of the total businesses from 24.7% to 25.1%. Retail and Personal Services experienced the largest change with a 4% decrease in its share of total businesses(from 23.2% to 19.2%); although the sectormanaged to remain in second place as the remaining four sectors have significantly smaller shares of the total business than the top two. Three of these four have increased their share, however, Tourist, Cultural and Leisure fell by 0.6% to fall from third to fourth of the top six industry sectors. The Creative Industries overtook the Tourist, Cultural and Leisure sector to take third place following a 2.1% increase in its share of businesses, the largest increase of all the top six industry sectors.
Overall, the top six industry sectors have increased their combined share by only 0.1%. The top two dominant industry sectors decreased their combined share by 3.6% while the remaining four increased by 3.7%. This relatively unchanged business mix suggests stability in the Glebe Point Road Village. However, Food and Drink has increased its share since 2007 and therefore labels Glebe Point Road Village as a village dominated by restaurants, cafes and bakeries etc.
Employment
In the period between the Surveys, employment in the Glebe Point Road Village increased by 37.8%. There were 10,052 workers counted in 2012 across nineteen different industry sectors. Fourteen of the nineteen sectors experienced employment growth, with Food and Drink, Creative Industries and Professional and Business Services recording the highest increases, with 816, 522 and 398 additional workers respectively. All three industry sectors had complementary growth in the net number of businesses. Over the period between the Surveys, the average number of workers per business in the Food and Drink sector rose from 6.47 to 8.72, adding over two workers per establishment. This sector remains the predominant employer in the area with almost one fifth of workers employed.
Table 5 (following) shows the breakdown of employment by City-Based industry Sector for 2007 and 2012, with the percentage share of each sector and the change between Surveys. The ICT sector had the highest percentage employment growth in the Village at 110.8%, with Creative Industries, Food and Drink, Professional and Business Services, Property Development and Operation and Social Capital also adding at least half their worker numbers again over a five year period.
Five sectors in the Glebe Point Road Village experienced a decline in employment. Only Transport and Logisticsexperienced a commensuratedecline in establishments: eight firms ceased operations in the Village, while only being replaced by three new ones. A quarter of the employment in this sector was lost with workforce numbers dropping from 126 to 94 from 2007 to 2012.
In 2012, businesses in Glebe Point Road Village employed 11.13 workers on average across all sectors. The number of workers per business ranged from a high of 39.0 in the Higher Education and Research sector, down to a low of 5.52 for businesses in the Transport and Logistics sector. The average number of workers per establishment in 2007 was 10.02. The rise in average number of workers across all establishments is due primarily to the employment growth in Food and Drink, ICT, Professional and Business Services and Retail and Personal Servicesbeing much greater than their growth in business numbers, leading to much higher workforce densities. Overall, the employment growth rate of 37.8% outpaced the business establishment growth rate of 24.0%.
The following figures (4a and 4b) illustrate the proportion of employment across the top six industry sectors in 2007 and 2012 respectively. The Food and Drink sector had the highest proportion of employment in both 2007 and 2012, increasing its percentage share over the period from 16.0 % in 2007 up to 19.7% in 2012.
The Retail and Personal Services sector was the second highest employer in 2007; however, after a relative loss in percentage share of 3.2% it was replaced by the Creative Industries sector, which increased its share by 2.1%.
The Food and Drink industry sector had the highest growth in percentage share, up 3.7% to 19.7% in 2012. The Retail and Personal Services sector had the greatest decline in percentage share, down 3.2% to 10.5%. In the top six industry sectors, the Community sector was replaced by ICT between 2007 and 2012.
Total employment in the Village was less evenly distributed across the industry sectors in 2012 than in 2007. The top six industries became more dominant in terms of employment share compared to the remaining industries, accounting for 4.1% more of total employment in 2012 than in 2007. This has been driven almost solely by the increase in the Food and Drink workforce.
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Table 5. Employment By City-Based Industry Sectors, Glebe Point Road Village, 2007-2012City-Based Industry Sector / 2007 / % of 2007 Employment / 2012 / % of 2012 Employment / Change
2007-2012 / % Change 2007-2012
Community / 545 / 7.5% / 521 / 5.2% / -24 / -4.4%
Creative Industries / 826 / 11.3% / 1,348 / 13.4% / 522 / 63.2%
Finance and Financial Services / 342 / 4.7% / 379 / 3.8% / 37 / 10.8%
Food and Drink / 1,164 / 16.0% / 1,980 / 19.7% / 816 / 70.1%
Government / 346 / 4.7% / 292 / 2.9% / -54 / -15.6%
Health / 245 / 3.4% / 341 / 3.4% / 96 / 39.2%
Higher Education and Research / 414 / 5.7% / 546 / 5.4% / 132 / 31.9%
ICT / 295 / 4.0% / 622 / 6.2% / 327 / 110.8%
Life Science (Bio-tech) / 189 / 2.6% / 154 / 1.5% / -35 / -18.5%
Manufacturing / 89 / 1.2% / 58 / 0.6% / -31 / -34.8%
Motor Vehicle / 176 / 2.4% / 244 / 2.4% / 68 / 38.6%
Natural Resource-Based Industries / 0 / 0.0% / 0 / 0.0% / 0 / NA
Other / 16 / 0.2% / 32 / 0.3% / 16 / 100.0%
Professional and Business Services / 577 / 7.9% / 975 / 9.7% / 398 / 69.0%
Property Development and Operation / 198 / 2.7% / 312 / 3.1% / 114 / 57.6%
Retail and Personal Services / 1,002 / 13.7% / 1,056 / 10.5% / 54 / 5.4%
Social Capital / 429 / 5.9% / 697 / 6.9% / 268 / 62.5%
Tourist, Cultural and Leisure / 316 / 4.3% / 393 / 3.9% / 77 / 24.4%
Transport and Logistics / 126 / 1.7% / 94 / 0.9% / -32 / -25.4%
Utilities / 0 / 0.0% / 8 / 0.1% / 8 / NA
Total / 7,295 / 100.0% / 10,052 / 100.0% / 2,757 / 37.8%
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The following figures (5 and 6) show the distribution of employment by block in 2012 and the change in employment numbers by block between 2007 and 2012 respectively. As can be seen in the Figure 5, the majority of employment occurs in the southern portion of the Village, with small pockets of employment in various blocks in the northern half.
Figure 6 above shows that high levels of employment growth have occurred in the south east and south west of the Village. There have been low levels of employment growth across most of the Village, with a few pockets of employment loss. The predominant employment loss has occurred in the area around the former Harold Park Paceway site (due mainly to the Harold Park urban renewal project that has resulted in the cessation of harness racing at the paceway) and along Parramatta Road in the south.
Floor Area
The 2012 FES measured over two million square metres of internal floor space in the Glebe Point Road Village. Additionally, data was collected on 1.16 million square metres of external space, including parks, car parks, terraces and balconies. The measurements for the floor space uses were collected by creating spatial entities for each non-contiguous space, and attributing relevant attribute data such as employment numbers, capacity and vacancy to each. Every individual space is held in a Geographic Information System (GIS) database, and is related to the business that uses it. The GIS calculates the areas automatically, and allows 2-D and 3-D rendering of the data.
In terms of internal business floor area, the Tourist, Cultural and Leisure sector occupies the largest amount of floor space in the Village, with nearly 100,000m². This is approximately 40,000m² more than the next largest floor area user, Retail and Personal Services, which uses just over 60,000m².