Abstract
A case study of metropolitan Sydney is given on the dynamics of polycentric employment location and land-use and transport policies that encourage such a spatial formation of jobs. Spatial plans from 1948 to 2005 are reviewed. Employment decentralisation into major centres has been a consistent objective. Changes in the location of metropolitan employment and journey to work using Census data from 1961 to 2001 and the current metropolitan strategy to 2031 are analysed to help assess whether policy objectives have been met. An historical study of Parramatta, one of the major sub-centres, illustrates the problems of implementation. Current initiatives to create the 'two harbour and three river cities' are described.
