Cultural precincts
Certain areas in cities evolve into precincts where similar services, offerings, ideas and ideals live – think Thai restaurants and King Street Newtown and then some! Sydney is no exception.
Surry Hills in the inner-east of the city, for example, has become a thriving creative quarter full of galleries, designers of all kinds (furniture, clothes) and vintage stores. Several pockets of cool eateries are emerging while Crown Street continues to put its stamp on the restaurant scene. The City is helping to promote the area with Shop Local days and tourist guides.
Also in the inner-east, Darlinghurst/Kings Cross remains an alternative hub for theatre, with the SBW Stables Theatre, the Cell Block Theatre and the Old Fitzroy Theatre going strong despite a decline in performance spaces for small independent theatre companies across Greater Sydney. The Council is adding the Reg Murphy Centre into the mix (voting to keep it as a small theatre) and the redeveloped Burton Street Tabernacle, which will soon take pride of place in one of our priority precincts around Oxford Street.
Meanwhile Walsh Bay is a burgeoning arts hub. Its champions, Sydney Theatre Company artistic directors Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton, think it has the potential to become one of the world’s most vibrant cultural precincts. The City of Sydney is helping to make this happen by nurturing local talent and our creative spirit with an $8 million grants and sponsorship program.
Towards 2030, we’re supporting old and new cultural precincts to:
- promote culture and creativity
- attract tourists
- commission public art
- provide local communities with fresh Sydney experiences.
Sydney 2030: green, global and connected. Go to the strategic directions.
