Uploaded on 2016-07-26 by David Dove

Sydney as a city is very much a knowledge centre, with key exports or outward “flows” including skilled professional services, education services, and financial services. Production and manufacturing for export purposes is somewhat limited. The key flows inward to Australia, in accordance with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, are as attached. While these are for Australia as a whole, they remain fairly representative of the Sydney demand. This shows the top inward flow (by value) being personal travel, however if we combine the two categories of Petroleum Products, and of Vehicles, these would exceed or closely follow personal travel, and be at positions one and three respectively. As the three highest by value, they could be seen as the most important, noting that food is not one of the items, due to much of the food supply to Sydney coming from within Australia, especially from the territory around Sydney. So with that preamble, for the purpose of this exercise I will discuss Petroleum, Personal Travel and Vehicles as the three Stocks and Flows. Petroleum (either refined or unrefined) is shipped to Sydney for use. There is a large refinery in Sydney, however increasingly it is refined petroleum that is being imported. It is imported in bulk, distributed to locations for sale, and then used in vehicles (or other motors) with the waste product (exhaust gasses) being released in to the air as the outward flow. There is significant potential for this to change, with the progressive replacement of petroleum driven motors with alternate energy supplies. The most evident at the moment is the increasing use of electric powered vehicles. Petroleum in its crude or refined state represents 11.5% of the total imports to Australia by value. A change to this technology would have significant ramifications to the economy, and to the environment. Personal Travel (excluding education) Services is valued (2014) at $24.5 billion or 7.3% of Australia’s imports. Global mobility is increasing. Australians have always been avid travellers, and in return Australia (and specifically Sydney) is seeing increased arrivals. Much of this is being driven by the growing middle class in countries such as China and India. This flow of people (and therefore cash) is changing the city, from the type and style of accommodation, food options, entertainment, and broader sectors such as real estate (given a proportion of visitors start looking for investments). Future changes have the potential to positively or negatively affect this Flow. Political influence, conflict (war) and or terrorism have the potential to dramatically reduce the economic and cultural benefit of this sector. On the other hand, increasing global wealth, reduced travel cost and increased mobility have the potential to grow this Flow of people and money, with the increased volume changing the physical characteristics of Sydney such as increased accommodation, increased density, and more diverse services. Passenger and Goods Vehicles collectively are the second highest import to Australia. Different to Petroleum which is used and then it is gone, vehicles have some potential to change status from a Flow to a Stock, as they become a longer term resource for the city. Sydney does not produce vehicles in any volume, and within the next two years all Australian production of vehicles will cease. Therefore, while the vehicles and their technology may change, it is seen that there will remain a long term demand for transportation to be imported. Following the trends in Sydney for increased car ownership and increased population, and excluding revolutionary alternate transportation methods (such as teleportation), I would see this demand continuing to grow.