ABSTRACT
Pyrmont-Ultimo, on the western edge of Sydney's Central Business District (CBD), has become the Australian city's newest 'chic quarter' (Figure 2.1). Abandoned industrial buildings born of maritime and industrial capitalism are being refurbished and converted into either boutique office space for the burgeoning creative industries sector or loft apartments for urban professionals. Empty shops are being converted into cafés and boutique retail outlets. New high-rise luxury apartment blocks are being built on derelict waterfront industrial sites. The harbour foreshore is being reopened to the public, as walkways and parklands. Pyrmont-Ultimo is one of the latest locations of Sydney's inner-city urban renaissance following policies that embrace the 'New Right' political ideology emphasizing urban consolidation and 'village lifestyles' and an economic climate encouraging rapid expansion of the creative industries sector. However, the emergence of Sydney's chic inner-city urban quarter has also brought its own physical and symbolic barriers that effectively wall-out Sydney's least affluent residents from all but a passing curiosity.
