Sydney's SoHo Syndrome? Loft living in the urbane city

Abstract

In its ongoing search for a global identity, the city of Sydney, Australia, has looked to other cities for inspiration and direction. Like many of these cities, Sydney's Central Business District, and the former industrial areas that surround it, are being transformed through ‘apartment’ (condominium) development. Many are marketed as ‘New York–style lofts’ via a flurry of promotions that suggest a distinctly generic and global form of cosmopolitan urbanism. The essay details how this recent spate of Manhattanization rests not only on a cache of historically embedded Manhattan imaginaries, but on localized socio–cultural moments that are part of Sydney's particular experience of SoHo Syndrome. Tracing the pathways to Sydney's version of the global phenomenon of loft living has enabled a deeper understanding of the city's evolving built and cultural landscapes.