Planning Discourses and Sydney's Recent Metropolitan Strategies

The recent metropolitan strategies for Sydney (1994 and 1999) are analysed. A discourse analysis is used to help identify underlying ideology and assumptions in the strategies. ESD, economic competitiveness and compact cities are central discourses in both strategies. The 1994 strategy uses an integrated urban management approach implemented by a comprehensive action plan and new institutional arrangements, and in which a neo‐liberalist ideology is dominant. The 1999 strategy is less prescriptive, with greater emphasis on justifying existing government policies. Differences between the discourses identified and actual strategic planning actions suggest the limitations of purely textual discourse analysis for understanding strategic planning.