Editing Sydney (section)

=== State capital (1901–present) ===
[[File:(Looking north along George Street (with tram, T-model Ford and hansom cab) from Union Line Building (incorporating the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical culture), corner Jamieson Street), n.d. by (5955844045).jpg|thumb|A [[tramcar]] on George Street in 1920. Sydney once had one of the largest [[Trams in Sydney|tram networks]] in the British Empire.]]
When the six colonies federated on 1 January 1901, Sydney became the capital of the State of New South Wales. The spread of [[bubonic plague]] in 1900 prompted the state government to modernise the wharves and demolish inner-city slums. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 saw more Sydney males volunteer for the armed forces than the Commonwealth authorities could process, and helped reduce unemployment. Those returning from the war in 1918 were promised "homes fit for heroes" in new suburbs such as Daceyville and Matraville. "Garden suburbs" and mixed industrial and residential developments also grew along the rail and tram corridors.<ref name="Fitzgerald-2011"/> The population reached one million in 1926, after Sydney had regained its position as the most populous city in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2019 |title=Australian Historical Population Statistics, 3105.0.65.001, Population distribution |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/historical-population/latest-release |access-date=2 August 2022 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics |archive-date=1 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801140830/https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/historical-population/latest-release |url-status=live }}</ref> The government created jobs with massive public projects such as the electrification of the [[Railways in Sydney|Sydney rail network]] and building the Sydney Harbour Bridge.<ref>Kingston (2006). p. 132</ref>
[[File:Sydney 1932.jpg|thumb|right|Sydney Harbour Bridge opening day, 19 March 1932]][[File:Sydney's Circular Quay at night in 1938.jpg|thumb|right|The Sydney skyline at night in 1938.]]Sydney was more severely affected by the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s than regional New South Wales or Melbourne.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spearritt |first=Peter |title=Sydney's century, a history |publisher=UNSW Press |year=2000 |isbn=0868405213 |location=Sydney |pages=57–58}}</ref> New building almost came to a standstill, and by 1933 the unemployment rate for male workers was 28 per cent, but over 40 per cent in working class areas such as Alexandria and Redfern. Many families were evicted from their homes and shanty towns grew along coastal Sydney and Botany Bay, the largest being "Happy Valley" at [[La Perouse, New South Wales|La Perouse]].<ref>Spearritt (2000). pp. 58–59</ref> The Depression also exacerbated political divisions. In March 1932, when populist Labor premier [[Jack Lang (Australian politician)|Jack Lang]] attempted to open the Sydney Harbour Bridge he was upstaged by [[Francis de Groot]] of the far-right [[New Guard]], who slashed the ribbon with a sabre.<ref>Spearritt (2000). p. 62</ref>

In January 1938, Sydney celebrated the [[Commonwealth Games|Empire Games]] and the sesquicentenary of European settlement in Australia. One journalist wrote, "Golden beaches. Sun tanned men and maidens...Red-roofed villas terraced above the blue waters of the harbour...Even [[Melbourne]] seems like some grey and stately city of Northern Europe compared with Sydney's sub-tropical splendours." A congress of the "Aborigines of Australia" declared 26 January "A [[Day of Mourning (Australia)|Day of Mourning]]" for "the whiteman's seizure of our country."<ref>Spearritt (2000). p. 72</ref>

With the outbreak of [[Second World War]] in 1939, Sydney experienced a surge in industrial development. Unemployment virtually disappeared and women moved into jobs previously typically reserved for males. Sydney was attacked by [[Attack on Sydney Harbour|Japanese submarines]] in May and June 1942 with 21 killed. Households built [[airstrike|air raid]] shelters and performed drills.<ref>Kingston (2006). pp. 157–59</ref> [[Military engineering|Military establishments]] in response to [[Military history of Australia during World War II|World War II in Australia]] included the [[Garden Island Tunnel System]], the only [[tunnel warfare]] complex in Sydney, and the heritage-listed military [[fortification]] systems [[Bradleys Head Fortification Complex]] and [[Middle Head Fortifications]], which were part of a total [[Sydney Harbour defences|defence system for Sydney Harbour]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aussieheritage.com.au/listings/nsw/Mosman/BradleysHeadFortificationComplex/3069 |title=Bradleys Head Fortification Complex, Mosman, NSW Profile |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518073741/http://www.aussieheritage.com.au/listings/nsw/Mosman/BradleysHeadFortificationComplex/3069 |archive-date=18 May 2007 }}</ref>

A post-war immigration and baby boom saw a rapid increase in Sydney's population and the spread of low-density housing in suburbs throughout the Cumberland Plain. Immigrants{{Em dash}}mostly from Britain and continental Europe{{Em dash}}and their children accounted for over three-quarters of Sydney's population growth between 1947 and 1971.<ref>Spearritt (2000). p. 91</ref> The newly created Cumberland County Council oversaw low-density residential developments, the largest at [[Green Valley, New South Wales|Green Valley]] and [[Mount Druitt]]. Older residential centres such as Parramatta, [[Bankstown]] and [[Liverpool, New South Wales|Liverpool]] became suburbs of the metropolis.<ref>Spearritt (2000). pp. 93–94, 115–16</ref> Manufacturing, protected by high tariffs, employed over a third of the workforce from 1945 to the 1960s. However, as the long post-war economic boom progressed, retail and other service industries became the main source of new jobs.<ref>Spearritt (2000). pp. 109–11</ref>

An estimated one million onlookers, most of the city's population, watched [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] land in 1954 at Farm Cove where Captain Phillip had raised the Union Jack 165 years earlier, commencing her [[Royal visits to Australia|Australian Royal Tour]]. It was the first time a reigning monarch stepped onto Australian soil.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=10 January 2018 |title=The 1954 Royal Tour of Queen Elizabeth II |url=https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/1954-royal-tour-queen-elizabeth-ii |access-date=18 August 2022 |website=[[State Library of New South Wales]] |archive-date=8 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908092035/https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/1954-royal-tour-queen-elizabeth-ii |url-status=live }}</ref>

Increasing high-rise development in Sydney and the expansion of suburbs beyond the "green belt" envisaged by the planners of the 1950s resulted in community protests. In the early 1970s, trade unions and resident action groups imposed [[green ban]]s on development projects in historic areas such as The Rocks. Federal, State and local governments introduced heritage and environmental legislation.<ref name="Fitzgerald-2011" /> The Sydney Opera House was also controversial for its cost and disputes between architect [[Jørn Utzon]] and government officials. However, soon after it opened in 1973 it became a major tourist attraction and symbol of the city.<ref>Kingston (2006). pp. 184–86</ref> The progressive reduction in tariff protection from 1974 began the transformation of Sydney from a manufacturing centre to a "world city".<ref>Spearritt (2000). pp. 109–12, 259–62</ref> From the 1980s, [[Immigration to Australia|overseas immigration]] grew rapidly, with Asia, the Middle East and Africa becoming major sources. By 2021, the population of Sydney was over 5.2 million, with 40% of the population born overseas. China and India overtook England as the largest source countries for overseas-born residents.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2021 |title=2021 Census of Population and Housing, General community profile, Greater Sydney, Table GO9(c) |url=https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/community-profiles/2021/1GSYD |access-date=4 August 2020 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics |archive-date=28 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628053554/https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/community-profiles/2021/1GSYD |url-status=live }}</ref>