While GTA 6 City of the Week looks at one location in the USA and evaluates it as a possible setting of the next installment in Rockstar Game's popular open-world action adventure franchise every week, Foreign City of the Week, as the name suggests, looks beyond the borders.
Sydney
Did you know that a majority of foreigners, to this day, think that Sydney is the capital of Australia? It seems that this whole "new planned capital city" thing just doesn't work out most of the time. Sure, it turned out well in the case of Washington D.C., but look at Brasília and Canberra. Not too shiny.
Anyhow, the city is indeed the largest in the country, and was once considered for being the capital alongside Melbourne. Since the two cities couldn't decide between themselves due to a long-standing rivalry, a compromise was made to found an entirely new city approximately halfway between the two which would act as the new capital. While Melbourne has been called the most livable city in the world five times in a row and is considered the technological, cultural and scientific center of Australia, even pro-Melbourne folks like me must acknowledge that on the international stage, Sydney is quite simply more famous.
Sydney, like many other cities we examine, is very much a city of "mosts". It is built around the world's largest natural harbor. It is the country's, and in fact Asia Pacific's, largest economic and financial hub. It is the oldest city in Australia, the most visited tourist destination in Australia and the most multicultural city in Australia.
Boasting a population of just — and we mean just — under 5 million, Sydney is a sprawling metropolis covering 12,367.7 km2. Encompassing two main bays and countless smaller ones, Sydney features a highly varied coastline, including the world famous Bondi Beach. It stretches pretty far inland, all the way to the Blue Mountains National Park, and spawls both southward and northward as well.
From a geographic point of view, Sydney is ideal for a GTA map. Turning the area into an island wouldn't be too hard, nor too much of a stretch in terms of realism. With the prominent bays and large coastline, Sydney and its surroundings feature plenty of water, while the nearby national parks provide not only natural borders, but areas of wilderness too.
