MAPPING CULTURE

Table 9 further breaks down the ‘performance and exhibition’ spaces in the City of
Sydney LGA by venue type. As shown below, over half (57.1%) of the cultural venues in
this space are live music venues at hotels, cafes, bars and clubs. Drama and dance
theatres and contemporary art centres rank second and third in the venue count,
representing 10.5% and 5.2%, respectively, of the total cultural venues within this
space. Large performance venues (defined as having a capacity of over 750 persons),
such as concert halls, lyric theatres and large indoor/outdoor entertainment venues,
are also located in the city. Examples of these venues are Sydney Opera House,
Sydney Lyric Theatre, Theatre Royal, Roslyn Packer Theatre, Capitol Theatre, and the
State Theatre.
Venue types Count Count %
Hotels, cafes, bars and clubs 197 57.1%
Drama and dance theatres 36 10.5%
Contemporary art centres 18 5.2%
Museum of social history 16 4.7%
Multi-purpose venues 15 4.4%
University museums and galleries 12 3.5%
Contemporary music venues 10 2.9%
Other (‘unusual’) venues 10 2.9%
Lyric theatre 7 2.0%
Concert halls 6 1.7%
Museum of applied art and science 6 1.7%
Museum of art 4 1.2%
Arena and large entertainment venues 4 1.2%
Comedy venues 2 0.6%
Museum of natural history 1 0.3%
Total 344 100.0%
Table 9. Breakdown of ‘performance and exhibition’ space by venue type
In terms of the distribution of cultural venues, Figure 12 reveals that ‘commercial and
enterprise’ venues are largely concentrated in the CBD, and to a lesser extent in Surry
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