We must plan for an extra million people who will call Sydney home over the next 10 years. Change is coming and our only option is to decide how to shape and couple it with progress that makes people's lives better. We must be guardians of the elements of our city which we love the most – the naturally beautiful surroundings, the clean, green and safe city we enjoy today.

The County of Cumberland planning scheme, which mapped out Sydney in 1948, is oft touted by contemporary planners as an exemplar of city plan-making.

Evidently, for a community not accustomed to new government projects for 20 years now – save for the construction of some sporting facilities at Olympic Park – it can be uncomfortable dealing with the disruption caused by the need to retro-fit the infrastructure Sydney needs into existing communities. Yes, there has been bad planning in Sydney – the neglect of our leaders in the past who thought it too hard or at best too costly to support our burgeoning population with new public transport, roads, hospitals and green space.

Some say that as we age change can be harder to accept. While that is an inaccurate assumption to place on most Sydneysiders, it is those of an older ilk who will remember a city dominated by trams. A light-rail system that some argue was the most extensive in the world at the time – ripped up and concreted over more than 50 years ago. Today, the inner Sydney suburbs previously serviced by this long-gone system are some of the most sought-after within our community. In an about-turn scenario, millennials have flocked to these denser neighbourhoods, where it is more likely their grandparents resided than their suburbia-dwelling baby-boomer parents. They love the convenience, the vibrancy and the lifestyle these environs offer.

The County of Cumberland planning scheme, which mapped out Sydney in 1948, is oft touted by contemporary planners as an exemplar of city plan-making. It identified our commercial hubs – the CBD, Parramatta, Liverpool, North Sydney, Hurstville, Bondi Junction, Bankstown, Ryde and others that are still the centres of our poly-centric city today. It distinguished locations of present and future roads, railways, green corridors and recreation spaces.