If the price of real estate was the Sydney dinner party discussion du jour in 2017, this year’s hot topic over the main course is population growth. The announcement by the NSW government to hold off on assessing any new housing proposals in the City of Ryde demonstrates that the government is hyper-aware of the conversations happening in the community.

Sydneysiders are anxious about crowding and congestion - and they expect politicians to fix it. And while it’s no surprise to see Tony Abbott and Dick Smith declare as a solution that our city is "full", the chorus of concern has spread to more mainstream organisations like the Grattan Institute, leading both sides of NSW politics to call for the states to have more of a role in deciding immigration policy. While this new enthusiasm for limiting growth is understandable, it’s misguided.

The evolution of Gladesville. Credit:Google Maps

Sydney is growing at 2 per cent a year – higher than Australia’s overall rate of 1.6 per cent. We have crowded trains, unaffordable housing and many parts of the community are expressing a general discomfort with the rate of change and development happening around them. On the face of it, slowing growth through reducing immigration looks like a sensible solution – after all, many other cities around the world have much lower rates of growth and they seem OK.

Here’s the problem: it won’t work. Reducing immigration will have an impact on the population of Australia, but it’s highly unlikely to take pressure off Sydney or Melbourne.