Artist's impression of Parramatta. Why is Parramatta so important? There's a lot riding on Parramatta's transformation. The western Sydney economy has traditionally relied heavily on manufacturing, a sector weakened by global economic forces, and jobs growth in the region has lagged behind other parts of the city recently. The traditional commercial centres of western Sydney, especially Parramatta, need to adapt if they are to attract and keep the high quality knowledge industries where future jobs growth is likely to be strongest. Baird, who is also the minister for western Sydney, says the future of the city and the state are tied to Parramatta. "This is a great state, Parramatta is a great city, and the future of both are heavily connected," he said on one of his many stops in western Sydney during this year's state election campaign.

David Borger of the Sydney Business Chamber. Tim Williams, chief executive of lobby group the Committee for Sydney predicts the city's future will be determined in its west. "Sydney's structure is challenging. We've got this rather constrained CBD on the far east of our city but about two million people live west of Parramatta," he says. "The next big step in Sydney's transformation is to do Parramatta comprehensively and well … the city needs Parramatta to be an economic powerhouse, a second economic pole." While Sydney's CBD remains the nation's most valuable economic location, modelling by consultancy PwC shows Sydney's economic centre of gravity –the point around which economic output is evenly balanced – is nine kilometres west of the central business district and drifting north-west. That drift underscores the growing importance of economic clusters inland from the CBD. PwC's analysis of Sydney's local areas showed the Parramatta-Rosehill area generated more than $7.6 billion in 2012-13 and was growing at a faster rate than both the CBD and North Sydney. It's estimated that more than 20 per cent of Australia's Top 500 companies now have a presence in Parramatta's CBD. PwC's economics director, Rob Tyson, said the growing recognition of Parramatta's importance – signified by urban developments such as Parramatta Square – could be a "tipping point" in realising the huge potential of western Sydney.

"All of our research and economic analysis in the past points to the fact that Parramatta is becoming increasingly important in the whole tapestry of Sydney's economic network," he said. Baird has declared Parramatta the "infrastructure capital of the world" because of the investment planned in the region. He points to a $26 billion pipeline of spending on road and rail projects in western Sydney – almost one in every two dollars allocated for state transport infrastructure. That includes Australia's biggest road project, WestConnex, and its biggest public transport project, the North-West Rail Link. The pipeline grew last year when the Abbott Government announced a new airport will be built at Badgerys Creek. Baird argues the sheer volume of infrastructure spending in store for western Sydney has attracted the attention of the world's leading infrastructure players and they see great opportunity in the region over the next decade. The rest of the west

The push to strengthen Parramatta as Sydney's second commercial hub has been a catalyst for economic change across western Sydney. David Borger, the Western Sydney director of the Sydney Business Chamber, says the rise of Parramatta has provided other regional cities with a road map for their own development. No longer content to wait for organic growth, a range of cities have followed in Parramatta's footsteps and are actively embarking on major urban renewal projects and re-branding campaigns. "The new model for leadership in western Sydney is that you've got to take risks and you've got to be entrepreneurial for the city because, if you don't, you're going to be left behind," says Borger. "These are places that cannot sit there and just coast on their natural strengths. They have to actually get out there and be hungry." Liverpool has an urban rejuvenation plan called "Building Our New City" which includes an "eat street", a revitalised mall and new "gateways" to create a sense of arrival in the city. Mayor Ned Mannoun​ said the decision to build the international airport at Badgerys Creek had been a game changer and it is now positioning itself as the capital of south western Sydney and as the "Airport city". In a city where eight storey buildings have been the norm, construction has now started on the first 30 storey building. Cr Mannoun said that during the next 10 years no other Australian city will gain as much infrastructure as Liverpool. "We are very strongly positioning ourselves to become Sydney's third major city," Cr Mannoun said.

"We want to be known as the city that builds things and is home to all the related industries that build things – engineering, constructing, consulting, planning. We want to become the city of urban design." To the north west of Liverpool, Penrith also has a grand plan. It has embraced the slogan "Penrith is Here" and is pushing itself as the "capital of the New West" on the premise that Sydney's eastern CBD is a global hub and Parramatta its "central city." Like Liverpool, Penrith plans to revamp its city centre and in the process bring an extra 10,000 jobs and 5,000 dwellings to the area. Penrith Council has shifted its policy position on Badgerys Creek airport and now supports the project in the belief that it is better to be "inside the tent" to gain access to resources. Mayor Ross Fowler said Penrith residents want a city that is bold.

"Penrith has always had it's own separate identity to the rest of western Sydney. We've probably evolved over the last 30 years from a proud country town to now a very proud city," he said. Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue chairperson Chris Brown said Parramatta was the "older brother" influencing and inspiring the rest of western Sydney, "Parramatta is the beach head which has given the decision makers in the city a confidence about moving jobs, money and office space to western Sydney and now there is an opportunity for the others, like Liverpool, to come through and say they want a slice of that action as well," Mr Brown said. "With Parramatta dominating central Sydney, Liverpool dominating the south west and Penrith dominating the outer west, there are nodes around which the government can build." The transport challenge

A Committee for Sydney report released last month said much more attention should be given to the "east-west spine" of Sydney between the CBD and Parramatta. It called for a much faster and more frequent heavy rail connection on the existing line that connects the CBD and Parramatta so the two economic hubs can be more closely linked. "The analogy is with the old financial centre of London and the new one created in Docklands at Canary Wharf, which did not succeed until a public transport link was created," the report said. "This enabled a business person to get from one to the other in less than 15 minutes with services so speedy and frequent that they didn't have to know the timetable." As well as a high speed rail to link Sydney's dual CBDs, there is a need for improved public transport connections between the various commercial centres in western Sydney. The government is currently considering which of four light rail routes will be built around Parramatta, with the hope of eventually delivering a light rail network around western Sydney. The four routes are Parramatta to Macquarie Park via Carlingford, Parramatta to Castle Hill via Old Northern Road, Parramatta to Bankstown, and Parramatta to Sydney Olympic Park and Strathfield/Burwood.

While there is no hint of when a decision will be revealed, construction on a route was due to start in this term of government and the different commercial centres are lobbying hard for their causes. Parramatta Council has proposed a route from Westmead to Epping, which would link centres to the north, east and west of Parramatta CBD, such as the Westmead health precinct, Parramatta Stadium and UWS's Rydalmere and proposed Parramatta Square campuses. Parramatta Mayor, Cr Scott Lloyd, says it will make Parramatta the new Central station and provide a spine that would allow for future light rail expansions to Macquarie Park, Castle Hill and Olympic Park. The jobs challenge Greater Western Sydney is one of Australia's biggest regional economies, with annual output of nearly $100 billion, but job creation in the region has been dwarfed by population. About 200,000 people leave western Sydney each day for work and that daily migration could swell to 400,000 by mid-century unless jobs growth in the region improves. The movement of so many workers to and from western Sydney puts huge pressure on the city's transport networks and is a major drag on the economy.

The most acute shortage is in high value knowledge-industry jobs. Only about 17 per cent of Sydney's banking, finance and business services jobs are in western Sydney even though it is one of the city's most important sectors. The state government has tried to boost the number of knowledge jobs in the west by moving government departments. More than 69,000 NSW public servants live and work in western Sydney, Public Service Commission figures show. The Government is set to move 3,000 public servants to new offices at Penrith, Liverpool and Parramatta and has sought proposals from the private sector to deliver new office premises in each of these centres. But efforts to boost the number of private sector knowledge jobs in western Sydney have had limited success. That means many well-qualified graduates need to look outside the region for employment, putting extra pressure on the transport system. The Committee for Sydney's Tim Williams says "getting Parramatta right" will take many years of focus and planning. "We are beginning to see the rhetoric turn into real projects but we need 20 years of emphasis on Parramatta to make this right," he says. "Something that we find challenging in Australian cities is a long-term focus on a single place. That's what's required. We've only just started the work, let's not take our focus off it."