Better streets and spaces

Street furniture review

The City of Sydney is working with QMS Media to respond to recommendations from an external review of the city's advertising screens.

In 2020, the City of Sydney’s 20-year street furniture contract with JCDecaux expired. At that time, Council unanimously agreed to award QMS Media a 10-year contract to completely renew the street furniture and secure important income to help fund City of Sydney services and facilities.

Our Design Advisory Panel worked closely with QMS on the new designs to ensure they comply with current design standards and accessibility requirements.

However, some members of the community expressed concerns about the location of some of the pieces of street furniture, in particular the placement of some of the freestanding advertising screens impacting pedestrian access.

The City of Sydney and QMS have now reached an agreement with QMS to remove, relocate or not install a total of 30 QMS advertising screen structures.

While our contract with QMS provides significant value to the city – both in terms of attractive, well-maintained street furniture and income – we must ensure the balance is right.

Published 4 November 2022, updated 8 March 2024