Sep 4, 2012
Posted by Mike Rann
In Australia there is renewed national interest
in cities after years of neglect. The
current Federal Government, in office for less
than five years, has already invested more in
urban public transport than all previous
national governments combined since Australia's
Federation in 1901. It has also doubled
its road budget during difficult economic
times.
Australia, despite its outback
image, is one of the world's most urbanised
nations. Just over half the world's
population lives in cities. In Australia it's a
massive 75%. 85% of Australians live within
50km of the coastline. Cities are also our
biggest economic generators accounting for 80%
of Australia's GDP and three out of every four
of our workers.
And while four of
Australia's cities - Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth
and Sydney - routinely rank in the top ten of
the world's 140 most liveable cities, they are
under increasing strain with growing but ageing
populations, serious housing affordability
problems, increasing congestion and urban
sprawl. Congestion problems alone, if not
addressed, will cost the Australian economy
some $20 billion a year in lost productivity by
2020. That's not surprising given that
freight movements will double by
2030.
So Australian governments-
Federal, State and Territory-have committed to
a reform process where city planning systems
must meet nationally agreed criteria.
They must show how they are providing for
nationally significant economic infrastructure
such as transport corridors, airports and
ports, intermodal connectors and
utilities. They must also show how they
are providing for an appropriate balance
between infill and greenfield
development. And they must demonstrate
how they are planning for population growth,
housing affordability and climate change
mitigation. They must also show how they can
better connect people to jobs given that
working closer to home is better for everyone;
more productive, less congestion, cleaner air
and more time for families.
There is a
significant carrot for States and cities to
improve their planning systems. Future
federal infrastructure funding will be guided
by where the reform process has been
successfully embraced.
So what was our
approach for Adelaide, South Australia's
capital city, and why is it regarded by the
Federal Government as best practise in
Australia?
Ultimately it was about
embracing a plan and showing resolve in
implementing it.
In Adelaide, we have a
Capital City Committee where the Premier
(roughly equivalent to a US Governor) senior
ministers and bureaucrats meet regularly with
the Mayor of Adelaide, several councillors and
the CEO to discuss important issues. We
also appointed a Minister for the City of
Adelaide whose first incumbent, Dr Jane Lomax
Smith, was herself a reformist
Mayor.
One of the most significant moves
we made as a government was the development of
a 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide. This
involved a much more strategic approach to the
future development of our city.
Most
people, in Adelaide and in many US cities, are
concerned about the impact of urban
sprawl. We have seen a pattern of
development that has gobbled up huge tracts of
green space in a so called effort to make
housing more affordable. But this has too often
proven to be fool's gold as residents in the
outer suburbs of vast metropolitan areas become
more dependent on cars, and expensive single
occupancy travel. This approach also has
frightening implications for the budgets of
local authorities when citizens demand better
infrastructure and services. So we
embraced a longer term approach to planning to
offer people greater choice on how they want to
live.
The 30 Year Plan for Greater
Adelaide is guiding the planning and delivery
of services and infrastructure, such as
transport, health, schools and community
facilities. The main aim of the Plan is
to better balance population and economic
growth with the preservation of our environment
and the protection of the heritage and
character of our city.
The Plan's aim is
to help Adelaide become a more vibrant,
liveable and inclusive city and to grow in a
managed way that doesn't threaten key primary
production land. There was extensive
consultation to produce a draft Plan. The
draft was then released and exhibited for some
months during which the government held
extensive briefings with citizens, community
groups, local government and professional
organisations. A big commitment to
consultation generated much debate - some of it
heated - but this was crucial to getting the
Plan right and enabling government to better
appreciate how people wanted their city to grow
and adapt during the next 30 years.
As a
result of this consultation a series of changes
were made to the draft including variations in
the population targets for specific
areas. A principal challenge of the Plan
was how we could cope with an estimated
population increase of 560,000 over the next 30
years and in doing so how we would underpin the
creation of at least 280,000 new jobs.
Much of the debate arising from the
consultation process centred on the proposed
distribution of people, housing and jobs.
Policies concerning climate change were
strengthened. Additional safeguards were added
to address the impact of population growth on
primary production in peri-urban areas.
Even though 560,000 is a relatively
modest population increase - around 350 people
a week - compared to estimates for other
Australian cities, the make-up of our city will
be transformed. There will be a greater
proportion of people over 65, and a significant
increase in households with one person or
couples without children. This requires
early action to ensure there will be a
sufficient supply of a range of accommodation
close to shops, services and public
transport. The big growth in over 65s
will also require long term planning for the
expansion of health services and aged care
facilities.
Perhaps the key
recommendation of the Plan was there was an
urgent need to create a more compact and
efficient urban form that takes advantage of
existing, as well as our planned improvements
to transport networks and infrastructure.
We are extending and modernising our tram and
suburban train system, investing record
expenditure in new roads plus a fivefold
increase in infrastructure funding compared to
ten years ago. We want to design Greater
Adelaide to reduce car reliance and create more
liveable, accessible and connected
communities. The 30 Year Plan involves a
major rethink of how we plan and design new
housing, new neighbourhoods, - to break the
nexus between growth and unsustainable resource
consumption. Unless we do so we will risk our
competitive advantage through inefficient land
supply and costly infrastructure requirements.
To achieve our goals we have committed
to move from the existing 50/50 ratio of infill
development to fringe development to a ratio of
about 70/30 in the last years of the Plan
period. This will involve a much greater
concentration of new housing along designated
transit corridors to promote easier access to
jobs and services and reduce our reliance on
cars.
New transit oriented developments
along transport corridors are at the heart of
the 30 Year Plan. We want the vast
majority of new dwellings to be within walking
distance of public transport. To achieve this
we will co-locate medium and high density
residential housing, major retail and service
outlets and major employers around railway and
tram stations and bus interchanges. This
approach will revitalise urban areas, maintain
village integrity and provide the critical mass
of population needed to make the upgrading of
infrastructure cost effective over the life of
the Plan.
For greenfield developments a
different approach is being adopted in order to
create more mixed use communities, higher
densities, more efficient land use, walkable
neighbourhoods, a greater mixture of housing
types and new suburbs that are contiguous to
main transport corridors.
The
Plan will support a 25 year rolling supply of
land for residential, industrial and commercial
purposes. There will be a 15 year supply
of land zoned at any given time. This will
ensure that the supply of land and housing will
contribute to keeping housing affordable.
There will also be 5,300 hectares of new and
regenerated land set aside to foster the
creation of jobs.
The Plan will also
support a more efficient planning system that
will underpin economic performance and
competitiveness, halving development
times. This will give investors greater
certainty by making it clear what development
can occur in key locations.
In the 21st
century cities can no longer either be
neglected or be allowed to grow in a way that
is destructive to their culture, character,
liveability and environment. People are at the
heart of cities and their needs should be
paramount.
Sustainable, vibrant cities
don't just grow organically. To improve our
cities requires a plan that demonstrates that
strong economic, social and environmental
outcomes are not mutually
exclusive.
Ultimately great cities need
strong leadership, backed by a plan.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Center for National Policy.
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