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Inquiry into the Australian Government’s role in the development of cities Submission to the Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport & Cities – Inquiry into the Australian Government’s role in the development of cities, prepared by Urban Taskforce Australia, August 2017 Inquiry into the Australian Government's role in the development of citiesSubmission 132 Terms of Reference With Australia’s population expected to double by 2075, it is important to consider how national policy can foster collaborative and flexible planning responses.
While recognising the primacy of state, territory and local government in the areas of planning and service provision, the Committee will examine what spatial planning mix (compact city, satellite city, etc), makes better use of natural resources, brings jobs closer to people, and helps ensure a high-quality natural and built environment.
It will also examine what planning tools, models and indicators and alternate funding options would be required to inform an assessment of the liveability, sustainability and resilience of different scenarios of urban settlement across Australia, and what settlement policy can deliver greater social equity and better health and wellbeing.
To do this, the Committee will undertake, concurrently, two sub-inquiries, dealing with these matters in relation to existing and cities and new regional cities and towns respectively.

The terms of reference for the two sub-inquiries are: The Committee to inquire into and report upon: 1.
Sustainability transitions in existing cities • Identifying how the trajectories of existing cities can be directed towards a more sustainable urban form that enhances urban liveability and quality of life and reduces energy, water, and resource consumption; • Considering what regulation and barriers exist that the Commonwealth could influence, and opportunities to cut red tape; and • Examining the national benefits of being a global 'best practice' leader in sustainable urban development 2.
Growing new and transitioning existing sustainable regional cities and towns • Promoting the development of regional centres, including promoting master planning of regional communities; • Promoting private investment in regional centres and regional infrastructure; • Promoting the competitive advantages of regional location for businesses; • Examining ways urbanisation can be re-directed to achieve more balanced • regional development; and Identifying the infrastructure requirements for reliable and affordable transport, clean energy, water and waste in a new settlement of reasonable size, located away from existing infrastructure.
Inquiry into the Australian Government's role in the development of citiesSubmission 132 Please find the Urban Taskforce response to these below: Part 1: Sustainability transitions in existing cities • Identifying how the trajectories of existing cities can be directed towards a more sustainable urban form that enhances urban liveability and quality of life and reduces energy, water, and resource consumption; • Considering what regulation and barriers exist that the Commonwealth could influence, and opportunities to cut red tape; and • Examining the national benefits of being a global 'best practice' leader in sustainable urban development A.
Sustainable urban form of Australian cities Over the past century, Australian cities have evolved as low-rise suburbs spreading out from high rise urban cores where jobs were located (City 1).

As the biggest cities (Sydney, Melbourne) have reached populations approaching five million people the century old low-rise mode of urban development is not sustainable.
A population heavily dependent on private vehicles using the road network to access cities and centres only leads to congestion, pollution and hours of time travelling to and from work which eat into family and leisure time.

Sydney, which has now reached a population of 5 million, could be considered the benchmark city in Australia, demonstrating how a city with a population growing rapidly beyond 5 million people should undertake spatial planning and built form.
The key to managing Sydney’s growth from 5 million people to 8 million is to transition private car travel with rapid metro rail and low-rise suburban development with high- rise apartment living.

Clearly the old model of low rise urban development will remain over much of Sydney as the new high-rise apartment development are much more efficient in their use of land.
The result will be a 50:50 split – half the city comprised of low rise suburbia and the other half in high rise apartments, half travelling in primarily in private cars and the other half travelling on metro trains and other public transport (City 2).

The Federal Government must lead this generational shift in the urban form of Australian cities by funding the metro rail projects that are essential to underpin this new urban form.
However, this funding must be provided on the condition that state and local governments plan for and permit the urban high-rise apartment living that is needed and remove any unnecessary ‘red tape’ restrictions that prevent or delay 3 Inquiry into the Australian Government's role in the development of citiesSubmission 132 this type of development.

It is in the national interest that Australian cities move from the City 1 model to the City 2 Model.
While the description of City 2 is of a high-rise city we are doing this demonstrate the major shift that is required.

There will be housing models between the high and low- rise versions that will be built in transition areas between the two extremes.

Current housing approvals for Sydney demonstrate the shift.

Around 60% of approvals are for high rise apartments generally in urban areas, around 30% are for detached houses generally on the fringe and only 10% are medium rise dwellings.
The best way to reduce resource consumption will be by having more Australians living in apartments (smaller dwellings with more co-operative consumption).

B.

Changes to regulation are required Many of the laws and regulations that involve urban development are made at the state and local government level.

However, the Federal government however has a key role to play in providing leadership to create a more urban built form.
Firstly, the Federal government must contribute federal funding towards an urban metro rail program across our capital cities.

Metro projects are currently underway in Sydney and Melbourne.

The Federal government should fund the provision of the metro system, provided state and local governments support and facilitate new high - density development around the metro stations.
The Federal government should also encourage and incentivise state and local governments to process approvals for large housing projects much faster.

Most developers believe that the approval times for large projects tend to be roughly three times faster in Brisbane than in Sydney.

The Federal government should set national benchmarks for large projects of 500 apartments or more and monitor these approval times for these projects and report these regularly.
A real-time website should record exactly where a project is up to in the approval process to provide transparency and identify any road blocks in the system.

C. Federal aviation regulation must not unnecessary stifle development and prevent the efficient and sustainable use of land Development, commerce and industry around and near airports must not be unrealistically restricted by federal aviation authorities.
It is the role of state and local planning authorities to facilitate the right type of development in these areas.

The Urban Taskforce is concerned that certain federal aviation regulations have negative impacts upon existing and proposed urban development around existing and future airports throughout Australia, particularly about the efficient and sustainable use of land.
4 Inquiry into the Australian Government's role in the development of citiesSubmission 132 Of concern Safeguarding Framework (the Framework).

is the federal government document Draft National Airports In March 2012, the Urban Taskforce commissioned a detailed report, prepared by Macro Plan Dimasi, titled ‘Economic analysis of Airport Noise Guidelines (Draft National Airports Safeguarding Framework) – Final Report (the Report).

The Report raised significant concerns regarding the Framework.
The Framework seeks to replace the use of AS2021, an Australian Standard which uses the Australian Noise Exposure Forecast (ANEF) system for mitigating the impacts of aircraft noise, with the new and untested method of aircraft noise measurement provided in Guideline A: Measures for managing impacts of aircraft noise.
AS2021, and the ANEF system have been used successfully plan for urban development around airport throughout Australia, has been adopted by every jurisdiction and has successfully mitigated the impacts of aircraft noise for over 30 years.

Should Guideline A be adopted instead of the ANEF metrics currently used, significant portions of land around airports which is currently available for rezoning or development for residential and urban purposes will no long be available for that use.
This includes many existing housing precincts and proposed development sites, particularly around the proposed Western Sydney Airport.

We fear that this will impact negatively upon housing supply in the Sydney Metropolitan Area, further exacerbating the current housing affordability crisis.

The report also identified significant negative impacts upon property values and housing supply.
134,300 new dwellings around Australia with a total value of $33.5 billion could be threatened if the Framework was given effect.

Throughout Sydney, the proposed impact could impede as many as 34,100 dwellings valued at $8.5 billion across an area of 63 square kilometres.

MacroPlan Dimasi also found that for established properties in affected areas, values could fall approximately 5 percent.

Our clear understanding from the NSW Minister for Planning at the time (the Hon.
Brad Hazzard), was that at the Standing Council on Transport and Infrastructure meeting of 18 May 2012, the NSW Government did not support the adoption of the metrics contained in Guideline A and would continue to use the existing ANEF system and AS2021.

The development industry also does not support the adoption of Guideline A and strongly support the continuation of the use of AS2021 and the ANEF system.
Federal aviation authorities have also had negative impacts upon buildings around airports, through regulations regarding Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS) and PANS- OPS surfaces.

As both OLS and PANS-OPS determine the height of buildings in relation to aircraft movements these standards have a major impact upon building heights across cities and urban centres across Australia.
For example, intervention by the 5 Inquiry into the Australian Government's role in the development of citiesSubmission 132 Federal aviation authorities to reduce Parramatta’s proposed Aspire tower by up to 30 storeys could be replicated across all of Sydney and other capital cities.

The cost and scarcity of land, particularly in Sydney, often requires higher density, taller buildings to be constructed to make development financially feasible.
The efficient and sustainable use of the limited amount of land available in Sydney is critical for accommodating future growth.

Global cities around the world, such as Shanghai, New York, London and Hong Kong have some of the tallest buildings in the world, as well as several international and domestic airports operating 24 hours a day.
The building height limits imposed around Australia’s airports, particularly in Sydney, greatly restrict building height in many highly desirable, well serviced locations.

These constraints prevent Sydney’s cityscape from growing and evolving in the manner of a sustainable global city.

The Urban Taskforce recommends that the Draft National Airports Safeguarding Framework restrictions relating to noise be scrapped immediately, with the existing ANEF system remaining in place.
Aviation regulations, and the practical application of these restrictions and their impact upon building heights must be reviewed and updated to be consistent with other global cities such as London, Tokyo and New York.
D. Benefits of best practice leader Rather than try to champion multiple programs and policies, the Federal government should consolidate these and focus on a “Key Change Agent” program that will shift Australia’s cities from a suburban model to an urban model, particularly provision of metro rail as the rapid transit system that underpins where growth occurs across our capital cities.

A long-term vision should be established that determines where new development should occur.
We could call this ‘best practice’ approach “Metropolitan Metro Funding”.

Cities throughout Asia have moved into a Metro Rail network particularly the cities of China, Singapore and India.

Clearly this is the public transport mode to sustain growth in these cities.

E. Mixed use development encourages growth and innovation There is consensus among planners and scholars that mixed land uses has an important role in achieving sustainable urban form.
Land use zones which encourage 6 Inquiry into the Australian Government's role in the development of citiesSubmission 132 a range of uses allows compatible land uses to locate near one another and thereby decrease travel distances between activities1.

The Federal Government should encourage and fund states and territories to introduce appropriate ‘mixed use’ land zones and adopt broader definitions in their planning instruments.
F. Sustainable funding for affordable housing can be provided through a bond aggregator A federal level affordable housing bond aggregate will stimulate long-term, sustainable investment in social housing The Federal Government has announced previously they will develop an affordable housing bond aggregator to help stimulate more investment in affordable housing is a positive initiative.
This mechanism should be accessible to private sector housing providers as well as not for profit community housing providers.

Currently, State and local government are developing ad hoc approach to increasing the supply of affordable housing, often by imposing significant levies or requiring housing stock be provided free-of-charge by developers.

This has negative impacts upon housing supply and affordability.
Delivering a feasible, market-driven supply of affordable housing is critical to ensuring the social sustainability of our cities, particularly rapidly-growing global cities such as Sydney which are experiencing a significant lack of supply in affordable dwellings.

The Federal Government must develop and implement an effective affordable housing bond aggregate to encourage long-term, sustainable private sector investment in affordable housing.
Part 2: Growing new and transitioning existing sustainable regional cities and towns • Promoting the development of regional centres, including promoting master planning of regional communities; • Promoting private investment in regional centres and regional infrastructure; • Promoting the competitive advantages of regional location for businesses; • Examining ways urbanisation can be re-directed to achieve more balanced • regional development; and Identifying the infrastructure requirements for reliable and affordable transport, clean energy, water and waste in a new settlement of reasonable size, located away from existing infrastructure.
1 Parker, Terry (1994) The land use – air quality linkage: How land use and transportation affect air quality, Sacramento, California Air Resources Board 7 Inquiry into the Australian Government's role in the development of citiesSubmission 132 G. Market interest in regional cities A number of Urban Taskforce members develop housing in regional inland cities like Albury, Wagga Wagga, Armidale, Tamworth, Goulburn, Orange and Bathurst.
Despite government incentive programs to encourage people to relocate from coastal cities to inland cities the take-up has not been significant.

Generally, Australians far prefer coastal cities for the lifestyle and the weather.

There is however a potential for federally-funded regional transport project that would link Wollongong, Sydney, Central Coast and Newcastle via a fast rail network.
These regional cities are already strong destinations in themselves with universities, cultural facilities, services and employment opportunities.

Market interest for development in these areas is stronger than in other regional locations.

As housing is cheaper in the coastal cities outside Sydney many commuters already travel to the Sydney CBD.

The Commonwealth should look at a feasibility study of what speed a fast train could achieve and how much population growth could occur.
It may be possible to add 500,000 people along this fast train network over 40 years.

General comments: H. Advocacy and education is critical Advocacy and education around the benefits of well designed, higher-density development is crucial to drive a cultural shift towards this more sustainable form of living.

Density is not readily embraced in Australia.

Australian culture has associated housing and low-density, sprawling suburbs.
However, the ‘suburban sprawl’ model of development is costly to service with infrastructure, utilities and public transport, encourages the use of private cars, can be socially isolating and creates a greater environmental impact than more dense forms of development.

There are countless scholarly articles demonstrating that lower urban density creates greater environmental burdens.
When development is spread out, public transportation systems lose their effectiveness, private vehicle use rises, pollution increases and communal connectivity suffers.

Low density is inefficient, limits the viability of public transport and increases the ecological footprint and economic transaction costs in cities2 2 Newman, P.W.G.
(1992) Housing, transport and urban form, Canberra: Australian Govt, Public Service 8 Inquiry into the Australian Government's role in the development of citiesSubmission 132 Density is a critical factor in ensuring cities develop in the most sustainable manner possible.
Research by Newman and Kenworthy conclude that some policies can save significant amounts of energy, mainly by ‘increasing the urban density, strengthening the city centre, extending the proportion of a city that has inner-area land use, providing a good transit option, and restraining the provision of automobile infrastructure’ Over time, Australian cities have become denser and apartment living is increasingly popular, particularly for younger people who wish to live in well serviced, lively locations with lots of shopping, services and transport.
However, there is often pushback from existing residents who do not wish to see their neighbourhoods change, particularly medium- high density developments.

There is crucial advocacy role the Federal government must take on to actively communicate the benefits and necessity of increased urban density in well serviced areas.
The Urban Taskforce recommends the Federal government develop an advocacy and communication strategy to promote the environmental, social and economic benefits of urban density to the Australian population.

9 Inquiry into the Australian Government's role in the development of citiesSubmission 132