Rod Duncan FPIAGood City consultancy

Multi-stranded resiliencethrough

strong city centres

Rod Duncan

• Planning practitioner & educator• Various public sector roles mainly in

‘regional capitals’ (including Bendigo & Geelong)

• Associate Professor, Deakin Uni 2010-14• Fellow & c’tee of Planning Institute of Aust.

Rod Duncan

• Good City consultancy since 2010.• Advising local govt, business & community

bodies, esp. on strengthening city centres.• Recent review of 30 ‘western’ cities across

UK, USA, Canada and Europe

MONTREAL VANCOUVER

SAN FRANCISCO PORTLAND

BRISTOL LONDON

TURIN BIRMINGHAM

3 Key points

• Strong city centres are potentially the single best thing for achieving resilience –

social cohesion, economic prosperity & envt’l sustainability

3 Key points

• Strong city centres are potentially the single best thing for achieving resilience –

social cohesion, economic prosperity & envt’l sustainability

• To achieve our preferred future, we need to rediscover Planning.

[& why Plan Melbourne is dangerous!]

3 Key points

• Strong city centres are potentially the single best thing for achieving resilience –

social cohesion, economic prosperity & envt’l sustainability

• To achieve our preferred future, we need to rediscover Planning.

[& why Plan Melbourne is dangerous!]

• Tools for transition – we need structures, processes & skills that are ‘fit for purpose’

The imperatives• Climate change / Global warming / GHG• Peak oil, congestion & amenity

• Population growth• Demographic and technological changes• Natural disasters – greater frequency & severity

• Economic shocks – the new normal?

The imperatives• Climate change / Global warming / GHG• Peak oil, congestion & amenity

= Low carbon future (by policy or scarcity)

• Population growthMelbourne: + 100,000 per year (~2.5%)(unusually rapid for a Western city)

The big challenges• Acute vulnerability of Australian cities due

to high car dependency• Rapid transformation – is required (and

already happening due to growth)

• but … have we aligned outcomes to the needs of our imminent future?

Resilience – my take:

• Social, economic & environmental• Social participation, inclusion & cohesion• Economic diversity & prosperity• Environmentally sustainable

• Inter-dependent & mutually beneficial

[In urban affairs Everything is connected to everything else.]

It doesn’t matter which tentacle you pull …

It doesn’t matter which tentacle you pull …you’ll always get an octopus.

http://www.vcccar.org.au/publication/think-tank-report/toward-resilient-regional-city-centres

Resilience is “a multi-stranded rope”Capacity to absorb & recover from shocks- economic, social & environmental robustness

1. Strong city centres• Busy, multi-functional cluster of usesat the hub of transport networks (local, region, capital link)

• Diversity of functions in close proximity to each other(‘agglomeration’ benefits – generate economic activity, alliances, innovation)

• Well connected to all; variety of transport modes (not dependent on car use)

• Change pressures need managing to safeguard ‘the public interest’ - forward strategy & active brokering

[multi-functional hub]

retailing

[multi-functional hub]

retailing

ADMINISTRATIONcivic

offices restaura

nts

[multi-functional hub]

retailing

ADMINISTRATIONcivica

rts

offices

transport hub

trade services

cinemas

hospitality

restaurantslibrary

[multi-functional hub]

retailingcult

ure

ente

rtain

ment

ADMINISTRATION

churches

civicarts

offices

transport hub

trade services

cinemas

hospitality

Hospital

SCHOOLS

sports

university

BANKS

restaurantsa

ccom

mod

ati

on

library

park

EXETER

Multiple values of strong city centres

• Economic - diverse, ‘agglomerated’ stimulating innovation

• Social - identity, pride, inclusion, cohesion, participation

• Environmental - greatest prospect for achieving sustainability

(= thriving survival)

Economic prosperity

• Diversified economic base – resilient to shocks

• Enhanced by ‘agglomeration’ of businesses & non-business activities in physical proximity

• Incidental / random encounters generate new enterprises & stimulate innovation

Social cohesion & identity

• Civic pride & distinctive identity

• Ready recognition – tourists; policy-makers

• Inclusion and participation (workforce, community)

• Venue for formal & informal activities & celebrations

• Sense of ownership & belonging

Sustainability

• Arguably the greatest prospect for achieving environmental sustainability

• Ready access without requiring private car

• Multi-purpose journeys along efficient links

Easy benchmark for decisions: “Will more people need to use a car?”

BIRMINGHAM

2. Re-discover Planning• Planning ≠ development administration

- just one consequential tool to pursue a plan, it isn’t Planning.

• Planning is …- Agreeing on a widely shared ‘preferred future’;

- Devising strategies, commitments, investments and processes to pursue that future.

- Consciously striving for that future, guided by clear principles and objectives, utilising a wide suite of tools, including

promotion, encouragement, brokering and … regulation.

Good planning …

• Is fundamental to securing a sustainable, resilient and equitable future at any time, but

• At times of rapid change and impending challenges it is essential!

A Plan is a social contract• Reconciles tensions between public and private interests• ‘The public’ can be confident that they get what they signed up

for (not a diluted, expanded substitute) - so greater prospect of getting support for transformative change

• Pricks the bubble of speculation, so land trades at values that reflect its agreed use

• A fair portion of value uplift can be captured to fund (& coordinate) necessary infrastructure & services

• Provides clarity & certainty for (productive) business & investment decisions

• Provides proactive encouragement, support & brokering in pursuit of agreed future outcomes

An unplanned future?• Australian cities, including Melbourne, suffer from weak planning

(Grattan Institute, Committee for Melbourne, etc)

• Heavy reliance on market forces, with limited public policy leadership to influence the agenda.

• In times of rapid change & urgent imperatives, the future efficiency, functionality and amenity of the city is in jeopardy from a culture of waiting for problems to emerge before dealing with them.

• Harper Review: anti-planning recommendations• Current ‘anything anywhere’ Commercial Zones• “failed to develop a roads agenda … piggybacking instead on whatever

Transurban proposes” (The Age, 28 Nov 2015)• (Unsolicited Proposals scheme for infrastructure investment)

Change also provides an opportunity for transformation – if managed carefully & skilfully.

Cities (and markets) can fail

DETROIT

‘Plan Melbourne’ is DANGEROUS!• Plan Melbourne is not a robust, soundly grounded strategy that offers

a credible or responsible narrative for Melbourne’s future. (Unlike Melbourne 2030 - great plan, but poor delivery)

• Not a Plan, but a marketing pitch• Genesis as an election manifesto, limited public engagement, lacks a

comprehensive, integrated perspective.• Collation of post-justification of political knee-jerk proposals & pet

projects from silo agencies (including some contradictory ones).

• It’s existence & content are likely to induce complacency … when we urgently need a plan to both manage current change and address impending challenges.

A collection of silos …is not an integrated outcome.

Reviving Planning

Enhanced …• Leadership• Professionalism• Transparency• Honesty!

3. Tools for transition• Multiple (reactive) planning permit decisions are unlikely to

translate into a coherent urban outcome without some proactive guidance and brokering – best done at the local level.

• Segmented delivery by narrowly-based agencies, professions or work units can readily become fragmentation.

• Are our governance & delivery mechanisms appropriate for managing widespread transformation?

• Restructure (& interim arrangements) needed to ensure aggregate outcomes are the focus, not ‘bits’ in isolation.

Conventional segmentation into specialist fields

Planning

Human Services

Economic Development

EngineeringArts & Culture

InvestmentEnvironmentBusiness

Segmentation can become Fragmentation

but, rather than adding another ‘slice’ …

Planning

Human Services

Economic Development

EngineeringArts & Culture

InvestmentEnvironmentBusiness

Supplementary mechanism integrating segments for a specific place

Planning

Human Services

Economic Development

EngineeringArts & Culture

Environment

Place-based strategy & delivery The Place

InvestmentBusiness

Vision-led

Joined-up

Place-based

BENDIGO

Rod Duncangoodcityplanning@gmail.com

0400 093 503

Thank you

www.vcccar.org.au/publication/think-tank-report/ toward-resilient-regional-city-centres