Cities of the future:

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1 Sponsored by Cities of the future: Policy & planning Written by

2 Commonwealth Bank viewpoint There is a need for intricate coordination between government bodies, corporates and citizens in planning Australian cities for the future, according to Julie Hunter, Managing Director of Health, Education and Government at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. She believes policymakers play a vital role in bringing these parties together by establishing a stable regulatory and decision-making environment. In a world where we are observing some loss of collaborative federalism, you need to have a cohesive policy framework that pulls together the three different levels of government, explains Ms Hunter. Bipartisanship is also desirable so that initiatives enjoy continuity beyond a political term, and businesses can have more confidence in their long-term investment decisions. Governments are often encouraged to increase their pace of policymaking, however, Ms Hunter states this may not necessarily be the best response. Instead, Governments should strive toward a model that will facilitate quality decisions and a framework that will deliver a greater degree of policy agility. This allows for policy adjustments to be made more easily based on any new information available. Ms Hunter highlights how in partnership with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, data has informed the government in making infrastructure investment decisions. A plan to invest in job re-skilling to help people affected by a downturn in the mining sector was reversed, explains Ms Hunter, when data showed the money would be better spent upgrading a road link to improve access to job opportunities.

3 Designing the cities of the future requires complex co-ordination between local governments, planners, businesses, investors and citizens. To organise and align the many stakeholders, policymakers must play a leadership role in defining the priorities, growth strategies and resource needs for city-planning efforts. Financing new road and rail is expensive, says Paul Fletcher, the Australian minister of urban infrastructure and cities. But effective transport, infrastructure, road and rail are the backbones to the development of future cities. at Singapore University of Technology and Design. Another is improving the quality of life for residents. To accomplish those objectives in practice, most cities look to emerging technologies, hence the concept of smart cities, lingo for using technology to improve a range of city services. z In Australia, major infrastructure investments often require funding contributions from national and state governments alike, with few exceptions, such as the states of New South Wales and Victoria, which have more funding capacity on their own. To allocate money, the government often relies on a body called Infrastructure Australia, which maintains a priority list of projects over the next years and acts as a guide. Most states and territories have a similar list. Hence, the use of city deals is an increasingly important policy tool to implement change, a concept borrowed from the UK in which the federal government offers greater flexibility to local policymakers. 1 A basic priority in policy and planning is to provide infrastructure, agrees King Wang Poon, director of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities 1 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited

4 A technology-driven future Many cities are using technology to improve lives, says Mr Poon. A less discussed but big possibility is using technology to expand how cities, companies, and citizens can innovate together. Singapore appears to be among world leaders in this area. According to the UN s most recent report on e-participation, the city-state ranks eighth in the world. 2 Australia, meanwhile, is fourth. As an example of participatory design, Australia recently published a draft of its Digital Economy strategy online for public input. 3 Involving the public in policymaking decisions is a global trend. Now workshops, online townhalls, social media and even mobile messaging apps are used for participatory design and collaboration, says Mr Poon. Still, Mr Poon does not think that is enough. Specifically, there are people that remain concerned about placing part of city decision-making into the public s hands. It isn't always easy to let go, Mr Poon says of the challenge to create more participatory decision-making and collaborative innovation. z The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2018

5 Demand for faster government response One challenge in policymaking today is the need for clear regulations in a shorter timeframe. It takes courage, creativity and imagination, says Mr Poon, about creating appropriate policies and regulations. In the past, for example, you had to think through everything before issuing regulations. But now it s different. You have to regulate as you go, and go as you regulate. Bike sharing is one example in which governments were forced to plan quickly in response to growing demand, and cities across the world, from New York to Stockholm, now have extensive programmes in place. Even such simple initiatives, however, can have unintended consequences. In New South Wales, the rules for returning the bicycles have led to users dumping them in unusual places such as up trees or in rivers rather them returning them. 4 The role of government is therefore becoming more complex in terms of policy and planning, as decisions need to be made faster in response to emerging technologies and trends. An oft-cited example is the strong demand for carand ride-sharing services that require regulatory guidance and puts pressure on policymakers to act ever faster. z 4 7eb9aea95c198f The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited

6 Technology help No single technology can resolve the issue of increasing the pace and accuracy of policymaking. But having more information on hand in terms of data can help inform decision-making. In the next five years Mr Poon considers the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) as key towards policy and planning. One reason is that AI enables the rapid analysis and creation of more and new data points that can lead to more opportunities for the public and private sectors alike. The benefits of generating government data are already evident through open government data initiatives around the world. By publishing data in an open format, private-sector organisations can reuse and repurpose the data to create value-added services, such as transport apps to improve commutes. Soon, traffic planning can be done in real time, based on open and big data, providing information on traffic jams before they occur to speed up transport and decrease congestion, says Karin Wanngård, mayor in the City of Stockholm, Sweden. Internally, data can be used to improve organisational efficiencies through the 4 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2018

7 use of big data and analytics. 5 AI takes those existing trends to the next level by adding machine learning to find new solutions. resources, and thus become more resilient. We can change the rules of the game, he says. We can disrupt disruption to improve lives. And we don t do that enough. z A lot of discussion to date has been about projecting optimistic opportunities and pessimistic problems, instead of finding solutions, says Mr Poon. We can use the same disruptive technologies to rethink and reimagine. He cites the education and training of students and employees as an example. Their future is being disrupted; but they can also use technologies to learn from all kinds of global experts and 5 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited

8 Key takeaways Major infrastructure investments involve national decision-making and funding; however, in Australia there is also a city deal policy tool in which the federal government offers greater flexibility to local policymakers. Participatory decision-making often using technology solutions such as e-participation is viewed as a potential for greater collaborative innovation between residents and government. There is a demand for faster government response to emerging technology solutions, such as car- and bike-sharing services that can require policies and regulations to avoid potential pitfalls. 6 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2018

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