The New Spatial City Gary White - Chief Planner NSW Department of Planning and Environment
Global Cities By 2060 Melbourne and Sydney will be the same size that Chicago is today What will this mean for these cities?
Sydney s geographical boundaries 3
Structural Change Structural changes - a prompt to re-examine our planning frameworks Driven by MEGATRENDS Multiple megatrends means changes are occurring at a faster rate than previously predicted Structural Change 4
The New Service Economy What is happening in our cities? The influence of the new service economy is washing through our cities, but our employment, planning and property development processes are underdeveloped by comparison What worked YESTERDAY will not work for TODAY or TOMORROW Unlike cyclical change that has occurred in the past 70 years (lead by manufacturing and the resource sector), we are now experiencing a structural shift on the back of an emerging service economy and this requires a new spatial appreciation to plan our towns, cities and regions 5
Employment change by key sector As of June 2015, capital expenditure in the service sector exceeded capital expenditure in the mining sector Service exports are now worth more than resource exports Service sector growth means jobs expansion Service Econom y 6
Front end of a business response 60 percent of all new jobs are created by companies 5 years and younger, 60 per cent of that 60 per cent are by companies younger than 2 years Over 70 per cent of new jobs are being created out of centres Young firms are contributing disproportionally to net job creation As firms age they contribute less to job creation and more to job destruction Although employing only 15 per cent of the Australian workforce, young SMEs generated the largest share of total job creation in the economy (40 per cent) Source: The employment dynamics of Australian entrepreneurship, 2015, Department of Industry and Science, ABS 7
From a linear to a circular economy It is estimated that in Australia 26 billion can be generated in material savings as we move to adopt a circular economy Industry Intelligence 2014 8
The sharing economy The sharing economy, also known as collaborative consumption, is a global trend moving at fast pace Global shared businesses range from shared accommodation such as Airbnb, to shared vehicles such as Uber to shared entertainment such as Netflix to shared work spaces and shared tools The shared economy has three key underlying practices in common o Use of technology via internet based platforms, typically apps to facilitate peer to peer transactions o Relies on user ratings this ensures a level of trust between users and allows a certain level of control over a system or service o Workers use their own product i.e. car, and are given a large degree of flexibility i.e. working hours 9
Employment /Activity Nodes Micro Level Employment Nodes Activity nodes - a critical mass of economic activity is formed where businesses and industries co-locate, compete and collaborate - the creation of jobs and new housing Activity nodes will not hold a hierarchical order, but a network of interconnected parts Places where mixed uses should be envisioned, this includes housing The elements and components that A Plan turn for Growing a cluster Sydney of activity nodes into an activity ecosystem is vital 10
Employment /Activity Nodes The 3 core emerging nodes in addition to many smaller 1. Theme based employment/activity nodes definitive and powerful emerging nodes largely driven by: o Education o Health o Freight and Logistics o Tourism / Convention o Transport nodes o Sports / Entertainment 2. Existing significant employment nodes where structure will change: o Northwest Business Park o South West Growth Centre o Macquarie Park o Sydney Airport o Port Botany 3. Existing hierarchical centres particularly retail centres, but where new service economy opportunities are starting to stick onto them - mixed uses i.e. residential, employment, medical clusters etc. o Sydney CBD o Parramatta CBD o North Sydney o Chatswood 11
The geographical boundaries and the new city shape will be created by a network of interconnected nodes 12
The Historic Dart Board Spatial planning for the past 50+ years has been centred around the mono-centric framework based on Ebenezer Howard s Garden City Concept, and the zoned separation of uses Suburb settlement patterns driven by the car 13
City Shaper 1 - CONNECTIVITY and FUNCTIONALITY Functionality is based on how we use space e.g. infrastructure, housing, technology, supply chains, activity nodes; where as connectivity allows us to optimise the distribution of people and goods in and out of spaces Parramatta CBD (employment) T1 Western Line & T5 Cumberland Line (transport) New residential options (homes) 14
Sydney s Connectivity Proximity must be a key consideration in seeding activity ecosystems We are at the cusp of getting it right around new infrastructure, especially around connectivity where we live (homes), work and play and how we get there The Greater Sydney Commission presents great opportunities for strategic lead planning around housing choice New opportunities exist to connect employment with where people live New opportunities around existing infrastructure and existing employment locations where these employment changes can be encouraged and enabled 15
City Shaper 2 - What is taking place now? Different employment driven themes within nodes emerge as key shapers, increasing the domination of the service sector economy A mix of diverse land uses, especially housing within employment nodes is both sensible and logical These are driven by MEGATRENDS Kelvin Grove University and Urban Village 16
The Leopard Spots Macro responses to megatrends metropolitan city shaping The spatial distribution of nodes across the city - FUNCTIONALITY i.e. health and education, freight and logistics, storage and distribution, financial and corporate services, CONNECTED by technology and transport 3 distinct types of leopard spots are: Existing Retail Clusters Existing Business Parks Emerging Themed 17 nodes
Strategic Planning and Place Making A planning response - Place Making and Re-regulation The leopard spots /poly centric city will evolve with its own character, find its own direction and specialty, and in a healthy way, compete with each other (Bob Meyer 2013) like existing centres in Sydney A place making approach for nodes, aligned to sectors of the economy and housing, can be a catalyst for creating healthy, liveable, vibrant and inclusive environments 18
Place Making cont. Underpinning activity ecosystems is the urban amenity provided by great places, with a range of small businesses providing meeting places, cafés and personal services Place making can be used to encourage a variety of uses to occur in the one place, where the focus is creating successful themed employment clusters and housing choice rather than spatially segregated zones New planning and regulatory leavers are needed to create diversity in nodes 19
General Principles for successful Nodes or Centres Create an organising structure, specific to attributes of node Foster a distinctive function and identity, for what is intended will develop Encourage variety and interest Ensure visual and functional continuity and connectivity Maximise convenience for those using the node and wanting to share and be a part of the node Provide for comfort and universal access Emphasise quality 20
Contextualisation Line of Sight There should be contextualisation between planning levels both above and below; this is acknowledging that there are relationships and influences between different spatial levels or a line of sight from state to regional to local etc. Connects the place to the influences i.e. mega trends or new and emerging World responses needed between region and place Connects jobs and housing 21
Strategic Place Based Planning Strategic Planning Statutory Provisions Infrastructure Delivery DA Strategic place based planning provides the context of a particular place and the directions needed to achieve outcomes this is what is wanted Strategic planning framework informs a re-regulated statutory framework by providing a set of overarching principles developed in consultation with the community around a specific activity node Strategic placed based planning identifies relevant and future infrastructure needs and their timing, sequencing and delivery i.e. public transport, new stations etc. Strategic placed based planning provides the principles for which development is assessed against in line with what is envisioned for each themed activity node, where principles provide guidance 22
A strategic framework should tell the story about a particular place or key holed area What it is What it wants to be How it will get there Themed Principles: 23
It should be apparent what will help make housing and employment materialise and what might offend 24
Opportunities to Leverage Growth A new employment geography is being presented how can the planning system assist? Consideration must be given towards the reliance on the prescriptive zoning segregation model, to one which allows greater flexibility for the market to respond and produce outcomes around housing and employment The polycentric (leopard spots) model provides a solution to relieving growing congestion by redistributing jobs, housing and amenities to service growing cities New employment opportunities closer to where people live (30 minute city) Improvements to human productivity, to human health and to the environments/sustainability of the city - live, work and play 25
Summary A platform of successful connected nodes will not just happen. They will come because the private and public sectors make decisions and take on a series of actions. Each node is different, each node will have its own personality and DNA, each will have its own path and definition of success. Localities, nodes or centres which appear stagnant can become lively new employment hubs on the back of the new and emerging service economy. These will be driven by the wash of megatrends Our planning system needs to give certainty around outcomes, and if not at the least, certainty around process to activate activity nodes/employment clusters The new spatial city framework will be characterised by places or clusters which exhibit 26
Gary White gary.white@planning.nsw.gov.au 27