The Metropolitan Development Program: Aligning Urban Development and Infrastructure

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The Metropolitan Development ProgramAligning
Urban Development and Infrastructure

• Martin Richardson
• Executive Director
• Urban Policy

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• Background
• The role of the Infrastructure Coordinating
  Committee
• Metropolitan Development Program (MDP) objectives
• Network City
• Program evaluation
• Interstate practice
• Future Directions
• Infrastructure and land use planning objectives
• Governance

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Background

• Network city has a strong focus on urban growth
  management, development staging and coordinated
  infrastructure provision through the Metropolitan
  Development Program
• It proposes a whole-of-government approach to
  staging of urban growth and provision of
  infrastructure
• The current MDP has been criticised for its
  perceived poor useability and lack of strategic
  focus as a decision support tool for
  infrastructure investment
• We have commenced development of a new approach
  to the MDP to create a more powerful tool for
  aligning and managing urban growth and
  infrastructure coordination

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Network city headlines

• Manage growth by sharing responsibility between
  industry, communities and government
• Plan with communities
• Nurture the environment
• Make fuller use of urban land
• Encourage public over private transport
• Strengthen local sense of place
• Develop strategies that deliver local jobs
• Provide affordable housing

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What does this mean?

• Accommodate growth within a new spatial framework
  of activity centres and corridors
• Re-focus growth to increase densities both at the
  urban fringe and in existing areas (i.e. reduce
  urban sprawl)
• Ensure that infrastructure (hard and soft) is
  provided to support appropriate growth and
  in-fill

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Infrastructure Coordinating Committee

• Mission
• To ensure that infrastructure (both public and
  private) is coordinated and provided in a way
  that
• helps achieve goals related to sustainable urban
  and regional development
• b) is efficient, equitable and timely.

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Infrastructure Coordinating Committee (cont.)

• The Committee will do this by
• Monitoring proposed and existing developments
• Identifying what is driving demands
• Making sure infrastructure is located in the most
  appropriate places
• Providing costs and scheduling
• Coordinating the activities and resources of
  government agencies to save money and add value
• Establishing priorities for major projects.

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MDP Objectives

• Lead government planning, co-ordination and
  budgeting in land development
• Orderly and economic development synchronise
  land and infrastructure provision
• Ensuring adequate land supply
• Contain public-sector infrastructure costs
  maximise community benefit and efficiency
• Prevent premature or out of sequence development
• Predict location and timing of demand for services

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Network City

• Strategies
• Use the provision of infrastructure to influence
  the timing and location of growth
• Maximise service efficiency and equity through
  better utilisation and coordination
• Utilise technological change to enhance service
  provision
• Minimise infrastructure costs by managing urban
  growth and encouraging stakeholder partnerships

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Network City (cont.)

• A range of actions are identified in Network city
  to be undertaken by government to improve
  infrastructure coordination
• The intent is to use programmed infrastructure
  coordination, staging and funding as a tool for
  achieving urban development outcomes
• More effective use of urban land
• Better staging of development
• Prioritisation of infrastructure spending to
  support priority urban development

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Network City priorities

• Priority Task 2
• Develop and adopt housing, population and
  employment targets.
• Priority Task 3
• Review the Metropolitan Development Program (MDP)
  and develop a metropolitan staging strategy

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MDP Evaluation and Challenges

• Short-term (5 yr) survey only useful reference,
  but not a strategic medium-term (10 yr)
  program
• Business tools to guide development staging and
  infrastructure provision have not evolved
• Program purposes ambiguous not an adequate
  infrastructure planning resource tool
• Reliance on industry survey is problematic
  developer driven process and unreliable/unrepresen
  tative data
• MDP needs greater support across government and
  clearer links to budget processes

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Victoria Growth policy

• Melbourne 2030
• Smart Growth principles for a more compact city
• Better management of growth via Urban Growth
  Boundary (UGB)
• Activity Centres
• Growth Area Planning conducted by Growth Areas
  Authority
• Five identified growth areas, each with
• Growth area framework
• Precinct Structure plans
• Rezoning is at local area
• 15 yrs greenfields zoned supply
• 5 yrs staging increments out to 15 yrs

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VictoriaUrban Development Program

• Monitors Melbourne 2030 objectives for infill
  housing targets
• 15 yr supply of residential and industrial land
• Monitors supply for greenfields and major
  redevelopment sites
• Assists planning and infrastructure agencies to
  undertake strategic planning
• Developer Intentions Survey

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South AustraliaGrowth policy

• Planning Strategy for Metropolitan Adelaide
• 10 to 15 year time frame
• Integrate transport and land use planning
• Facilitate Transit Orientated Development (TOD)
• Maximises the use of existing infrastructure
• Promotes growth in selected locations with
  capacity for additional growth
• Projects population, housing demand, employment
  and service needs
• Urban Boundary and future urban areas
• Major transport and activity centres

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South Australia Urban Development Program

• Projects 15 yr housing demand
• Information for infrastructure agencies to
  coordinate infrastructure services for
  residential development areas
• Finalises sequence of land release -
  collaboratively determined by infrastructure
  agencies
• Focus on major greenfields areas and
  redevelopment projects
• Monitors infill housing policy targets and
  density
• Monitors urban land stock by sectors

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Australian Capital TerritoryGrowth policy

• Spatial Plan
• Identifies growth centres
• Contain growth within 15 km of the city centre
• Increase homes within 7.5 km of city centre
• Locate new residential areas close to town
  centres and transport routes
• Connected and accessible region
• Integrate transport with planning (TOD)
• Promote use of walking, cycling and public
  transport
• Currently 60 greenfields 40 infill with
  increased infill planned
• 45 multi-unit development

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Australian Capital TerritoryUrban Development
Program

• Spatial Plan identifies short, medium and long
  term growth areas
• Land Supply Strategy
• Monitors and forecasts residential and industrial
  land release
• 5 yr overall outlook with a benchmark for a 3 yr
  supply of land, 2 yr supply of approved
  subdivision greenfields land undergoing
  servicing
• Land Development Agency
• Coordinates infrastructure agencies
• Sells land to developers

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Project Mandate

• The WAPC has asked DPI to
• Work collaboratively with key agencies to
  determine the program outputs and a methodology
  for a Network City staging strategy
• To enlist the support and commitment of DTF to
  strengthen the relevance of the MDP as a
  whole-of-government land release strategy and
  infrastructure program connected into the State
  budget process
• To deliver an integrated urban growth management
  strategy and infrastructure plan to inform the
  State Budget process.

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Directions

• MDP Working Group to define agencies needs and
  Program outputs
• Links to State Infrastructure Strategy
• Review of best practice in other Australian
  states
• Evaluate reliability of annual industry survey
  (DIS) information
• Develop new Program model
• Test new MDP approach in southern. metro/Peel
  growth strategy
• Network city MDP deliverables
• Staging strategy to manage urban growth and
  facilitate in-fill
• Identify future development areas and
  infrastructure capacity inc. vacant land and
  redevelopment opportunities
• Public-sector servicing costs analysis -
  influence timing / location of growth
• Strategic (non-public) MRS staging plan and
  infrastructure priorities

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Infrastructure Coordination Objectives

• Guarantee service delivery for committed urban
  land
• ICC agencies influence future growth areas 10 -
  15 yrs and beyond
• Align planned development with achievable network
  capacities
• Achieving best fit between 10 - 20 year
  infrastructure plans and regional land use plans
• ICC to recommend urban staging, identify
  infrastructure gaps and inform budget process

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Towards infrastructure strategies

• MDP Sector indicative infrastructure strategies
  and staging plans
• Statutory process / policy to link land rezoning
  decisions to preferred growth scenarios and
  timing
• Better dialogue between agencies to optimise
  infrastructure planning
• Stronger links to Treasury to provide a basis for
  whole of government decisions on infrastructure
  priorities

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Governance

• Need to tie ICC and MDP processes to
  whole-of-government budget process
• Opportunity to link with new Ministerial Council
  on Housing and Land Supply and Industry Reference
  Group current focus is on land supply, but
  could evolve towards infrastructure
  staging/timing and growth priorities
• 1st stages of MDP review being driven by focus
  group (DPI, Western Power, Water Corp. and DTF)
• Wider reference group to be formed to progress
  MDP makeover

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Constraints

• The number of different agencies involved may
  impact on the delivery of the project
• There is little or no experience with
  comprehensive revision of urban growth management
  systems
• Some of the objectives of this project could
  impact existing plans of affected agencies
• Existing agency commitments could impede eventual
  MDP implementation.

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Summary

• Achievement of Network City outcomes requires
  greater influence over infrastructure
  prioritisation and staging
• MDP to be a pro-active rolling strategy, based on
  preferred development scenarios, targets and
  better understanding of capacity constraints and
  opportunities
• MDP should inform whole-of-government
  decision-making on infrastructure and services
  needs broader ownership
• ICC is critical for technical and intellectual
  input, but needs stronger governance focus on
  coordination and providing strategic direction
• It all makes sense!

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• Thank You.
• Any Questions?