The Metropolitan Development Program: Aligning Urban Development and Infrastructure

1
The Metropolitan Development ProgramAligning
Urban Development and Infrastructure

• Martin Richardson
• Executive Director
• Urban Policy

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1. Background
2. The role of the Infrastructure Coordinating
   Committee
3. Metropolitan Development Program (MDP) objectives
4. Network City
5. Program evaluation
6. Interstate practice
7. Future Directions
8. Infrastructure and land use planning objectives
9. Governance

3
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

13
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?