Activity Centre

Performance Toolkit

Toolkit Briefing for

Property Council

Members

Pracsys Economics

• Urban and employment economics

• Translating ‘sustainability, livability, prosperity’

objectives into measureable outcomes

• Evidence-based decision making

Policy Environment

Activity Centre Performance Toolkit

Review of capital city

strategic planning systems Report to the Council of Australian Governments

23 December 2011

Conventional Approach

• Activity = retail driven by population catchment

• Floorspace must be controlled to restrict centre

growth and ‘protect’ prescribed hierarchy

• Black-box analytics

• No allowance for ‘strategic’ activity

• Does not account for unconventional

development

Problems

• Old system simple but very basic

• Distorts market forces – reinforces status quo

• Planning aspires to more sophisticated system

• New concepts not well defined or measured

• Planners have not adapted

• Decision makers not equipped to make

decisions

• Fear of ‘looking bad’ creates inertia

Alternate Approach

• Specify outcomes rather than inputs

• Measure outcomes

• Make system transparent and common to all

• Use benchmarks

• Work with market

• Assess function of whole network

Activity Centre Planning

PrinciplesActivity allocation – understand the activity

(population and employment) load expected of

each centre in the network

Balance against centre capacity

DiversityMixed Use

Proportion of jobs in the centre in categories other than retail

ABS Census employment data (working population) using destination zones

Equitability

How evenly jobs are distributed to ensure that all amenities are represented (and certain land use categories do not dominate the mix at the expense of others)

ABS employment data converted to Planning Land Use Categories (PLUC) and Shannon’s Diversity & Equitability Index applied

IntensityResidential Density

Dwellings per hectare

400m and 800m walkable

catchment

Census collection districts

(CCDs)

Employment Density

Jobs per hectare

Destination zones

Plot ratio (if floor space data

available)

EmploymentEmployment Quantum

Number of jobs in centre

Boundary designation

Destination zones

Employment Quality

Percentage of jobs that

are KIPS and Export-

Oriented

Uses ANZSIC 3-digit

industries

Applied employment

quality model

ANZSIC ExportsConsumer

Services

Producer

ServicesKICS KIPS

Agriculture, nfd 7% 22% 32% 16% 23%

Nursery and

Floriculture

Production

15% 47% 15% 18% 6%

Mushroom and

Vegetable Growing15% 32% 10% 33% 10%

Fruit and Tree Nut

Growing15% 32% 10% 32% 10%

Sheep, Beef Cattle

and Grain Farming38% 0% 13% 0% 49%

Other Crop Growing 15% 20% 6% 45% 14%

Centre AccessibilityTransport Infrastructure

Presence of bus route, station, train

etc.

Distance from CBD

Kilometres via road

Also measure distance from other

important economic nodes

AECOM

Transport Infrastructure

A bus stop for at least one local bus route

A bus stop for at least two local bus routes

Sub-regional bus station

A regional bus interchange

One train station and bus interchange

One train station and regional bus station

One regional train station and a regional

bus station

Two regional train stations and a regional

bus station

MobilityITEM ATTRIBUTE METRIC

Walkability Footpaths

Presence of footpath

Continuity of footpath

Width of footpath

Condition of footpath

Cycle

accessCyclepaths

Presence of cyclepaths or good cycling

environment.

Presence of cycle parking**

Vehicle

accessParking Convenient vehicle parking provided

Urban QualityITEM ATTRIBUTE METRIC MEASUREMENT

Sense of

place

Facilitates social

opportunities

Presence of places

suitable for public

meeting, eating/beverage

establishments.*

Count the number of establishments on

each side of the road segment. Record the

number.

Attractive

features

Water bodies PresentAre there any water bodies/features visible

from the street segment? Yes (1)/no (0).

Parks Number presentAre there any parks visible from the street

segment? Yes (1)/no (0).

Street trees

Existence

Count the number of street trees present

in the street segment and divide by the

segment length (in metres) to give trees/m.

More than 1 tree/8 m (1), 1 tree/8 m – 15 m

(0.5), less than 1 tree/16 m + (0).

Size

Are most of the trees small – height of a

ceiling (0), medium – high as a 2-storey

building (0.5) or large – very high (1).

PavementDecorative materials or

plain concrete**

What material is the pavement made from?

Plain concrete (0), decorative bricks (0.5),

or high quality pavers with decorative

features (1).

Garden beds Present*Are the any garden beds present? Yes

(1)/no (0).

Unattractive

features

Car parks

adjacent to public Present

Are there any car parks adjacent to the

public realm in this segment? Yes (0)/no

Urban AmenityITEM ATTRIBUTE METRIC

Comfort

Solar accessDirect or ambient sunlight safely

accessible from public realm*

ShadeTrees or awnings present to shade

the footpath

Air qualityFumes emitted by

vehicles

Calculate number of vehicles per

day on street

NoiseNoise emissions from

vehicles

Calculate number of vehicles per

day on street

Street furnitureSeating Number provided**

Bins Present**

Leisure and social

opportunitiesParks

Number provided

Playgrounds

Sports fields/equipment

SafetyITEM ATTRIBUTE METRIC

Perception of

safety

Disorder

Vacant lots

Vacant buildings*

Graffiti present*

Rubbish present*

Passive

surveillance

From dwellings/shops overlooking

pedestrian/public spaces

Lighting Pedestrian access ways well lit*

Personal safety

Crime events Statistical occurrence

Traffic safety

Statistical occurrence of traffic incidents

Ratio of crossovers to street length

Assisted pedestrian crossings on busy roads

Separation of footpaths from road

Traffic calming measures

Setting Expectations and

Targets• National baseline assessment of all centres

• Plan centre development against quantitative

targets

• Centres mature gradually – use benchmarks

Planning Assessments

• Local government commercial strategies use

same language and metrics to set expectations

for centre performance

• Conversations with proponents are about eight

outcome areas, not floorspace

• Outcomes evolve through logical discussion –

not prescription

New Decision Rules

E –

Expectation

T – Target

I – Impact

PCA members should….

• Prepare centre development plans against all eight outcome areas

• Explain how these outcomes translate to ‘success’ for the centre

• Put pressure on decision makers to use evidence to support their decisions and be outcomes focused

• Contact Pracsys for a $5,000 scorecard (normally $10,000)

• www.pracsys.com.au/toolkit-briefing/