Town Planning Overview

Simon ForsythTown Planner

Qualifications –- Bachelor of Science (Australian Environmental Studies) – Griffith University, Brisbane- Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning – QUT, Brisbane

Experience –- 2 years as a Town Planner working at Lennox Head, NSW- 18 years working as a Town Planner and Business Manager in Brisbane- Currently working for Moreton Bay Regional Council as a Strategic Planner and Manager

Why did I become a town planner ?- Career opportunities, variety of work, get to work with a lot of interesting people, get to see projects

you work on built.- You can work for both private companies and government, there is a lot of job opportunities

Let’s talk about cities …

What is a city ?A city can be defined as “a large and permanent human settlement”.

Why do you think cities are important ?Cities provide places where we –- live- recreate / socialise- go to school- go to work- drive economic growth- Locate our government

In Australia, approximately 66% of people live in Capital Cities

What do you think makes a city liveable ?Climate, safety, economic and employment opportunities, health care, education, architecture, environmental quality, public transport, services availability

What is the largest city in the world ?Tokyo, Japan – 37,126,000 people

What city has the highest population density ?

Dhaka, Bangladesh – 440 people / hectare

World Cities

How many people live in Greater Brisbane ?Approx. 2,300,000 people. Density 1.5 people / ha

What is Australia’s largest City ?Sydney – 4,391,000 people. Greater Sydney Density 3.5 people / ha

A little closer to home … Australian Cities

Does anyone know what the area marked on this aerial photograph shows ?

Villanova College !

We are here!

Villa occupies 4ha of land or 40,000m2

Greater Brisbane - 3 people live this area

Greater Sydney – 6 people live in this area

Tokyo - 260 people live in an area this size

Dhaka - 1760 people live in an area this size !

That is a lot of people !

This is 4ha

Some words that town planners use …density, zone, precinct, use, permitted / prohibited, approval, consent, refusal, masterplan, infrastructure, design, articulation, urban form, development, planned

Let’s talk about Town Planning …

What is Town Planning / Urban Planning ?It is a technical and political process that relates to … - the development and use of land- the protection and use of the environment and public welfare- the design of the urban environment - the design of infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas (transportation, communications, water, sewer)

The philosophy of Town / Urban planning is to guide orderly development.

People who are town / urban planning professionals are concerned with research and analysis, strategic thinking, architecture, urban design, public consultation, policy recommendations, implementation and management.

Most cities in the world have evolved over many years, with planning guiding their development in more modern times.

Does anyone know what Australian city was planned from the beginning ?

Canberra, Capital City of AustraliaThe original master plan of Canberra Aerial photo of Canberra today

American architect Walter Burley Griffin won a design competition in 1912 to design the Federal Capital of Australia, the city we now call Canberra

So why would we want to plan a city or town ?- allow the orderly development of the city- To ensure that sufficient infrastructure is provided to service the new areas developed- To protect areas of environmental sensitivity- To ensure there is sufficient parkland and open space- An many many many more reasons!

What do we need to take into consideration when we do this type of planning ?- The slope of the land- Environmental matters such as vegetation, creeks, animals- The infrastructure required to support the development- The social infrastructure (libraries, schools, community buildings) required- Who owns the land- How much money it will cost to provide all of the items above

Who is usually involved in this type of planning ?- Town planners- Urban designers- Engineers- Environmental scientists- Politicians; and - the broader community

Master Planned Communities – New TownsDoes anyone know of examples of new towns being planned near Brisbane ?There are many, they are referred to as Master Planned Communities, examples include –

- Aura (25,000 homes)

- North Lakes (8,500 homes)

- Springfield Lakes (10,000 homes)

- Ripley Valley (10,000 homes)

- Yarrabilba (11,000 homes)

- Flagstone City (12,500 homes)

So where are they ?

Villanova is here !

So what does a masterplan look like ?

North Lakes original masterplan sketch North Lakes masterplan

North Lakes today - North Lakes Master Planned Community- Developed over 1000ha of land- Commenced in 1991- Development still ongoing but essentially complete- Includes 8,500 residential homes, schools, medical

centres, parks and a golf course- CostCo and Bunnings in the northern precinct along

with many other employment generating business activities

- Westfield Shopping centre with IKEA opening in 2016- Development undertaken by Stockland, a private

company- This is a BIG Master Planned Community !

So how about some smaller examples of master plans –

Kinsellas Road, Mango Hill - - 47.8ha area- 426 residential lots- 15ha open space

The land before and then after The Master Plan

Alma Park Zoo redevelopment - - 12.7ha area- 146 residential lots- 3ha open space

The land before and then after The Master Plan

So how does all of this happen ? What are the rules ? We know that there are always rules ….

The State Government makes legislation that allows Local Government to make Planning Schemes.This is the Sustainable Planning Act 2009.Every Local Authority in Queensland must have a Planning Scheme, there are 77 local authorities.

Planning Schemes are a rule book, simplistically they tell us what we can, and cannot do on land. Town Planners, architects, urban designers, engineers and environmental scientists all have a part in writing Planning Schemes.

To develop land you require an approval from the Local Council, they assess the proposed development against the Planning Scheme. This process is called Development Assessment.

Development applications can be simple such as a single house, or very complicated, such as a Master Planned Community. If an application does not comply with the Planning Scheme it can be refused.

Brisbane’s current Planning Scheme is called Brisbane City Plan 2014, it is about 5,000 pages long !Brisbane City Council is the largest metropolitan local government in Australia.

Very simply, Town Planning is about managing conflict between land uses …It is organising the places where we live, work and play so those activities do not impact on each other.

QUESTIONS ?

Many people say it is good to know a little about a lot of things, I like to say Town Planners have to know a lot about a lot of things !