Climate change will manifest in altered regimes of natural hazard occurrence, and therefore can be conceptualised as a disaster management issue. Strategic land use planning is a critical tool to mitigate and adapt to hazardous events. Local governments in Queensland have the responsibility for aspects of disaster management and land use planning as core functions of the council. Together they form part of the Prevention Preparedness, Response and Recovery (PPRR) framework for disaster management. In many local governments, however, there seems to be divergence between land use planning and disaster management due to the lack of integration between different functions of council. Given the growing concerns about impacts of climate change, there are new imperatives for linking land use planning, disaster management and climate change as part of an integrated package to address disaster management issues in a holistic manner. The objective of this paper is to examine how local government perspectives on disaster management are linked to climate change and land use planning. Do Councils see land use planning, disaster management and climate change as separate? What are the key issues that local councils are grappling with in terms of disaster management? The paper will address some of these questions based on data from an on-line survey of local governments in Queensland and in-depth focus group discussions with six Queensland local governments. The paper will develop a framework for linking climate change with disaster management and land use planning to build community resilience.

The development and management of master planned communities (MPCs) involve achieving the twin goals of building a sense of community and creating a distinctive place. The roles of private, public and community sectors in realising these goals of MPCs are evolving over time. The article reports on a case study of the MPC of Varsity Lakes in Gold Coast to investigate the role of key stakeholders as well as their collaborative initiatives for community building. It examines the community governance model being introduced by the developer for the management of the development once the developer has completed work on the MPC and moved on. Some of the key initiatives on community building in Varsity Lakes include establishing a community bank, setting up a community intra-net and developing local economic development strategies. The developer has also taken a proactive approach of establishing a not-for-profit company, Varsity Lakes Community Limited (VLCL), with representation from residents, business, community groups and education providers in the area. The VLCL provides a basis for a community governance model to be applied for the management of the development after the developer exits the scene. The case study provides important lessons for effective governance of MPCs with greater community leadership and community ownership and engagement.

Economic and social infrastructure provision presents a conundrum for urban planners, especially in high growth regional economies experiencing strong population growth, increasing demand for infrastructure services and limits to their capacity to sustain long-term investment strategies. This chapter considers the South East Queensland (SEQ) regional economy and the policy decisions taken in recent years to embed and integrate both regional planning and regional infrastructure investment strategies through the statutory SEQ Regional Plan and SEQ Infrastructure Plans and Programs. This case study examines the benefits from this integrated approach as well as the challenges facing the region. Some of the benefits of the integrated approach include land use transport integration, a strategic approach to infrastructure provision, alignment of infrastructure planning with budgetary processes, and greater certainty for investments in the regional economy. The challenges for integrated planning are also numerous, and include ensuring close co-operation between three levels of government and the private sector, reconciling long term infrastructure planning with short term political imperatives, managing future uncertainty, and financing future investments in land use and infrastructure.

Extract:

In this chapter we review the historical development of TOD as an idea in Queensland, and discuss its evolution from an incipient 'walkability-oriented' design trend (intended to reduce car dependence, congestion and pollution while bolstering the efficient use of infrastructure and services) to a more holistic concern with environmental quality.

This paper aims at providing some insights into how the knowledge-based economy trend has been embraced by Australia’s Queensland State Government, through its signature policy known as the Smart State Strategy. Through significant investments in building new research institutes, upgrading the skills of locals to attracting and retaining knowledge workers and providing support to businesses, the Smart State Strategy has helped position Queensland as an important player in the global knowledge-based economy. A key initiative of the Smart State Strategy involves providing support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are now widely recognised as playing a vital role in economic activities in most countries. Despite their economic significance, SMEs are often poorly understood by policy makers and as a result some government-led programs and initiatives designed to nurture and support them may not achieve their intended goals. Using past literature a conceptual framework is developed for understanding the key challenges being faced by SMEs in participating in the current knowledge-based economy. This framework is then applied to the Smart State Strategy to assess its initiatives for supporting the small business sector. The paper argues that the Smart State Strategy has achieved some success in relation to its implementation, however, in terms of nurturing and supporting new and existing small businesses, barriers do exist that may holdup the progress of these policy initiatives.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of and insights into how Australia’s Queensland State Government’s has embraced the knowledge-based economy through its signature policy known as the Smart State Strategy. Specifically, the paper assesses the services/programs being provided to the small business sector under the Smart State Strategy.

Design / Methodology / Approach - A conceptual framework detailing the key challenges being faced by small and medium-sized enterprises is developed using past literature. This is then applied to the Queensland Government’s Smart State Strategy to assess its initiatives for supporting the small business sector. The Smart State Strategy is briefly explained, highlighting some achievements to date and the challenges that policy makers may face in providing adequate support to the small business sector.

Originality / Value - This paper would be beneficial to all stakeholders involved in providing support to the small business sector as well as those interested in understanding how the small business sector operates given the changing world economy.

Practical Implications - Provides policy makers with an understanding of the development path taken by small businesses and the specific problems they face at each stage of the growth cycle. This is important for designing appropriate support programs to enhance the small business sector.

The objective of this paper is to examine the planning issues relating to parking and access around transit nodes. It reviews Perth's current strategy of providing park-and-ride facilities and promoting transit oriented developments. The paper is based on review of planning documents, site visits and interviews with planners from the local council and Public Transit Authority in Perth. Using a case study of suburban railway station in Murdoch, the paper identifies a number of planning challenges such as congestion in park-and-ride facilities, spill-over parking in surrounding neighbourhoods, poor access by walking and cycling, and public safety concerns. The paper discusses ways to improve the situation by prioritising access to transit nodes through various means of transport (walking, cycling, buses) rather than just focussing on provision of more car parking spaces. Other measures include discouraging free park-and-ride facilities, provision of reliable, frequent feeder bus services and preparation of an integrated local transport plan for the area around transit nodes.

Given the increasing evidence of an ailing earth, many would today agree and accept that there is a need to move towards a more sustainable form of development. While change has been inclined towards a top-down approach, it is equally important to work bottom-up, i.e., through communities, whose support underpins sustainability policies. The focus of this paper is on sustainability within universities. Through a review of current sustainability practices of universities in the US, UK and Australia, this paper has identified ten principles for developing a sustainable campus. These principles are then used as a framework for analysing the sustainable initiatives being implemented at Bond University. Additionally, the paper outlines opportunities for encouraging enviro-centric behaviours within the campus community.

Extract:

Extensive planning literature exists supporting the need for collaborative planning (Healey, 1998; Innes and Booher, 1999; Margerum 2002) to bring stakeholders together to resolve planning issues and to enhance deliberative learning. This idea of enhanced learning through collaboration in the professional context has also been extended to planning education. Collaboration in the class room or a teaching context not only seeks to increase teaching effectiveness but also to capture other benefits accruing to various participants in the collaboration. Studies on collaborative teaching/learning indicate that students gain more by ¯ collaborative learning than from traditional individual learning approaches because social interaction leads to advanced cognitive development and promotes higher academic achievement (Bosworth and Hamilton, 1994; Bruffee, 1999; Hayes, 2002).

While extensive literature exists on creative cities and knowledge-based urban development focusing on large metropolitan cities, there is a paucity of literature looking into similar developments in small regional towns. The major aim of the paper is to examine the nature and potential for building knowledge-based urban development and creative precincts in regional towns. The paper will review national and international literature on creative/knowledge precincts in small towns to examine their key ideas and principles. The paper will also report on a case study of a small town of Cooroy in Noosa, Australia. The Cooroy Lower Mill Site and its surroundings are the designated location for what may be called a community-based creative knowledge precinct. The paper will critically examine the challenges and opportunities for setting up a creative knowledge precinct in Cooroy. Lastly the paper will discuss the importance of such precincts and initiatives for developing socially and culturally responsive towns and cities.

The majority of the world's citizens now live in cities. Although urban planning can thus be thought of as a field with significant ramifications on the human condition, many practitioners feel that it has reached the crossroads in thought leadership between traditional practice and a new, more participatory and open approach. Conventional ways to engage people in participatory planning exercises are limited in reach and scope. At the same time, socio-cultural trends and technology innovation offer opportunities to re-think the status quo in urban planning. NeoGeography introduces tools and services that allow non-geographers to use advanced geographical information systems. Similarly, is there a potential for the emergence of a neo-planning paradigm in which urban planning is carried out through active civic engagement aided by Web 2.0 and new media technologies thus redefining the role of practicing planners? This paper traces a number of evolving links between urban planning, NeoGeography and information and communication technology. Two significant trends - participation and visualisation - with direct implications for urban planning are discussed. Combining advanced participation and visualisation features, the popular virtual reality environment Second Life is then introduced as a test bed to explore a planning workshop and an integrated software event framework to assist narrative generation. We discuss an approach to harness and analyse narratives using virtual reality logging to make transparent how users understand and interpret proposed urban designs.

The objective of the paper is to stimulate the dialogue on subtropical design of transit oriented development in SEQ through conversations with six leading urban designers and planners in Queensland. The paper summarises the discussions with key informants on four key aspects; (1) key elements of subtropical TODs; ( 2) good examples of subtropical design in Brisbane and SEQ; (3) challenges to developing subtropical TOD; and (4) ideas/strategies for developing subtropical TODs. Through a critical analysis of the emerging literature on subtropical design and continual dialogue with a cross section of planning and design professionals as well as the development industry and larger community, there is a strong potential to create subtropical TODs in SEQ that are climatically responsive, locally distinctive, high quality public realms.

The article investigates the nature of urban-rural relations between a small town in Nepal with two of its hinterland villages, examining three major rural-development functions of small towns. Some of the important factors constraining the performance of the small town's rural development functions were identified as small landholdings in the villages, low productive base of small towns, limited power/resources at the local level and lack of coordinated development activities between the town and villages. In the hill context of Nepal, the terrain itself is a constraint for physical, social and economic linkages between the town and the villages. In like manner, ethnicity and place of people are important factors in the access to services and off-farm jobs available in the town. The study concludes with a policy recommendation for integrated urban-rural area development in the hill region.

Extract:

A number of master planned communities (MPCs) have been built or are in the process of being developed in South East Queensland. They provide a useful, accessible and important focus for research into crucial public policy issues and land use planning processes. Master planned communities are characterised as being large scale, private sector driven, integrated housing developments on 'greenfield' suburban sites. The impetus for development comes from an entrepreneur with a vision backed by financial resources, who takes what some see as all the associated risks to gain all the rewards (Gaines, 1992). MPCs usually integrate a mix of housing types, open space and recreation facilities, commercial and service facilities, and sometimes employment opportunities. In the United States' literature each MPC is usually shown to be crafted to promote a certain image and to appeal to a certain clientele (Moudon, 1990).

© Copyright Australian Planner, 1999.

In the last three decades, a number of master planned communities (MPCs) have been developed in South East Queensland (SEQ) as part of the response to the housing demands of rapid population growth. Developers, state government, local councils and communities play key roles in the production and management of infrastructure and community services in these Masterplanned communities. Alongside rising community expectations regarding quality of services, there is an increasing trend for developers to be involved in either the direct provision of infrastructure, or its funding, with local councils and the state government playing a facilitating role in provision of services alongside their more traditional role of direct provision. It is imperative to understand the governance structures as well as governance challenges of master planned communities at different stages of development.

The objectives of this paper are to review governance frameworks and challenges for master planned communities at three critical stages of development: the visioning and planning stage, the implementation stage, and the completion stage. The paper has identified three distinct governance structures of master planned communities – single developer model, principal developer model and government led model. Three case studies from South East Queensland, each being representative of a particular governance structure, are used to evaluate each of the three stages of development with respect to the challenges involved in the provision of infrastructure and services. The paper provides a framework for analysing the relationship between governance structures and the development of master planned communities, focusing on the relationships that exist between institutional stakeholders, and on the potential impacts of the transfer of infrastructure and service provision from private management to community and local control.

© Copyright Shahed Khan & Bhishna Bajracharya, 2007

In the last three decades, a number of master planned communities (MPCs) have been developed in South East Queensland (SEQ) as part of the response to the housing demands of rapid population growth. Developers, state government, local councils and communities play key roles in the production and management of infrastructure and community services in these Masterplanned communities. Alongside rising community expectations regarding quality of services, there is an increasing trend for developers to be involved in either the direct provision of infrastructure, or its funding, with local councils and the state government playing a facilitating role in provision of services alongside their more traditional role of direct provision. It is imperative to understand the governance structures as well as governance challenges of master planned communities at different stages of development.

The objectives of this paper are to review governance frameworks and challenges for master planned communities at three critical stages of development: the visioning and planning stage, the implementation stage, and the completion stage. The paper has identified three distinct governance structures of master planned communities – single developer model, principal developer model and government led model. Three case studies from South East Queensland, each being representative of a particular governance structure, are used to evaluate each of the three stages of development with respect to the challenges involved in the provision of infrastructure and services. The paper provides a framework for analysing the relationship between governance structures and the development of master planned communities, focusing on the relationships that exist between institutional stakeholders, and on the potential impacts of the transfer of infrastructure and service provision from private management to community and local control.

© Copyright Bhishna Bajracharya, Paul Donehue & Douglas Baker, 2007

Local Agenda 21 (LA21) under the 1992 Earth Summit charter highlighted the important role of local governments in promoting sustainable development by working with local communities. By ratifying the charter, Australia has embraced the principles of Local Agenda 21 (LA21) and is therefore required to include it into local strategies and planning.

The basic elements of LA21 include the creation of a community vision that brings together the aspirations of all stakeholders: the establishment of a partnership between local authorities, communities, and businesses; the engagement in a community-based, inclusive process of issue analysis: the preparation of action plans based on formalised objectives; and processes for implementation, monitoring, evaluation and feedback.

How well does the Agenda 21 as a policy sit within the context of the local governments in Australia? How do different planning systems in Queensland and New South Wales have an influence in adoption by local councils? What are some of the challenges facing the councils in implementing the Local Agenda 21? These are some of the questions that the paper seeks to address.

The paper reports on an ongoing study of four local governments, two in Sydney and two in Queensland, to determine the extent of adoption of Agenda 21. The major aim of this paper is to review and assess the sustainability initiatives undertaken by the four under the different planning systems in two states. As part of the study, the paper reviews council strategic planning documents and bring out examples of community-led sustainability projects in the two councils. It discusses how sustainability has been integrated into the council strategic planning documents and identifies the major barriers and opportunities for sustainable development in the two councils. The paper examines how adoption of the Agenda is influenced by a number of factors such as the nature of the planning systems in the two states, a commitment on the part of the staff to embrace changes, and the level of community participation. There is a strong need for systematic assessment of local council's performance against Local Agenda 21 to understand how ecologically sustainable development goals are being achieved.

© Copyright Australian Planner, 2004.

Extract:

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is currently being advocated as an effective land use planning strategy to manage metropolitan growth in South East Queensland (SEQ). Recently, the Regional Plan for South East Queensland has proposed to develop a series of TODs in the region as a way to manage its rapid growth (OUM, 2004, 2005a).

In view of the current developments that are taking place in SEQ, this paper sets out to:
1) discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the TOD concept;
2) examine the merits of the idea of TOD being proposed for SEQ;
3) highlight some planning issues associated with TOD development in SEQ; and
4) propose a holistic conceptual framework to integrate key planning and urban design principles related to the implementation of sustainable TOD in SEQ.

The development and management of master planned communities (MPCs) involve achieving the twin goals of building a sense of community and creating a distinctive place identity. The roles of private, public and community sectors in realising these goals of MPCs have been evolving over time with the increasing role of developers in provision of services with the local government playing a regulatory/facilitative role and community calling for greater engagement and local control.

The major objective of the paper is to critically examine the nature and outcomes of collaboration between developers, local/state governments and existing/emerging community groups in the development of new MPCs in South East Queensland, Australia. The paper will review emerging theories of community building and place making to develop an analytical framework for collaboration of stakeholders for MPCs in South East Queensland. The paper will conduct a case study of an emerging master planned community of Varsity Lakes (343 hectares with expected population of 7,800 in 2010) in Gold Coast and examine the contributions of the public-private-community partnerships in: 1) developing a strong sense of community; and 2) creating a distinctive and vibrant place. The paper will also briefly discuss the historic evolution of master planned communities in South East Queensland and the changing role of public-private community partnerships to provide the context for detailed study of Varsity Lakes.

As part of research methodology, the study will carry out: 1) content analysis of developer’s brochures and government documents; 2) visual analysis of place making elements in MPC; and 3) key informant interviews with developers, local government departments as well as community groups. The paper will use the case study to draw lessons for effective governance of master planned communities for greater community engagement and a stronger sense of place identity.

With the recent trends toward knowledge-based urban development and networked society, information and communication technologies have increasingly played important roles in the daily lives of people for social interaction, learning, information and recreation. This research is an exploratory study on how information and communication technologies have been adopted in master planned communities of South East Queensland, Australia. It examines the four roles of information and communications technologies in the master planned communities: (1) teleworking; (2) creating a sense of community; (3) promoting integrated offices and businesses; and (4) developing learning communities. More recent master planned communities in South East Queensland, such as Varsity Lakes, North Lakes, and Greater Springfield have integrated information and communications technologies for activities such as community internet portals, local business development, and for use in community learning centres and education facilities. There is a potential to attract knowledge workers in master planned communities through the inclusion of cultural amenities, information and communication technologies, and learning infrastructure. It is important that information and communication technologies, and learning infrastructure not only benefit the housing estate but also the surrounding region, thus putting a foundation for a knowledge-based urban region.