Innovating the Cities: Design, Planning and Architectural Solutions in the Urban Environment

David Owen: Greening the Metropolis

Owen's central proposition is that densifying the city is the most effective intervention in reducing environmental impact and carbon footprint.

There was no argument about this proposition from the Panel, rather the discussion centred on solutions and obstacles to achieving it.

Tim Flannery, curator of the Deakin lectures, appeared least persuaded about the arguments, speaking almost in parables. He reminded us of the acute vulnerability of cities from any threat to water or food supply. He concluded that 'the interest of the individual has to be confluent with the interest of the city/civilization.'


Here are some quotes I liked or key points I wanted to remember:

David Owen:

'when you move to the country, you move into your car'

'move people and their daily destinations closer together'

'density is the main tool to reduce environmental impact and carbon footprint'

'the car dragged a whole infrastructure behind it'

'there is no such thing as a sustainable house, a sustainable building or a sustainable car. Sustainability is the context, the relationship between things: it is not a gadget or a technology.'

'its not about signing up to solutions that you can buy'

Panel

'our houses are oversized and underoccupied' [Melinda Dodson]

'smaller houses, closer together and drive less' [Melinda Dodson]

'How to get people to want to live differently' [Sue Holliday]

density is easier when there is 'a high quality public realm that people feel comfortable in' [Rob Adams]

'enough not more' [Rob Adams]

Bruce Taper:

'Greenhouse gas emissions reduction has to be the most basic kpi of all metropolitan strategies'

we've got to do 'simple things agressively'

'we've got to put some hope into it.'

5 stars is 'a loose and sloppy metric'

we've got to examine 'the lives we really live rather than how we imagine we live' in answer to a question along the lines of 'where will the children play in the denser city' [David Owen]

What does VAMPIRE mean?

Jago Dodson used the VAMPIRE* and VIPER maps to show household vulnerability to mortgage stress and peak oil.

His presentations demonstrated vulnerability at the urban fringes of most Australian cities with a conjunction of mortgage stress, high proportion of household budget on transportation costs, absence of public transport, multiple car ownership of large, fuel inefficient cars.

Shocking the suburbs: oil vulnerability in Australian cities Dodson, J and Sipe, N
griffith.edu.au/centre/urp

Ventura California has much to teach about retrofitting residential neighbourhoods

take away thoughts
Rick Cole spoke about the work Ventura City Council continues to do in retro fitting existing residential neighbourhoods using form based code which guides how buildings behave in the public realm. Form based code is based on timeless principles derived from cities over time.
Ventura's city planning is about 'how we will grow, not will we grow' This approach has come to be known as smart growth and follows the imperatives of infill first! and balanced transportation

They keep on 'reclaiming the awfulness'. People in those neighbourhoods like them and see no reason to change. He showed, with a series of slides, the same streetscape over an 80 year period and how it had evolved. Much had changed. Most obvious was the increasing presence of the motor car in these neighbourhoods. As he said, cars are not parked in garages any more - they are full of the stuff we buy at Walmart. The change led him to ask: 'what is the American dream?'. It is not static and will continue to evolve.
He is passionate for mixed use, rather than zoning which separates functions. He wants to talk about planning in language that people can understand, rather than the arcane and impenetrable language of planning.

On the subject of engagement and creating the vision for Ventura, he has found that people prefer relatively brief processes that have a beginning, a middle and an end. He encouraged speaking to regular people, rather than stakeholder groups with entrenched interests where you the best you are likely to achieve is a 'bastardised compromise.' Stakeholders have 'a dog in the fight'. 'In a driving rainstorm in the middle of the night, they'll be there.' 'Entrenched interests don't represent the future.' Instead, you should speak with 'sensible people who are not fanatics.'

He showed many examples of highly walkable neighbourhoods with a mix of densities, attractive shared open space and neighbourhood scale retail.

Rick Cole

City Manager, Ventura

Living Better: Consuming Less

Chris Ryan [CR] spoke about the future inspired work that has been overseen by VEIL for an inner city redevelopment site.

It will be informed by 'slow' (as in slow food), it will be productive and it will have a re-shaped urban form.

Above all Chris spoke of the importance of imagining a positive and inspired vision of the future and opening up to the rich ideas of emerging designers.

• 'creating a movement for expanding optimism'
• 'motivating change'
• 'we cannot afford to create one building that is not sustainable (that would need to be retro fitted later). Docklands already needs retro fitting

Victorian Environment Innovation Lab

Chris Ryan

Women in Planning

Panellists:Jane Homewood [JH], Liz Johnstone [LJ] Rae Kingsbury [RK]

• [LJ] Respect needs to underpin the relationship between councillors and planning staff


• [JH] Work collaboratively with your planners to create the change you want to see


• [JH] How are you going to meeet the future needs of your community?


• [JH] in your local policy get rid of 'and', and 'and'. Have stand alone sentences that have meaning and are not rendered ambiguous by being paired.


• where do you want to make a difference?


• make your values known to the planners so that they have a sensitivity to them


• [JH] sustainability and adaptation happen at local government level


• [jh] councillors role is to meet the future needs of your community


• [JH] public funds are not going to fund renewal to the extent that is required. Therefore it is necessary to consider the terms on which private investment will be secured to achieve public good
  
• strategic planning is the core business of council


• [JH] analyse every aspect of your dealings with VCAT: how many applications are appealed, how much do you spend, what can you learn from the decisions


• [LJ] planning permit activity reporting data can be exported to Google Earth


• [RK] the role of planners is to give their very best advice. The role of councillors is to make the decision


• [JH] we must bring planning and communtiy development together (if we are to meet the future needs of our communities in a sustainable way)


• [JH] have a good urban designer on staff - (planners don't think 3 dimensionally and can achieve planning outcomes by 'chopping and carving')


• [JH] engage with the process, facilitate good development, celebrate good examples, use templates if helpful

18 June 2009

Local policy: some advice

Des Eccles

Planning training: some notes

about local policy:

• should not be regulatory; to apply as regulation is improper


• should be consistent


• to which clear meaning can be given; meaningful to help make decisions


• VCAT is required to consider; consider does not mean 'give effect to'


• the words of your local policy will be subjected to 'forensic examination'

'if its not in the scheme, its not worth the paper its written on'

Making decisions in planning:

• must be dispassionate


• 2 reasonable people could come to different conclusions

Rob Adams

Climate Change Adapation Symposium
3 and 4 June 2009

Rob Adams

Rob spoke about the need to densify the city. He spoke again about the desirability of increasing density along tram lines.

• 75% of emissions come from cities - this is why we have to work with cities
• the liveability that people talk about is becoming sustainability
• 'design a good street and you design a good city'
• all the most liveable cities are dense - Barcelona for example. Buildings of 7 to 8 storeys. Create 75% active frontages. Hang on to your heritage buildings
• we have all the space we need along major transport corridors to build all the housing we need without extending the urban growth boundary.
• 'productive suburbs' that can remain largely unchanged
• we have got to tackle the cost of building over 3 storeys as it is inhibiting consolidation

There is a discussion about density along tram lines at

http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5809&start=0&sid=1237bdae3cc7a1208c232c81294748b8

Land Use Planning
Michael Buxton, Bill Russell

• strategic planning is about managing a future and adopting actions to achieve it
• POLICY is a position statement to achieve consistency by applying generic principles or responses to all particular instances over time
• increase the number of lots per hectare (currently 11 lots per hectare) the Michael Buxton mantra
• in Casey, 85% of people leave the suburb each day for work
• move from affordable housing to affordable living

22/03/2009