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March 24, 2009
Despite cities being critical to Australia's future development there is no central urban body advising commonwealth and state governments. Current roles in urban governance are still divided amongst various portfolios, despite arguments for some organised approach for urban policy. We have gone backward since the Whitlam government of the1970s whilst the focus has been on global cities, such as Sydney, on the grounds that these are connected to the global economy.
My argument that one way to deal with the global economic crisis is to reinvent cities to make them more liveable and sustainable is also argued for by Barack Obama. There are differences in that the CBD of American cities are in a bad way: they are boarded, marked by high crime and deep neglect, poverty and peopled by blacks, Hispanics and an underclass. The white middle class has fled to the green, monoracial suburbs with their shopping malls and gated communities.
According to Edward Blakely in the Australian Financial Review Obama's argument is that the central cities can be the new hub for entrepreneurship, culture and environmentally sustainable economy:
first, central cities are underused space that can be reused to cheaper and more efficiently than sprawling suburbs; second, young energetic immigrants and college students are choosing central cities as the places to start up businesses; and third, rebuilding cities will generate a set of green industries that will reshape the 21st century global economy.
According to Edward Blakely, an internationally renowned urban development strategist, the argument is for federal strategy and resources to leverage improvements in inner-city areas as liveable, sustainable and competitive economic incubators. The official rhetoric is that it’s time to stop seeing our cities as the problem and start seeing them as the solution.
Vibrant cities spawn innovation, economic growth, and cultural enrichment; the policy needs to focus on investments and development in urban areas that will create employment and housing opportunities and make the country more competitive, prosperous, and strong.
Unlike the hub-and-spoke city-suburban model of yesteryear, today’s metro regions encompass broad swaths of multiple center cities, downtowns, suburbs and exurbs. The challenges of energy scarcity and climate change require closely aligned approaches in land use, transportation and location of housing. This in turn implies the co-ordination of federal-state urban policies across all departments.
What can we take from Blakely's account of urban policy to inform and enable urban redevelopment and regeneration in Australia? The following suggestions are useful:
* funding for city community development so cities can deliver vital housing, and become walkable and bikeable with clustered housing developments and other services critical to attracting and retaining 21st century educated workforce that will transform the regional economy.
*supporting regional innovation and economic development to build new jobs through a range of small businesses and innovation supports for emerging industries.
*increased public transport to reduce car-orientated development
*creating clean -industry businesses and jobs within the uderused spaces of urban areas
*making cities and urban regions energy efficient and making these technologies into competitive exports
*reducing poverty by lifting the quantity and quality of education
* improving quality housing in inner city areas/neighbourhoods to make them attractive places where people can and will work from home or near home.
As the "Low Carbon Industrial Strategy: A vision by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and Department of Energy and Climate Change states the transition to a low carbon world will transform our whole economy, changing our industrial landscape, our supply chain, and the way in which we all work and consume.
Nicholas' Stern’s landmark Review in 2006 set out the economic case for action on climate change and for investment in a low carbon economy. For as well as being an environmental and economic imperative, the shift to a low carbon economy is also an economic opportunity over the decades to come. The shift to a low carbon economy could help to drive renewed growth that will lift us out of the economic downturn. It will be key to the UK’s long term industrial future.
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making our cities and urban regions more energy efficient and then making these technologies globally competitive is a good idea