IT’S ALL ABOUT GROWTH: PERI-URBAN PLANNING IN ‘THE

BUSH’.

Paul McFarland

Geography and Planning

University of New England,

Armidale.

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

Presentation

Scene setting

Outcomes

Theory and practice

Conclusions

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

County of Cumberland

Planning Scheme –

Sydney, 1951

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundaries

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

The Macro-economic Emphasis in Political Ideology

Source: http://oxfamblogs.org/doughnut/

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

Purposive sampling using semi-structured interviews

Urban & Regional Planners’ Perspectives on Peri-urban Land Use

State, local and private practice planners

Narrative analysis (Alvarez & Urla, 2002; Wiles et al., 2005)

Important distinction:

‘story’ comes from the interview

‘narrative’ comes from the analysis of that story

(Riley & Hawe, 2005)

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

New England Region Snapshot

Area: 99,144 km2

Population (est.): 183,116

Growth rate 2007-2011: 1.37% (Sydney 4.66%)

Major land use: agriculture (71.58% land area)

Increasing importance of mining: Narrabri and Gunnedah - Coal

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@nrp.nsf/lookup/110Main+Features12007-2011

Source: ABS, 2013

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

Key Issues:

i) Planning Focus

ii) Land Use Generally

iii) Peri-urban Land Use Planning

iv) National and International Understanding

v) Planning System Changes

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

i) Peri-urban Land Use Planning

Peri-urban fringe pressures acknowledged

- mainly in terms of time taken to rezone from non-urban to urban

‘Values – mainly urban perspective: lifestyle, low density, rural outlook

- some acknowledged other values: mining, water, sewerage, scenic

Urban expansion into peri-urban seen as inevitable

- benefits: choice, tree change, use strategic planning

Negatives noted from those whose lifestyles were affected, incl. farmers

- simplistic approach to resolve this, e.g. education, caveats

Environmental – indigenous heritage, threatened species, new infrastructure

Large scale issues, e.g. food security, generally overlooked

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

ii) National and International Understanding

Food security and mining

Vancouver’s approach to agriculture most cited international e.g.

Significant number unaware / unable to discuss specific examples

Urban ag. cited as way to offset loss of non-urban ag. Land

Some questioned the relevance of this to local – state or federal issue

Planning seemed more focused on local and immediate processing

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

iii) Planning System Changes

Broad support for reduction of ‘busy work’ (minor applications)

Consultant planners most supportive of changes that would reduce

application costs and processing times

Reduction of objections to planning strategy

More local autonomy (frameworks as opposed to standard codes)

No suggestions specifically re peri-urban

- local planners realisation of state control over planning

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

General Planning Issues

Planners are more focused on regulatory rather than strategic planning

Perhaps due to strategic planning being viewed through regulatory lens:

'the location, intensity, form, amount, and harmonization of land

development required for various space using functions' (Albrechts, 2006)

Continued use of planning approach from Beck’s (2000) ‘first modernity’

- Fordist production systems, the nuclear family, local

protectionism and an unquestioning faith in science

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

Peri-urban Specific Issues

Second modernity compression of space/time, global markets, interconnectedness,

social awareness

Local still features, but needs to revision itself to be more responsive to economic,

social and environmental needs (Mayer & Knox, 2010)

Colonial notions of abundance of land and reliable access to food

- Ignores research on peaks and climate change

Actions do not link to corporate rhetoric, e.g. environmental footprint

Peri-urban land is comparmentalised and not recognised as multi-functional

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

Conclusion

What is needed in regional planning:

Paradigm shift in the way peri-urban is viewed and valued

Greater engagement with trends in planning (literature, other jurisdictions)

Community engagement is critical for local planning with less distraction by

minute; more focus on strategic planning, especially peri-urban multi-functionality

(second modernity)

It’s All About Growth: Peri-urban planning in the ‘bush’.

Thank You