New report ranks Australia's cities

Property industry leaders have released a new report on the performance of Australia's capital cities and urged the Rudd Government to make cities a nation-building priority.

An alliance of leading business organisations - Built Environment Meets Parliament (BEMP) - will meet with political leaders and policy makers at a summit in Parliament House this week.

BEMP is an alliance of leading property industry groups that includes Consult Australia, the Australian Institute of Architects, the Green Building Council of Australia, the Planning Institute of Australia and the Property Council of Australia.

The call for action was prompted by an independent audit of Australia's capital city planning systems by KPMG for the BEMP alliance - Spotlight on Australia's Capital Cities: An Independent Audit of City Planning Systems.

The report measured each capital city against the performance criteria for effective city planning adopted by COAG on 7 December 2009 and provided an overall score and ranking (Table 1).

The report also measured these planning frameworks against actual performance in the following areas: budget performance, population planning, housing affordability for key workers and traffic congestion, also providing an overall score against the criteria (out of 100) and ranking (Table 2).

The report makes several recommendations, supported in-principle by the BEMP alliance, such as:

1. an expanded role for the Federal Government in urban policy:

• releasing a national urban policy with performance targets,
• launching a refreshed Better Cities program to target infrastructure investment,
• appointing a Cabinet Minister for Urban Affairs,
• establishing a centre for design excellence.

2. establishing metropolitan authorities in capital cities to improve decision-making and delivery;

3. streamlining planning by adopting the Development Assessment Forum (DAF) model for local development assessment processes;

4. ensuring that metro strategies take precedence over other planning laws and have clear targets:

5. adopting priority activity plans for land release and infrastructure priorities;

6. adopting innovative and modern public funding mechanisms such as bonds and reforming developer contributions; and,

7. setting city based performance targets and national reporting on progress against these targets.

Peter Verwer, CEO of the Property Council of Australia, says: "Delivering long-term plans to manage future growth is essential if Australia is to have more liveable, sustainable and productive cities. There can be no nation-building agenda without lifting the performance of our cities."

Steve Johnston, CEO of the Planning Institute of Australia, says: "The KPMG report recognised the need to modernise and streamline our planning systems if we are to deliver better economic, social and environmental outcomes for our cities."

Romilly Madew, Chief Executive of the Green Building Council of Australia, says, "If we are to truly have sustainable cities in the future, then dealing with climate change and energy efficiency in existing and future buildings must continue to be a focus of future capital city planning."

David Parken, CEO of the Australian Institute of Architects, says: "We need ensure that our capital cities are favourably positioned to lead the world in design excellence and sustainability."

Megan Motto, CEO of Consult Australia, says: "If we can better align federal, state and local government land use plans with their corresponding infrastructure plans, then we will achieve a joined-up approach to policy in the future."

The full KPMG report and a summary is available at: www.bemp.com.au

The report will be a key focus of the Built Environment Meets Parliament (BEMP)

Date: Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Venue: Parliament House, Canberra
Media passes and interviews available upon request

Media contacts:
Property Council of Australia, Peter Verwer, CEO, 0407 463 842
Planning Institute of Australia, Steve Johnston, CEO, 0417 645 692
Green Building Council of Australia, Romilly Madew, CEO, 0412 062 157
Australian Institute of Architects, David Parken, CEO, 0414 856 336
Consult Australia, Megan Motto, CEO, 0411 104 458