1,720,984 research outputs found
Australian Urban and Regional Planning in the Twenty First Century
No full textIn 1914, George Taylor wrote Town Planning for Australia: this was Australia’s first book on urban planning. Written for a new, and highly urbanized Australia, it proposed a case for planning to achieve the ideal city: a more beautiful environment, improved living conditions, a safer city, a better class of individual, and more co-operative and cohesive communities (Taylor, 2015). The diverse interests it raised led into the first university level planning qualification, at Sydney University from 1949 (Freestone, 2015).\ud
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One hundred years later, planning in Australia has grown substantially and matured as a profession. Australia now has 24 accredited educational programs in place, a steadily increasing number of planning academics, and a growing body of planning research (J. Byrne, Chapter 26). Student enrolments continue to grow and between 2000 and 2013 the number of employed planners had more than doubled across Australia (Mayere and Grantt-Smith, Chapter 25). Planners today work in diverse urban and regional contexts and across fields of planning and the scholarship of urban and regional planning has evolved since its early beginnings with this broadening base (Freestone, Chapter 8 ).\ud
It is timely to ask, where is planning today in Australia? What would a snapshot of critical essays on urban planning reveal about the practice of planning and the key challenges it confronts? What would it reveal about the state of planning policy and extent of planning action in urban and regional Australia
The Future of Australian Urban & Regional Planning
No full textThe closing chapter of the Handbook is divided into three parts. First, as a way of summarising the preceding 26 chapters, we examine three themes that emerged and cut across ranges of chapters. Second, to provide some context to the Handbook, particularly for those international readers or others not familiar with Australian planning, we return to an issue raised in the introduction—how Australian planning theories, practices and education compares internationally. In the third and final section, we provide some insight on future directions for Australian planning and its role in the Asia Pacific region
Creating spaces for action: Lessons from front line planners in the Great Barrier Reef
No full textWe know that planning is complex and difficult and that many planners struggle professionally and personally under the weight of pressures and divergent expectations of their role. In urban development for example, planners routinely face criticism both from the development sector for failing to approve development fast enough and from interest groups for allowing culturally and environmentally insensitive development. In this context of planning, which is invariably contested, planners respond in different ways. Some leave the profession. Others emotionally check-out or find ways to make a contribution through advocacy, mentoring, teaching and research. Some planners rise to the challenge of planning in high conflict situations and take leadership in the pursuit of fair, just and sustainable outcomes.\ud
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We are interested in exploring experiences from this latter group. Considering the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia’s most internationally recognized example of resource conflict and social contestation, we examine lessons from experienced planners on planning’s front line. We draw on oral histories with experienced planners who provided critical leadership to negotiate policy outcomes in the GBR, and explore how they created opportunities to take action. \ud
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First we describe resource conflicts in the GBR and review key planning policy introduced to manage conflict since the 1980s. Then we describe the oral history method and present the results describing the obstacles planners faced in resolving conflict and strategies they used to overcome these obstacles. We conclude by reflecting on how experienced planners use discerning practical judgment to address conflicts, negotiate agreements, and improve plan and policy efficacy. Planners in the GBR take leadership through collaborative processes, by building partnerships and decision systems and by bringing people along. This helps planners overcome obstacles to reef policy; we suggest it improves their capacity to act responsibly in the future as new demands arise
Doing planning and being a planner: Employment and education challenges for the Australian planning profession
No full textPlanning employment in Australia is undergoing significant change. The importance of planning as a profession is increasing, the number of planners employed in Australia more than doubled between 2000 and 2013, and vacant planning positions are filled with relative ease and attract large numbers of qualified applicants. While this is good news for planning as a profession, it means that employment prospects for graduating planners have weakened in recent years as the labor market has tightened. This chapter explores the changing planning education and employment landscape and what it means to “be” a planner and to “do” planning work in Australia
The Routledge Handbook of Australian Urban & Regional Planning
No full textWhere is planning in 21st century Australia? What are the key challenges that confront planning? What does planning scholarship reveal about the state of planning practice in meeting the needs of urban and regional Australians? The Routledge Handbook of Australian Urban and Regional Planning includes 27 chapters that answer these and many other questions that confront planners working in urban and regional areas in 21st century Australia. It provides a single source for cutting edge thinking and research across a broad range of the most important topics in urban and regional planning. Divided into six parts, this handbook explores: \ud
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- contexts of urban and regional planning in Australia \ud
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- critical debates in Australian Planning \ud
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- planning policy \ud
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- climate change, disaster risk and environmental management * engaging and taking planning action \ud
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- planning education and research \ud
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This handbook is a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in urban planning, built environment, urban studies and public policy as well as academics and practitioners across Australia and internationally
Improving SEA prodedures within Italian regions: Towards a more effective evaluation of urban sustainability
No full textSustainable urban development, a major issue at global scale, will become more relevant according to population growth predictions in developed and developing countries. Societal and international recognition of sustainability concerns led to the development of specific tools and procedures, known as sustainability assessments/appraisals (SA). Their effectiveness however, considering that global quality life indicators have worsened since their introduction, has promoted a re-thinking of SA instruments. More precisely, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), – a tool introduced in the European context to evaluate policies, plans, and programmes (PPPs), – is being reconsidered because of several features that seem to limit its effectiveness. Over time, SEA has evolved in response to external and internal factors dealing with technical, procedural, planning and governance systems thus involving a shift of paradigm from EIA-based SEAs (first generation protocols) towards more integrated approaches (second generation ones). Changes affecting SEA are formalised through legislation in each Member State, to guide institutions at regional and local level. Defining SEA effectiveness is quite difficult. Its’ capacity-building process appears quite far from its conclusion, even if any definitive version can be conceptualized. In this paper, we consider some European nations with different planning systems and SA traditions. After the identification of some analytical criteria, a multi-dimensional cluster analysis is developed on some case studies, to outline current weaknesses
Bridging the divide between theory and guidance in strategic environmental assessment: a path for Italian regions
Full text linkClear and effective legislation is a requisite to bring sustainable development from theory into practice. This paper develops a methodology to investigate how Italian regional legislation disciplines the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), the procedure used in the European Union (EU) to pursue sustainable development of policies, plans, and programs (PPPs). Our case study is the Italian regional level, examined to identify eventual flaws and areas for improvement for each regional legislative framework. For this purpose, this study refers to a selection of analytical criteria recurring in the international debate on sustainability assessments. Statistical multi-dimensional analysis is used to identify Italian regions with similar SEA legislation. We recognize four taxonomies, depending on the way regional legislation provides information about i) legislation and guidelines, ii) integration between SEA and PPPs, iii) sustainability goals, iv) technical organization, v) participatory organization, and vi) monitoring. The results suggest that Italian administrators should cooperate to improve legislation at the regional level. Acknowledging the institution-centred nature of SEA, this methodology could drive the EU to better support SEA development in countries with diversified traditions
SEA integration in sustainable planning frameworks
No full textThis paper compares current SEA policy across two countries with different institutional and planning systems: Queensland, Australia and Lombardia, Italy. Assessment of the key strengths and weaknesses for SEA conferred by sustainable planning legislation in our case studies is supplemented by 30 interviews with planners and others involved in sustainable planning. It highlights a critical gap between SEA theory, legislative guidelines, and practice in urban and regional planning
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