SMART INFRASTRUCTURE MODEL PROVIDING NEXT GENERATION ANALYTICS FOR DECISION MAKERS
CONNECT: SMART INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY
THE SMART (SIMULATION, MODELLING, ANALYSIS FOR RESEARCH AND TEACHING) INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY
The $62 million SMART Infrastructure Facility at the University of Wollongong is one of the largest research institutions in the world dedicated to helping governments and business plan better for the future. SMART brings together experts from fields such as rail, infrastructure systems, transport, water, energy, economics and modelling and simulation and provides 30 state-of-the-art laboratories to facilitate this important research. It provides specialist and teaching laboratories for 200 Higher Degree Research students and over 5000 undergraduate students per week.
Our commissioned research program ranges from economic analysis to developing modelling tools that demonstrate how infrastructure assets and policy decisions can impact communities in the future, we call this ‘what if?’ scenario planning. Opened in 2011 following a $35 million Education Investment Fund grant from the Australian Government and $10 million from NSW RailCorp, SMART has already established a global network of research partners, Honorary and Visiting Professors who are collaborating on challenges in the infrastructure space.
INTRODUCTION Infrastructure is an agent of change. It reflects our past and will continue to shape our future. Good infrastructure planning must take account of the changing fabric of society. These changes come about from many sources, but most particularly new infrastructure, shifting population demographics and the land-use planning regime together form very potent drivers of change. The SMART Infrastructure Model (SIM) is a long term development that captures these dynamics to enable policymakers more data and capability to assess and test the likely consequences of an infrastructure intervention. Transport for NSW commissioned SMART to build a model of South Eastern Sydney region so that transport planners could better understand the drivers of change and how policy decisions could impact the liveability of the different population groups of this region.
Mr Les Wielinga
Director General, Transport for NSW (retired) SMART Advisory Council Member Since 2010, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) has been in a research partnership with the SMART Infrastructure Facility to help enhance the capability of the Department in long term integrated transport planning. My vision with this research has been to ensure TfNSW can deliver better transport infrastructure, where priorities more precisely reflect community requirements by choosing the right projects and delivered in a timely way. To achieve this, the SMART modelling team has helped to better inform policymakers with critical information by connecting the requirements of transport assets in a geographic area with changes in demographics and land use activity. SIM is both fundamental and cutting edge and represents a step forward with more evidence based infrastructure planning.
OUR APPROACH Policy-makers are faced with a very challenging environment, to provide infrastructure assets and services that are not too costly and have a very long term impact. The SMART Infrastructure Model (SIM) recognises that an infrastructure intervention requires careful consideration of its impact across the different layers of society in both the short and long-term. SIM provides an analytical framework for decision-makers to clarify their objectives by simulating what-if? scenarios to test for outcomes, reveal unintended consequences and allow greater knowledge sharing and contestability of ideas. The 7 step infrastructure decision process envisioned by SMART is detailed below.
POLICY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 1. What are the intervention objectives? 2. Data 3. Analysis 4. Scenarios (options) 5. Visualisation 6. Recalibrate 7. Confirmation
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THE SMART INFRASTRUCTURE MODEL ENABLES
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to improve the quality of decision making for infrastructure, land use and planning.
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Infrastructure Requirements
SMART Infrastructure Model
Land Use Planning
Population Demographics
Land use can determine the population type and size Different population groups have differing needs from the land regulations
State of the art computational model.
Purpose built for large scale urban policy and planning evaluation.
Extensive visualisation to engage policy makers and the community.
SCENARIO QUESTIONS The SMART Infrastructure Model will be an essential partner to assist our future planning and to inform government of what choices need to be made to ensure liveable communities. The ability to create and interrogate ‘what-if’ scenarios and visualise physical and social impacts is fundamental to delivering better planning and projects. SIM provides decision makers with the tools to make more reasoned and informed infrastructure decisions.
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6 MORTGAGE
$400 MORTGAGE PAYEMENT / WEEK $1000 GROSS HOUSEHOLD INCOME / WEEK
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MODAL CHOICE
Public Transport
Land Use and Population
Transport modal choice
Cities exist because people want to live there but as cities grow and change so does the population and the land use requirements. Q. What would be the physical and social consequences of land use policy changes on demographic, mobility and traffic patterns in the study area? Example: Influence of urban zoning changes favouring high density (1-2 bedroom units) development in given precincts?
Activity and Transportation Economic and social activity relies on transport infrastructure to meet the expectations of a modern community. Q. What are the potential effects of transport policy changes on socio demographic, mobility and traffic patterns in the study area? Example: Impact of a new public transport facility, like a light rail line, on surrounding precincts?
Public Transport
Tipping Points Policy makers need to know how infrastructure performs under different capacity constraints. Q. What are the implications of a larger population on a precinct’s transport system? Example: At what point in the future do buses no longer meet the requirements of the community?
The SMART Infrastructure Facility at University of Wollongong is one of the largest infrastructure research centres in the world.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT Prof Pascal Perez Director pascal_perez@uow.edu.au Ms Tania Brown Chief Operating Officer +61 4298 1431 tania_brown@uow.edu.au
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