76 minute read
Student Theses
Alice Steele
Full-Service Sydney: An Analysis of Brothel Regulation in Sydney’s Three Cities
Since the decriminalisation of fullservice sex work in New South Wales in 1995, brothels have been regulated by the planning system through local government’s Local Environmental Plans. Each council throughout Sydney has taken a different approach, leading to a patchwork of permissibility throughout Sydney. Although planning policy and decisions should be made on the basis of amenity impacts, the perceived immorality of sex work has led to brothels being subject to harsher zoning restrictions than many other land uses with similar amenity impacts. This thesis highlights the importance of consultation with sex workers and industry groups, providing agency to the workers who are directly impacted by these policy decisions. This thesis analyses the policy approaches taken by the City of Sydney Council, Parramatta Council and Penrith Council. A literature review, policy review and mapping exercise are the methodologies utilised to analyse policy within these three council areas. Ultimately, this thesis recognises the City of Sydney as a model of best practice, in which consideration is given to the amenity impacts which brothels may have on incompatible land uses, whilst maintaining the position that sex-services premises are legitimate uses within the wider community.
Amruta Kumbhari
Community Makerspaces: Potential for a Creative Circular Economy
The growing volume of textile waste adding to landfills in Australia is of increasing concern. With the circular economy (CE) movement gaining momentum across the country, an opportunity exists to establish a CE for textiles, developing creative industries and more sustainable communities. Local initiatives such as makerspaces offer a contemporary and creative solution to promote circularity in communities, building a culture of reducing, reusing and recycling. By applying an adapted CE framework from the OECD’s Circular Economy Checklist for Action and other academic literature, this thesis analyses the extent to which principles under the three CE dimensions of promoting, facilitating and enabling are present in metropolitan and local planning policies across Sydney and how this is manifesting at Hawkesbury Remakery, Windsor, and the YARN, Hunters Hill, as best-practice cases of makerspaces for textiles. Findings reveal that as metropolitan and local policies lack recognition of textile waste as a contemporary planning issue, makerspaces become successful initiatives to support individual efforts for the CE. This further highlights the need for more strategic local policy directions within the three CE dimensions in Sydney, to better inform new routes for textile waste and to support makerspaces and other CE initiatives in the community.
Amy Wilkins
Women’s Safety within the Physicality of the Public Domain and Built Form Interface at Night
Having previously been confined to the suburban fringes as stay-at-home mothers, women increasingly find themselves juggling parenting with work responsibilities. Comparatively, men have historically been the workers of the family and travelled into city centres for employment. Gendered behavioural patterns have shaped our cities and deeply rooted gender role differentiation within the physicality of the public domain (PPD) and built-form interface (BFI), with one third of Australian women stating that they do not feel safe in public spaces at night due to environmental factors. This thesis aims to examine the environmental condition of the public domain to identify how planning and urban design can remove spatial injustices and improve the PPD and BFI for women’s safety at night. Observations, a walking audit and in-depth interviews were undertaken on Wynyard Park to identify physical imperatives within a place-specific context. This thesis has revealed that current crime preventative measures in the NSW planning system are defensive and territorial in nature, often arising feelings of entrapment within women. This thesis concluded that a recasting of the Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) framework is needed to create socially inviting and inclusive public spaces for women’s safety at night.
Anaiis Sarkissian
A Place for Our Furry Friends: Planning for Dogs in a Densifying Sydney
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the increasing importance of dogs in urban life—almost half of Australian households now include a dog. However, given cities are made exclusively by and for humans; dogs lack inclusion in urban planning, development and design, diminishing the quality of the urban experience for dogs and their human families. This thesis utilises a mixed methodology approach to investigate how effectively the NSW planning system is responding to the growing significance of dogs in Sydney. Reviews of theoretical and empirical literature and contemporary state policies, and a local government website audit are undertaken. These findings are correlated with outcomes from in-depth interviews to inform challenges, opportunities and recommendations for future policy. The research reveals that the NSW planning system has struggled to keep pace with the attitudinal shift towards dogs in Sydney, largely due to the innate anthropocentric representation of dogs as property rather than as urban inhabitants. This thesis therefore argues that now, more than ever, planners need to reimagine the place of humans in the city by shifting away from traditional human-centric notions of place. Adapting to the changing use of urban space is ultimately critical to the resilience of our cities into the future.
Annika Hather
Aboriginal Land Rights and Self-Determination: The Role of the Aboriginal Land SEPP
Aboriginal communities face significant problems converting claimed land into economic development opportunities, hindering the compensatory benefits foreseen in the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983. Overcoming these challenges has been likened to a second phase of land rights in New South Wales. Informed by a literature review, policy analysis and in-depth interviews, this thesis explores the opportunities and barriers in the State Environmental Planning Policy (Aboriginal Land) 2019 (Aboriginal Land SEPP) for the economic development and self-determination of Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs). Through conceptualising the SEPP as a ‘contact zone’, this thesis reveals that its limited practical benefits do not match its symbolic importance. Through the SEPP, the State fails to concede power and recognise Aboriginal people as a coexisting planning authority, thus empowering only a limited and compromised form of self-determination. This thesis makes several recommendations to better provide space for Aboriginal claims to self-determination, including reconciling the competing priorities of economic selfdetermination and biodiversity conservation and exploring the opportunities that a selfassessment pathway might present for LALCs in the NSW framework. The research findings are significant as they highlight opportunities to strengthen the current system, particularly to inform a review of the Aboriginal SEPP so that the coexisting authority of LALCs can be recognised.
Asini Rajapakse
Central Station: Activation for a Sticky Place
Central Station in Sydney has a primarily functional role and many perceive it as a liminal space for travelling through. Yet, more recently, the value and wider purpose of transit settings has been acknowledged. This has seen its role develop as a ‘sticky’ place which anchors well-connected, multi-use destinations in cities. This thesis seeks to analysis how Central Station can be activated in order to create a sticky place for the community and recognise the implications for urban planning. The research was informed by a literature review on transit and placemaking to determine key themes for activation, as well as interviews with several practicing and academic professionals with expertise in Central Station and the built environment. Three case studies within the Central Station area—Belmore Park/ Eddy Avenue, Henry Deane Plaza and the Western Forecourt—were critiqued on their existing activation against key themes established in literature. The thesis argues that Central Station should become a sticky place for community experiences and diverse activities in order to function at its greatest potential, and that planners have a role in advocating and delivering for activation.
Ben Hajdukovic
The Social Mixing Saga—Diversity Renaissance or StateSanctioned Gentrification in Glebe
Renewal of social housing estates globally has sought a ‘socially mixed’ approach to redevelopment, a policy whereby an ageing state-owned social housing estate is redeveloped with a mix of private and public tenure. At first glance, the policy would suggest a solution to multiple urban challenges confronting our cities. However, does social mixing foster diversity and reduce poverty agglomeration, or is it a form of social cleansing by the state? In 2016, the NSW Government announced the Communities Plus program, a policy for renewing New South Wales’s ageing social housing estates, comprising 70 per cent private dwellings and 30 per cent public dwellings upon redevelopment. In November 2020, the Franklyn Street social housing estate in Glebe was earmarked for redevelopment under the program. Through in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders, coupled with a qualitative analysis of policy and academic literature, this thesis strives to explore the benefits and downfalls of the social-mixing model in social housing renewal and determine whether the Communities Plus program will result in a positive outcome for the Franklyn Street social housing estate.
Bernardo Malouf
Planning Agreements: A Case Study of Waverley Council’s Experience
The cost to deliver and maintain necessary infrastructure is rising with population growth. For this reason, the legislation which enables planning authorities to fund infrastructure needs to be assessed. Planning agreements are a mechanism within the approval process by which a consent authority may consider development proposals that seek to vary a planning control if it satisfies the objectives of the clause it seeks to vary and demonstrates a net community benefit. This process is enforced through a planning agreement, which is a development contract voluntarily entered into by council and the proponent. Council is allowed a degree of flexibility when determining the proposal and is under no obligation to endorse a planning agreement. This thesis seeks to understand the role of planning agreements in infrastructure contribution policy by assessing how well it funds community- benefit infrastructure. A case study of Waverley Council is used to quantify the level of community benefit gained from the planning agreement process and to understand the effect of existing planning agreement infrastructure contribution policy in the NSW state government and local government context. In addition, recent updates to practice notes explaining the state government’s intention for the use, administration, negotiation, and execution of planning agreements are reviewed and analysed.
Cameron Thomson
Work Near Home: Coworking in Suburban Centres
The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly changed the way we work, with remoteworking arrangements becoming more prevalent and permanent. Many have observed significant benefits working from home, such as the eliminated commute, but many have also experienced challenges working from home, including distractions and social isolation. Suburban coworking has the potential to offer the best of both worlds by providing professional workspaces near to home. Despite this, coworking spaces are currently clustered in CBD and inner-city areas and are rarely found in suburban areas. This thesis explores coworking in Greater Sydney, how it is addressed in the NSW Planning System, and the potential for coworking spaces in suburban local and neighbourhood centres. A mixed-method approach was undertaken involving a literature review, policy review, interviews with coworking companies, mapping of coworking spaces, and a case study of the potential for coworking spaces in the Kuring-gai Local Government Area. Findings from this thesis indicate potentially significant benefits and demand for suburban coworking in Greater Sydney. Accordingly, the NSW Planning System must be proactive to facilitate suburban coworking and secure the positive potential economic, social, liveability and transport-demand benefits associated.
Catherine Kelly
Planning for Green Roofs in Parramatta
A key concept of planning in the twenty-first century is designing resilient cities. Research indicates that cities characterised by urban green infrastructure and expansive tree canopies support resilient urban environments, enhance human wellbeing and promote sustainable development. One key element of green infrastructure are green roofs, associated with numerous benefits, such as reduced urban heat islands, improved stormwater management, and enhanced wellbeing. This thesis examines the existing policy frameworks pertaining to planning for green roofs in Parramatta, a growing urban centre in Western Sydney envisioned as a model of urban resilience. A comparative case-study analysis is conducted to assess Parramatta’s plans and policies currently in place against the international best-practice green-roof policies, Singapore’s LUSH Programme and Toronto’s Green Roof By-Law 2009. The thesis employs a framework based on landscape architect Diane Balmori’s concept of the ‘Fifth Façade’ and considers how these two best-practice international policies have translated into actions and development requirements to thereby support the creation of resilient cities through planning for green roofs. The findings indicate that a more holistic, collaborative and evidence-based policy framework is required to adequately position green-roof infrastructure at the forefront of strategic and statutory planning in Parramatta.
Charley Wells
A Digital Narration of Women’s Safety
Everyone has a right to feel safe when accessing the city. This human right is often denied for women and girls. The rise of digital technology, big data and smart cities presents exciting new opportunities for planning practice and policy to address this inequity. Smartphone technology has enabled women to effortlessly share their experiences of the city and offers a new way to collect and analyse safety data. Collecting the voices of women using geo-locative pins presents an opportunity for enhanced safety within public spaces. From a social justice perspective, this thesis investigates how crowd-mapping techniques can be applied in the context of the City of Sydney to enhance the safety of women. The research is underpinned by a mixed-method study using primary and secondary data. It is informed by urban-planning literature, a policy review, thematic analysis of crowd-sourced data and seven in-depth interviews with built environment professionals. Findings indicate that poor lighting is the most common environmental factor that attributes to feeling unsafe. The thesis argues that women’s safety is not adequately addressed within the NSW planning system, and the adoption of crowd-mapping tools and co-designing cities with women will result in increased safety.
Charlotte Startari
Planning for Disaster: Strengthening Bushfire Resilience through People and Policy—A Case Study
The 2019/2020 Australian bushfire season, both catastrophic and unprecedented, was a true testament to the increasing threat of natural disasters. The bushfires along the east coast of Australia burnt for a total of 240 days, having a disastrous and longstanding impact on affected communities. Otherwise known as the ‘Black Summer’ bushfires, these events sparked an important discussion that questioned the vulnerability of affected communities and opportunities for increased resilience. This research examines the experiences of residents and professionals on the NSW south coast affected during the ‘Black Summer’ bushfires, placing particular emphasis on the community’s attitude and actions with regard to preparedness, property maintenance, and willingness to follow directions during the event; analysing the NSW bushfire planning regime to determine the key shortfalls in policy and governance as experienced by the NSW south coast; and, ultimately, acknowledging and improving the symbiotic-like relationship between policy and people in fortifying and advancing disaster resilience. The objectives of this research were to; analyse key literature pertaining to bushfire disaster and resilience, examine and compare the NSW bushfire planning regime, explore the dynamic relationship between bushfire policy, governance and the community, understand the extent of impacts to affected communities, and determine key interventions to improve the overall bushfire planning regime in New South Wales.
Emma Ziegenfusz
To Build or Not to Build … Adaptably
Planning for an intended purpose and present demand is important, however, given a building’s lifespan, it is likely that society’s demand for its use will change, and the reuse of the land will be necessary in time. The ability to adaptively reuse existing spaces which have not been designed with adaptability in mind is proven to be almost as difficult and costly as demolition and new construction. This thesis investigates the extent to which NSW planning policy promotes building adaptability to respond to the changing demands and shocks that produce new societal needs, which may very well be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research is informed by a literature review that discusses the ambiguity of what the concept of adaptability means, as well as a policy analysis and online interviews with industry professionals, which are utilised to identify whether there is a policy gap in terms of adaptable planning and whether the industry is concerned about it. This thesis argues that the existing planning framework within New South Wales does not advocate for building adaptability, and a shift in the existing development mind frame needs to occur, given our resources are finite and we cannot continue to build and demolish repeatedly.
Eric Kim
Review of the New South Wales Heritage Act 1977
The NSW Heritage Act was introduced in 1977 in response to the Green Bans, which arose from disenchantment at the direction of planning in New South Wales, including the demolition of historic buildings. The Heritage Act has undergone various amendments in the past decades; however, major reforms have not been conducted since 1999, and the act has not been reviewed since 2007. The NSW Heritage Act has been described as outdated and reliant on prescriptive regulatory measures and compliance mechanisms, resulting in complex and confusing processes. The NSW Government requested the Social Issues Standing Committee to conduct an inquiry into the Act, with the review formally commenced in May 2021. The Standing Committee released its report in October 2021. This thesis investigates what aspects of the Act need to be amended to best suit the evolving built environment and to create less confusion and complexity for owners of heritage items. It utilises both primary and secondary sources, such as literature, submissions, and interviews to gain an expansive understanding on the stakeholder viewpoints. The analysis enables judgments as to the adequacy of the recommendations of the Standing Committee.
Gilbert Eliott
How Are Local Governments in Regional New South Wales Planning for Shrinkage?
In New South Wales, more than one third of local government areas are expected to experience population decline between 2021 and 2041. Scholars propose ‘smart decline’ as a response to shrinkage. This requires acceptance of future population loss and adoption of planning strategies for a smaller population. However, few local governments proactively accept decline, indicating there are political and practical obstacles to this approach. This thesis identifies three local government areas in New South Wales with the highest projected population decline and, through a review of local strategic planning statements and interviews with planners and councillors, examines how this decline is being planned for in practice. This research identifies historical population decline and the planning strategies that were implemented as well as beliefs about population decline in the future. The study indicates that council communications and attitudes had a strong bias towards population growth in contradiction to state government predictions and that beliefs about population growth or decline do not strongly influence the strategies implemented. This suggests that councils are implementing a mix of growthoriented and decline-oriented strategies, despite not openly accepting decline. Other councils likely to enter population decline in the future can use this study to understand real-world responses to population decline.
Hanyan Ruan
As the population growth in Sydney has continued at a rapid pace over the last few years, high population density has put pressure on the viability of the community. Zetland, one of the most promising suburbs in the Great Sydney area, has changed drastically in the past ten years because of development. This thesis explores the importance of neighbourhoods on the sustainable development of Zetland. It presents an analysis of various factors of neighbourhood impact, including housing problems, neighbourhood relations, and open space and social infrastructures. Through questionnaires and in-depth interviews collected from residents living in Zetland, the analysis will be combined with four other community sustainability case studies to explore the impact of neighbourhoods and decision-making factors on sustainable development. The findings suggest that neighbourhoods play a critical role in advancing sustainable development in Zetland communities. Recommendations include improvements in affordable housing policy and enhanced community engagement.
Harrison (Harry) Hughes
What Is the Adequacy of the Public Participation Framework in the Assessment of Local Development Applications? A Critical Analysis of the NSW Planning System ‘Planners, academics and politicians all agree that the community should be involved in planning decisions. However, the consensus stops there.’
Planning has experienced a profound shift, from a system that enshrines private property rights to one that embodies the involvement of the community in decision-making. The difficulty of this transition cannot be understated. Private property rights have not disappeared, rather, the ‘public’ has been introduced as a consideration. Planners, academics and politicians all agree that the community should be involved in planning decisions. However, the consensus stops there. The reasons ‘why’ and ‘how’ engagement is undertaken is the subject of much debate, with competing theories lending themselves to all arguments. This thesis analyses the NSW participation framework at the DA stage, with the findings going beyond the scope of the NSW system to reflect the broader trend towards participatory planning. The gaps are identified through a literature review, a policy analysis, and a series of interviews to lay the foundations for future research on the subject. Unfortunately, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to participation. It is an exercise of aligning competing interests and priorities, which is a nearimpossible task. What can be challenged is the broader misalignment of community and government expectations and the idea that current engagement practices are a fait accompli in best-practice outcomes.
Harsha Yadav
Public Art along Oxford Street: Sense of Belonging through Public Art
Oxford Street has gone through a range of changes over the last four decades which predominantly began with the loss of LGBTQ+ venues, leading to a reduction of LGBTQ+ character and visibility. As such, Oxford Street is dying a slow death and is no longer a home for the LGBTQ+ community. The purpose of this research is to explore the usage of public art along Oxford Street that may facilitate a sense of belonging for the LGBTQ+ community. The research methodology includes a literature review to uncover the association between public art and belongingness; in-depth interviews with public art experts, and professionals from LGBTQ+ organisations; an online survey to get responses from LGBTQ+ community members regarding the degree of belongingness felt along Oxford Street and the use of public art; and site assessment to understand the extent of public art along Oxford Street. This research also evaluates the existing planning legislation and policies to comprehend the extent to which public art is incorporated in the various planning provisions. This research suggests that public art along Oxford Street holds potential for facilitating belongingness for the LGBTQ+ community, and planners play an essential role in the public-domain planning field in facilitating this.
Helen Economidis
Multigenerational Housing: Can We Keep Our Oldies with Us?
Multigenerational living as a housing arrangement has been undertaken by many families across the globe and within metropolitan Sydney. Multigenerational households encompass many differing arrangements of generations of families residing together, ranging from few to many family members. Research has determined an overall growth in multigenerational households within metropolitan Sydney and has cited key formative influences to include financial considerations and cultural practices. This thesis aims to investigate specifically the formation and dwelling requirements of households with three or more generations, including a member aged over sixtyfive. Additional and emerging formative influences upon larger households living with aged family members are investigated in order to estimate future rates of this household type in metropolitan Sydney. Multigenerational households that include an aged family member have additional housing requirements that must be catered for within planning policy. This thesis incorporates interviews with members of these households to provide an indication of reasons for their formation and to understand their dwelling requirements in order to provide the appropriate lens for a policy review of various NSW statutory and strategic policies. The thesis concludes by exploring recommendations as to how these policies can better facilitate the dwelling requirements for multigenerational households in metropolitan Sydney.
Henry Black
Directing Growth: Creating Sydney-wide Spatial Suitability Models for Build-to-Rent Development
Build-to-rent is a form of residential development where developers construct, manage, and rent out residential complexes as long-term revenue-generating assets. Around the world, build-to-rent has been used extensively to deliver high-quality accommodation for the for-profit, student, and affordable rental housing submarkets. Saying this, in New South Wales, buildto-rent is still in its infancy with limited policy, academic, and industry attention being given to it—although the affordable and student housing markets have grown in recent years. This thesis helps direct the expansion of Sydney’s build-to-rent market by creating spatial suitability models for each build-to-rent submarket which evaluate the suitability of sites for for-profit, student, and affordable build-to-rent development. Research and interviews are utilised to develop a list of locational factors which, when met, will deliver optimal build-to-rent developments for each submarket. These locational factors are then quantified and assigned points based on their relative importance, creating spatial suitability models. Next, these models are applied to build-to-rent sites across Sydney, demonstrating how they compare and quantify the relative suitability of development sites. The thesis concludes by discussing avenues for expansion of the spatial suitability models and how they can be utilised to support the build-to-rent industry’s development.
Inaara Jindani
Cultural Competence: A Systemic Framework to Address Historical Exclusion in Planning Processes
Planning systems and processes in western countries have been characterised by a settler–colonial discourse that accommodates the needs and preferences of the dominant culture. Piecemeal attempts to include cultural differences in built environment decisions have perpetuated inequities that continue to systemically undermine historically marginalised communities. Cultural competence has been identified as a systemic framework and capacitybuilding tool which has been widely utilised in western health-care professions. It consists of systemic elements and interventions, including institutionalised cultural knowledge and the adaptation of service delivery to respond to the cultural needs and preferences of racial groups. Having also been addressed in planning literature, pedagogy, and practice in the United States and Canada, it offers opportunity for it to formate formal inclusion in Australia. As such, a mixedmethods approach was utilised as part of this thesis. It measures the self-perceived cultural competence of the profession (with a primary focus on New South Wales) in addition to interviews and case studies of key informants and agents of change locally and internationally. With continual reference to the cultural competence continuum, the findings present opportunities to enhance planning pedagogy and practice to equip planners to systemically address historical exclusion in planning processes.
Isabella Tonks
Moving Out: Millennial Migration and the Reshaping of Regional Australia
Historical trends charting the movement from rural and regional Australia to metropolitan cities, particularly amongst younger generations, have seen a notable reversal in recent years. A variety of factors both push and pull and are recasting the dynamics between Australia’s big cities and regional centres, including those between Greater Sydney and New South Wales’s second largest city, Newcastle. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated these drivers over the last eighteen months. The migration of people towards regional and rural areas has been of longstanding interest to planners, and renewed attention aligns with broader policy interests tied to regional development, improving connectivity between cities and regions, for example, through fast/faster rail and strengthening strategic planning processes more generally across the state. As planners, it is important to understand why millennials are choosing to leave cities so that regional areas can better adapt to suit the needs of a changing populace. Through a literature review, policy analysis and in-depth interviews with Newcastle as a case study, the thesis aims to understand the motivations behind millennials leaving capital cities for regional centres as well as the aspirations and expectations tied to the decision to move. It concludes by foreshadowing the planning challenges and opportunities that regional cities such as Newcastle are facing as a result of changing migration dynamics.
Jack Varka
A Review of Planning Principles: An Overreach of the Courts or a Council Officer’s Lifeline?
The role of planning principles presents an exceptional form of merit assessment that is seen almost solely in New South Wales. Originally formulated as a tool of consistent evaluation across any number of Class 1 appeals and court hearings within the LEC, planning principles have since extended beyond their original scope and have since become a major consideration of all stakeholders within the DA process, engrained over the last twenty years across multiple LGAs. Planning principles are promoted for their consistency or in instances of policy void, but they could also be seen as an overextension of LEC jurisdiction. This research frames planning principles within a tension between their perceived benefits within the DA process and their potentially impactful and overreaching scope. A series of in-depth interviews with professional experts provides detailed primary perspectives, complemented by a quantitative comparative study of Class 1 Appeal cases. This review is undertaken during a time where planning principles are already well established within the assessment processes across LGAs. While their benefits appear to outweigh any perceived negatives, adjustments to their structure and scope could improve their effectiveness. This thesis provides recommendations for the improvement of planning principles which could benefit the assessment process.
Jasmine Bautista
Socialising and having a strong network of relationships are good for people. To ensure robust health across the life course, there is a need for places that foster social interaction and connectivity, particularly in the elderly as they are an age group vulnerable to experiencing isolation and loneliness. Community gardens can enhance a sense of community and increase opportunities to develop positive social networks. However, few studies have sought to explore the influence community gardens have on the social life of the elderly. This thesis addresses this gap by investigating how community gardens are social spaces for the elderly, including the ways in which they contribute to community development. The research comprised a literature review and interviews with key stakeholders involved in, and with expert knowledge of, community gardens. Two case studies in the Greater Sydney Region— Wentworthville Community Garden and Bourke Street Park Community Garden— were analysed in relation to their success in providing a positive social environment for local residents. This thesis argues that community gardens are social spaces that can bring communities together, and urban planners have a role in supporting their delivery.
Jennifer Nguyen
Informal Housing in Western Sydney: Implications for Planning Practice and Policy
Informal housing plays a critical yet underrecognised role in accommodating lowerincome earners, particularly recent migrant arrivals, who experience difficulties accessing the formal private or social rental sectors. While symptomatic of housing-affordability pressures, demand for informal housing may also reflect an important cultural overlay, with certain ethnic groups utilising informality to uphold traditional multigenerational living arrangements. Local governments have a responsibility to proactively communicate about informal housing with key housing agencies and the broader community. This thesis employs a mixed-methods casestudy approach to explore Fairfield and Cumberland, two highly disadvantaged areas of Western Sydney. It draws upon a review of academic literature, demographic and housing data, and local planning policies alongside a review of online advertisements and interviews with local government and housing support workers to identify the main groups living informally and to investigate the key drivers, types and prevalence of informal housing structures and living arrangements across the case studies. Research findings identify a clear lack of formal guidance available for local governments to communicate and subsequently respond to informal housing. This thesis contributes to emerging literature on informal housing in the Global North, providing recommendations to guide local governments in framing and communicating informal housing through planning practice and policy.
Jethro Yuen
Vertical Farms and Glasshouses: Looking into the Future of Controlled-Environment Agriculture in Sydney
Sydney.’
Greater Sydney’s predicted population growth of 1.3 million over the next fifteen years threatens Sydney’s peri-urban agricultural lands with ongoing urban sprawl and land degradation. Along with bushfires, floods, and the COVID-19 pandemic all impacting local foodsupply chains and the amount of arable land, food security and sustainable food production have emerged onto Sydney’s planning agenda. Controlled-Environment Agriculture (CEA), being high-technology indoor glasshouses and vertical farms, is touted as a solution to compensate for the loss of traditional agricultural land and to increase the sustainability and resilience of food production. Despite widespread global take-up, emergence of commercially scaled CEA in Sydney has so far been limited and piecemeal. This thesis investigates opportunities for CEA and evaluates its prospects within Western Sydney’s proposed Agribusiness Precinct and in Eastern Sydney. The research employs a qualitative methodology involving literature review of academic articles and grey literature, policy analysis and in-depth interviews with planners and CEA experts. While there are opportunities for glasshouses in peri-urban Sydney and smaller vertical farms in Eastern Sydney, high land values and unsuitable planning controls affect their feasibility. Successful implementation requires incentivisation of CEA through provision of infrastructure and creation of specific yet flexible planning controls.
Jiaqi Zhang
The History of Hangzhou’s Green Space: Evolution, Process and the Relationship Between West Lake and the Urban Form
Over the last century, the Chinese city of Hangzhou has experienced rapid growth in relation to its historical and cultural core around West Lake. This research takes a longitudinal case-study approach to examine the complex interplay between urban heritage and evolving wider urban structure and form. An ongoing commitment to preserving the cultural significance of West Lake can be charted through planning activity shaped by distinct historical and ideological influences during this period. Through policy analysis of Hangzhou planning frameworks since the early 1920s, the changing influences shaping the city’s structure and form in relation to West Lake are mapped. Indepth interviews with key stakeholders help unpack how Hangzhou’s historical development has experienced periods of Soviet influence, cultural revolution and revival of urban conservation planning. The policy of rapid urban development under the 1953 masterplan, the cultural and historical destruction caused by the cultural revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, and the restoration of the concept of an integrated urban plan in the 1981 masterplan are all important factors. The research concludes by providing a set of directions for the city’s current urban planners to continue to support the coexistence between heritage and urban growth.
Jonathan Fenger
Living with Bushfires: Building Back Better for Future Risk
The 2019–2020 Black Summer was the most severe bushfire season recorded in the history of New South Wales (NSW). Whilst the land-use planning system was not the cause for the catastrophic events, the NSW Bushfire Inquiry found that there is a need for the planning system to implement a more proactive and strategic approach towards managing bushfire risk. Moreover, the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements found that ‘legacy risks’ in existing built assets are not being adequately addressed by planning regimes, leaving many existing settlements exposed to elevated levels of bushfire risk. A contemporary understanding of resilience being argued is that there is an opportunity for land-use planners to improve the risk profile of existing settlements during bushfire recovery processes by implementing mechanisms when communities are rebuilding after a fire to enable them to ‘build back better’. This thesis, informed by a literature review and semi-structured interviews with planning professionals, evaluates whether theorised disaster-recovery strategies and planning mechanisms could realistically be implemented in New South Wales. It further argues that planning must do better to avoid exposing new structures to unacceptable levels of bushfire risk and educate communities so that they can make informed decisions about living with risk.
Joshua Woo
Open or Closed: Is the Publicness of Open Space in Sydney Being Eroded?
Sydney is renowned for its abundance of pristine open spaces that support the wellbeing of its citizens. Recognising the benefits of these assets, the NSW Government aims to increase access to open space in the Greater Sydney Region. However, recent trends indicate that publicness is declining. Publicness is a concept which encompasses the aspects of control, access, and diversity. Issues like commercialisation and the encroachment have made it harder for the general public to access open spaces. Furthermore, some open spaces are privately controlled, others lack diversity. These issues give impetus to the study of Sydney’s open spaces and an investigation of whether their publicness is being eroded. Using the Centennial Parklands as a case study, this thesis evaluates its publicness by observing how different spaces are accessed and used by people. This was supported by other methods, including a literature review, mapping, and analysis of secondary data, which demonstrate how publicness has changed over time. Findings suggest that commercial, event and active sporting uses have eroded publicness. In light of this, the thesis argues that privately controlled spaces should be returned to the public, and that inflexible open spaces should allow for greater access and diversity.
Julia McDonnell
Exploring the Role of Collaborative Governance in Shaping the Camperdown Ultimo Precinct
Camperdown Ultimo is home to Australia’s most mature, flagship innovation district. Innovation has risen from Camperdown Ultimo since the establishment of the University of Sydney and the Eveleigh Railway Workshops. However, Camperdown Ultimo has been the subject of many urban planning, political and property development agendas since the late 1980s, all seeking to accelerate Sydney into global city status (Sassen 2008). As a result of this debate, ongoing governance reforms, and changes in land ownership, the precinct today lacks a clear and comprehensive governance structure to enable effective and productive collaborative outcomes. This thesis has drawn upon existing literature, urban planning policy, and in-depth interviews with public and private stakeholders in the precinct to interrogate the effectiveness of the existing governance structure in enabling collaborative outcomes. Using these methods, it was found that collaborative governance has a nucleic role in developing successful innovation districts worldwide. Yet the Camperdown Ultimo Precinct lacks such a robust governance structure to enable its full potential to be realised. A number of recommendations are provided to guide future governance decisions in order to unlock collaborative outcomes.
Julia Warren
Sustainability in Adaptive Reuse: A Challenge or Opportunity?
The built environment is responsible for the consumption of 40 per cent of global resources and is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. It is therefore vital that sustainable development practices are implemented in the design and development of buildings. In principle, the adaptive reuse of a building is a positive development approach in terms of environmental sustainability. However, in practice, planning policy relating to heritage conservation often limits the extent to which sustainable technologies and design practices can be incorporated into a building of heritage value. This presents a challenging dichotomy for planners and other built environment professionals. Through qualitative research methods, including a comprehensive literature review, a review of relevant NSW planning policy, and analysis of three adaptive reuse case studies in inner Sydney, this thesis examines the opportunities and challenges associated with achieving both heritage conservation and environmental sustainability outcomes in the design, development, and assessment of nonresidential adaptive reuse projects. This research is supported by in-depth interviews with built environment professionals and presents several policy recommendations. The findings seek to inform adaptive reuse development to ensure that both heritage conservation and environmental sustainability outcomes are readily achieved.
Landon Brown
A Role for Deliberative Development in Australia’s Alternative Housing Futures
For much of its short history, Australia’s housing has been central to its national self-image as a society based on egalitarian values, an image increasingly foreign to metropolitan housing systems characterised by large inequalities. A primary driver of this outcome has been national tax settings which bias housing investment. Attendant financial flows have interacted with a multi-unit housing sector almost completely reliant on speculative provision, creating outcomes which are skewed away from the true housing needs of Australians. Deliberative development offers an alternative structure of multiunit housing production based on delivery by a legal association of intended owneroccupiers. While relatively commonplace in some countries, this method remains scarcely employed in Australia, despite its various advantages. This thesis adds to the understanding of what role deliberative development can play in Australia’s alternative housing futures and how it may realise this potential in Australia’s unique institutional context. It achieves this through review of deliberative development literature from Australia and Germany and through interviews with practitioners and researchers of deliberative development in Australia. The results show that deliberative development is possible in Australia but is held back by a lack of institutional credibility and requires intentional policy action to escape from the margins.
Lara Reynolds
Friend or Foe-liage: Fostering Social Inclusion in the Western Sydney Parklands
At a time where societal ideals like tolerance and harmony are becoming elusive, and intolerance and division are becoming the norm, it is vital to community cohesion, globally, that a sense of unity and harmony underpin the proverbial link to bridge the divide between different groups of people. There is growing evidence to suggest that public open space plays a vital role in achieving this. This thesis explores the extent to which the Western Sydney Parklands—as a major regional open-space corridor in Sydney’s West— provides a socially inclusive space for all users. It utilises a mixed-method research approach, combining the findings from three case studies of the parkland’s recreational spaces, as well as interviews with professionals who have backgrounds in either the development, management, or operation of open space, or in social infrastructure planning delivery and research. Literature and policy reviews were also utilised to synthesise and evaluate academic research to provide a conceptual and theoretical framework for analysis. The findings identify the effectiveness of existing recreational spaces in facilitating social inclusion, and several recommendations are provided regarding the future delivery and management of other open spaces.
Lauren Williams
Planning for Precedent: NSW Land and Environment Court (LEC) and ‘Desired Future Character’
Development appeals and the resultant case law as facilitated through decisions in the NSW
Land and Environment Court are pivotal in setting legal precedent for future development. This research provides a contemporary analysis of the Court and its evolving role more broadly alongside its changing interpretation of ‘desired future character’. The research examines the Court’s growing concern with smaller, material considerations as well as the changing legal weight of terms in both LEPs and DCPs, particularly in relation to local character. Critiques and academic commentary on the NSW LEC and its changing role in planning decisions, alongside analysis of ‘character’ and its emerging definition within the discipline, will form the theoretical basis of this research. Case studies focused in Double Bay, Sydney, substantiated by case law, as well as interviews from legal and planning professionals further refine the research. Through providing further understanding of the LEC’s evolving role in the interpretation of desired future character, this research will provide a developed recognition of the Court’s emerging yet significant role in planning practice.
Liam O’Connor
Lights Out or Lights On? How Government Policy Can Ensure the Coexistence of Industrial and Late-Night Land Uses in Alexandria
Industrial lands throughout Greater Sydney are undergoing significant changes as a result of pressures from other land uses, particularly residential and mixed uses. Alexandria’s industrial lands precinct is one such example, with local and state government policies seeking to safeguard it from such incompatible uses. This precinct is experiencing changes in policy at the local government, which particularly encourages creative uses and late-night trading. The Greater Sydney Commission’s Industrial Lands Policy Review, as well as the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s recently exhibited amendments to replace business and industrial zones, show that significant changes will be occurring in the near future in strategic and statutory planning in relation to industrial lands. This thesis explores how local and state government policy can ensure that industrial land uses can co-exist with cultural and creative uses in Alexandria, utilising case studies of other cities’ policies and interviews with key experts. This research allows for an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of these cities’ policies, and an assessment of the success of these policies. Findings will help through recommendations as to how government policy can accommodate both industrial lands and other land uses during a period of review and change in policy.
Matthew Holt
Catchall Solution to Homelessness? Viability of Housing First for Transitional and Episodic Homeless People in New South Wales
Homelessness is an individualised event composed of complicated, cumulative elements and is ever-present even within our advanced modern context. Decades of research have sought to reframe and ‘solve’ the homelessness problem. The latest such approach involves the rapid rehousing of a client followed by client-oriented support, aptly named Housing First. Through its initial implementation in New York addressing long term homelessness, Housing First has cultivated international acclaim as an evidence-based ‘best-practise’ model to rehouse those traditionally ‘hard-to-house’. While adopted in the Australian context, most Housing First programs focus solely on the chronically homeless. This thesis investigates the viability of Housing First implementation for transitional and episodic homeless people in New South Wales through a combination of literature review, policy analysis, and qualitative research involving interviews with seven industry professionals. Ultimately, while Housing First is effective and appropriate in the New South Wales context, the lack of social housing provision, service funding, and acknowledgement of episodic and transitional homelessness makes implementation for transitional and episodic homeless people hard to justify and unviable. Nonetheless, findings from this thesis suggest ways forward to better address the policy and practise shortcomings within New South Wales, the goal being a program to end homelessness with appropriate housing and wrap-around supports.
Matthew Korzy
Sign of the Times: Linguistic Diversity in Fairfield City’s Commercial Signage
The number of Australians who speak a language other than English at home is increasing. It is reflected in our cities’ built environment, with many commercial areas adorned in signage displaying forms of bilingualism, multilingualism or without any English at all. Despite Australia not having an official language, and the New South Wales state government’s recognition of linguistic diversity as a valuable resource, the New South Wales planning system gives power to local government to either permit or prohibit the display of languages within our suburbs. This thesis investigates the governance of linguistically diverse signage in Australia’s most linguistically diverse local government area—Fairfield City. Employing a range of methodologies, including a literature review, policy review, signage audit and in-depth interviews with local government officers, an understanding has been gained on the informational and symbolic representation of linguistically diverse communities within the commercial signage of John Street, Cabramatta, and Ware Street, Fairfield, as well as the roles and responses of local government and the local community.
Matthew Short
Contested Land: Investigating How Community Housing Providers Access Land in Sydney
Community Housing Providers (CHPs) have emerged in Australia as ‘third sector organisations’ that combine business logic with a social mission to develop and manage social and affordable housing for Australia’s most vulnerable households. In their mission, CHPs contend with a funding gap, meaning the cost to develop, manage and maintain their housing exceeds rental income. The cost of procuring land in high-value markets, such as Sydney, can significantly contribute to the funding gap. Existing research has established that government-facilitated access to land is, therefore, central to generating development opportunities. Despite this recognition, there is an absence of Australian studies examining how CHPs currently access land and the efficacy of existing supporting government policies. Therefore, this thesis poses the question: How do community housing providers access land for social and affordable housing in Sydney and what are the associated challenges? Through a literature, policy and annual report review and in-depth interviews, the thesis critically reviews five existing models that CHPs use to access land and the government policies that support those models. The thesis concludes that the community housing sector’s continued growth relies on enhanced government facilitation of land access through the planning system, targeted funding, and public land use.
Ming Him (Kevin) Suen
Inclusive and Accessible Public Toilet in Sydney
Our society is growing in numbers, ages and diversity. Providing safe, accessible and inclusive public toilets is critical to ensuring community quality of life in Australian suburbs and cities. Public toilet planning should be guided by universal design principles, LGA-wide strategies and specific roles responsible to provision and maintenance. Public toilets offer a space to support both physical and mental health; people can attend to personal hygiene, care for young children, administer medication, manage menstruation, etc. Despite all these functions and the role and importance of public toilet, it is often neglected in local planning, design and management. This thesis explored the current situation in public toilet planning in Sydney, focusing on the provision and existing design. It draws on existing literature, policy, legislation and international toilet-planning examples, combined with questionnaires and site visits to explore the inclusiveness and accessibility of public toilets in Sydney. This thesis concludes by exploring recommendations as to how local governments and authorities can better facilitate inclusive and accessible public toilets for the community through policy and universal designs.
Nichola Cook
Social housing renewal in Greater Sydney has become an important urban transformation strategy driven by the State Government to renew ageing social housing stock and provide additional supply to meet growing demands. While the policy focuses on redeveloping estates with a mix of social, affordable and private housing, recent proposals have been criticised for inadequately considering existing residents’ needs and diverse experiences, particularly through engagement processes. Resultingly, there is growing academic and practitioner interest in investigating opportunities for more inclusive approaches. Creative engagement has been postulated to allow sensitive, contextual, and appropriate engagement with diverse communities. Through participatory and genuine engagement techniques, including guided visualisation and art, creative engagement breaks down barriers, allowing communities to express their ideas in a way that is appropriate to their needs. This thesis investigates how the NSW planning system supports the use of creative engagement within social housing renewal in Greater Sydney. This research involved reviewing academic literature, analysing relevant state and local government policies, and conducting in-depth interviews with experienced planners and engagement specialists. This thesis has found that while the planning system supports creative engagement through place-based planning and minimal engagement requirements, the social housing renewal frameworks in place significantly constrain its use.
Nicholas Geroulas
Recycled Water in Metropolitan Sydney
In light of an ever-increasing demand for water use due to population growth and additional pressures on supply attributed to water scarcity and climate change, ensuring water security in Metropolitan Sydney is a crucial impending issue that needs to be addressed within the next few decades. Recycled water offers a sustainable practice of capturing and reusing wastewater within the city to curb water usage. However, recycled water is arguably underutilised within Sydney. This thesis investigates the challenges to recycled water’s implementation and makes recommendations to improve its dissemination in Sydney as a promising option to assist a secure water supply. The research includes a literature review associating recycled water’s benefits and relevance to urban water management policy and WSUD and its contextual challenges and potential resolutions in Sydney. Additionally, a detailed policy review is undertaken analysing current water planning, pricing regulation, and implementation paradigms. Finally, in-depth interviews with key industry stakeholders explore specific concerns regarding community perception, pricing, and policy barriers. This thesis argues that the benefits of increasing recycled water provisions in Metropolitan Sydney will provide a sustainable, reliable safeguard to our water supply whilst highlighting shortcomings and suggesting recommendations to improve existing policy and funding mechanisms hindering its uptake.
Nicholas Touralis
Avoiding the Urban Void
Quality open space plays a significant role in the development of ‘livable, productive and sustainable’ cities. Quality spaces create a meaningful connection with people and adequately foster a sense of place. This is evident through the growing attention to place-making practices internationally. However, there has been critique in the marketisation of ‘place’ especially when open spaces are developed as privately owned public spaces (POPS). Sydney’s growth and strive to become a world class city, has facilitated a need for new development and an equal need for open space. Private developers are often responsible for their design, and while the local councils play a role in establishing parameters, the effectiveness of these spaces is in question. This research investigates the extent to which public open spaces developed by private or public–private partnerships in Sydney’s CBD are enabling a sense of place. The study applies a place-making framework informed by relevant academic and professional literature to investigate the specific cases of Barangaroo precinct and Darling Quarter Leisure precinct. The findings from the analysis of relevant local policies, design guidelines, and on-site observation of the open spaces will indicate whether these public spaces reflect key attributes of a sense of place. This thesis proposes recommendations for future developments of open space within Sydney’s CBD to achieve desired liveability by effectively implementing a place-making practice.
Qiao Hu
The Chinese Community after ‘The Wall’ Is Demolished
Nowadays, closed communities are a major cause of the current ‘urban diseases’ in China. This research aims to explore the appearance of Chinese cities after the closed communities are opened and the impact those openings have on the city and related stakeholders. This study conducted a detailed review of a large number of documents, which laid a theoretical basis for subsequent investigation and research. In-depth interviews were conducted with two government officials involved in the implementation of the policy, a representative of the planning industry, and ten local residents living in a closed communities and open communities. The results show that most respondents prefer to live in a gated community, which is perceived as safer and familiar. However, open communities are slowly improving urban problems and improving the quality of life of residents. The study analyzes individual cases of typical established open communities and closed communities in China, which helps to understand more intuitively what the open communities look like in China. These results show that open blocks in China are an inevitable step in urban development. However, residents’ dependence on the old living environment, the safety of closed communities, and land ownership are all thorny issues in the process of developing open communities in China.
Rohan Montgomery
Runner’s Footprint: Planning for Great Recreational Running Spaces in Urban Environments
Access to high-quality, naturally aesthetic and uninterrupted green corridors for physical exercise can be rare within urban landscapes. The needs of the twentyfirst-century recreational runner can often be forgotten when city streetscapes and networks are planned to meet competing user demands. Often, the absence of well-maintained linear, continuous and visually pleasing routes for health supportive activities can discourage participation. Existing recreation and healthy planning policy in Australia, and, in particular, in New South Wales, is heavily geared towards supporting the needs of walking and cycling, with littleto-no focus on the middle ground that is running. Existing policies generally emphasise the transportation purposes of bodily movement, as opposed to recreational objectives. This thesis identifies the optimal environmental characteristics, features and facilities that recreational runners require, examining how these fundamentals can be implemented through future public openspace planning. Utilising a heuristic inquiry framework, this thesis embraces a qualitative perspective, incorporating the researcher’s own extensive running experiences in natural environments. Through a review of academic literature on recreational running spaces, complemented by findings from in-depth interviews and case-study reflections, this thesis reveals and reinforces the value of trails, pathways and corridors as essential natural landscapes within urban environments to provide space for active health-supportive recreation.
Rongxi Liang
Rural Planning in Jiayuguan, China—Development of the Three-Sector Model Using the “Co-creation” Approach
Since China’s reform and opening up in 1978, capital cities and rural areas were expected to have more potential integration opportunities, gradually weakening the urban–rural boundary. The rapid urbanisation process exacerbated the urban–rural dual social structure of Jiayuguan City. Population and capital flows are concentrated in cities, resulting in the characteristics of the two-way movement of urban and rural development, which brings significant challenges to the urban–rural integrated development of ‘rural revitalization’. Based on the perspective of cooperation among stakeholders, this thesis discusses a specific measure called ‘co-creation’. This study is informed by literature based on the cooperation mechanism in rural planning and the planning significance of ‘co-creation’. A policy review is utilised to identify rural economic environment and government policies, and a qualitative set of questionnaires by the online survey is supported by selected focus groups. Finally, in-depth interviews with three planning professionals, three government staff, and two village representatives also inform the findings. This thesis argues that for the sustainable wellbeing of Jiayuguan rural areas, the establishment of a multistakeholder cooperation framework based on the development of three industries is essential to avoid mistakes in decisionmaking, market failure, or even rural disinvestment.
Roseanna Meech
Strava Metro: The Missing Link in Active Transport Planning
With recent international challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, the global demand for greater public and active transport infrastructure is increasing. By tapping into a variety of new and emerging data, city planners are now more equipped than ever to better research into safer and more accessible ways to increase cycling as an active transport mode. This thesis explores the changing nature of data collection and analytics, and how they are being utilised by city planners globally to better inform bicycle planning infrastructure decisions. A review of theory and literature has been undertaken in order to understand emerging data and analytics technologies and their place as planning support systems, when compared to Strava data and the Strava Metro platform. This research project utilises a mixed-methods research approach, combining the findings from three national case studies that have utilised traditional and emerging datacollection methods, as well as interviews with city planning professionals who have experience with traditional active transport collection tools and Strava Metro. A desktop assessment of Strava Metro against traditional and emerging data and analytics tools was undertaken to determine the benefits and limitations of the platform. Recommendations have been provided to ensure its success when applied within a variety of projects in the future.
Roy Cao
Post-COVID-19 Health Safety in Parramatta’s Public Green Spaces
Since early in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has greatly disrupted the everyday norm of Australians and shifted perceptions on safety when in public spaces. Tighter restrictions on public open-space usage during the following year led to this thesis research to explore the extent to which COVID-19 affected the feeling of health safety in the use of Sydney’s public open spaces and what the implications are to planning for these spaces. The research was based on several methods, including desktop research and in-person site analysis. The results of a state and local policy analysis indicate a dearth of knowledge for mitigating healthsafety risks in open-space planning, and an online survey indicated a discrepancy in public view around health safety of public open spaces since the pandemic. As it has happened with places which experienced natural or other disasters of significance, history has proven that planning is capable of adaptation and cities are capable of resilience. This thesis approached the case with planning for health safety of public open spaces in the City of Parramatta LGA, presenting several planning recommendations. This phenomenon is likely reproduced worldwide, where populations have also experienced strong health-safety restrictions in the way they congregate and use public open spaces.
Sam Li
Working Out Congestion—The Impacts of COVID-19 on Transport and Strategic Planning in Greater Sydney
Pandemics have often acted as the catalyst for new ways of thinking and for accelerating trends under way. COVID-19 will undoubtedly continue this trend. The necessary retreat to working from home as Sydney and cities across the world went into lockdown coincided with a rapid shift towards online work platforms, which is likely to have long-term impacts on how we work, where we work, and our mobility patterns tied to employment. As Greater Sydney begins to adapt to this new ‘normal’, there is both a need and an opportunity for transport and strategic planners to respond to these evolving spatial dynamics which will shape the post-COVID city. This thesis seeks to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on mobility patterns and how it could reshape existing planning strategies. The research is informed by a literature review and case studies from Colombia, Poland and Sweden. In-depth interviews with relevant academics and professionals provided insights into dynamic workplaces and their capability for unlocking new planning approaches in Greater Sydney. This thesis argues that planners play a key role in facilitating post-COVID remote-working models to provide positive outcomes for the community.
Sarah Awada Zahr
Dead Space: Revitalisation of Sydney’s Residential Laneways
Residential laneways are a component of a city’s open space and are part of a city’s pedestrian and vehicular network. Historically, laneways were purely functional in design and seen as service zones for garbage collection, deliveries, night soil collection and more. Over time, laneways still performed utilitarian functions but began to be recognised as an important means for throughsite accessibility and connections for pedestrians. Although there has been a growing awareness of the significant role laneways play as a component of the public realm, laneways are still ambiguous and forgotten spaces. This research investigates how residential laneways are utilised today and what changes are required to transform them into dynamic and useful social spaces. The study involved a literature review, best-practice examples of Melbourne and Vancouver, observational fieldwork of a number of laneways in the Blacktown LGA and City of Sydney LGA, and interviews with six experts in the case-study areas. Findings from this thesis suggest ways in which existing and future laneways can be planned in order to be improved and have a more functioning role in cities.
Sarah Davino
Commitments to Indigenous Rights and Interests in Planning
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the traditional custodians of lands and waters across Australia. As such, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights and interests in the land should be inextricably integrated in the planning system. The current reality is that strategic and statutory planning inadequately addresses Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ obligations to, and desires for, the land. To understand how these failings are now being addressed, this thesis seeks to identify the initiatives and commitments from the planning profession to better incorporate Indigenous peoples in decision making. Informed by urban-planning policy and literature, coupled with in-depth interviews with built-environment professionals, the research demonstrates that while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ needs and aspirations are not being sufficiently met by legislation, the planning profession has taken onus, at varying extents, to embrace the symbolic and practical reasons for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be connected with Country. The recommendations in this thesis suggest that a greater integration of Indigenous perspective must be included in the New South Wales planning system through mandatory policy, practice and guidelines to create a supportive framework for implementation by all planning professionals.
Steven Dando
BMX Bandits: Planning Considerations for Ad Hoc Bike Tracks in Georges River Bushland Sites
Young people are taking to bushland sites all over Sydney to build their own bike jumps and tracks in lieu of local access to formal facilities. With the international rise in popularity of adventure sports and BMX competitions in the Olympics, bike riding is as popular as ever amongst the adolescent community. Some land managers are more tolerant of ad hoc bike tracks than others, however, local community groups voice concerns for the vulnerability of already constrained bushland sites in suburban areas. The situation reached a boiling point during the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions, during which, local youth were locked inside with the only sense of freedom coming from localised informal gatherings. Placing focus on the Georges River Local Government Area, this thesis draws on academic literature, relevant policies, local case studies, in-depth interviews and an audit of Georges River bushland sites to investigate the issue. The findings provide an understanding of the tensions and planning issues involved, leading to recommendations of benefit to all stakeholders. Moving forward, the formulation of strategic regional partnerships, careful consideration of impacts and extensive community consultation will be essential in providing adequate recreational bike facilities for a range of ages and abilities whilst accounting for safety of participants and protection of sensitive bushland.
Taylor Cole
Why Has the Implementation of Value Capture Been Unsuccessful within the NSW Planning System?
New South Wales.’
At present, new and improved infrastructure projects are funded by state or local governments and developer contributions. Many individuals and organisations benefit from the introduction of said infrastructure without having to make any monetary contributions or works in kind. As the population of New South Wales continues to grow and its urban areas become larger, there is a need for greater infrastructure and, thus, additional sources of funding. Value capture has long been explored as an alternative to infrastructure funding, but there is very little agreement regarding its implementation. While certain valuecapture mechanisms are already used within New South Wales, their reach has been limited. This thesis investigates the less commonly recognised barriers and challenges to successfully implementing a value-capture scheme within New South Wales. The research is supported by a literature review, a comparison of successful value-capture schemes used internationally and domestically, and interviews with seven planning and development experts about perceived barriers to value-capture implementation. The results uncover the key perceived barriers to be differing ideologies, lack of government policy, resistance from the development industry, administration challenges, and equity and fairness. The research concludes with recommendations for a more successful value-capture scheme in New South Wales.
Thomas Mudgway
Urban Planning Perspectives on NSW Land Tax Reform
In 2020 and 2021, the NSW Government put forward a plan to phase out stamp duties on land transactions in favour of a broad-based land tax, dubbed the ‘Property Tax’. This research sought to identify the ramifications which that economic reform might have for the planning sector, especially given the importance to the profession of the housing market and its exposure to economic forces. In interviews with a variety of professionals, it was found that most considered stamp duty to have direct negative implications for planning and, overall, tended to support its abolition. Opinions regarding what should replace it were more mixed, with a consensus that a broad-based land tax, as identified by the state government, was the right choice, but a range of less positive views regarded perceived shortcomings in the details of its proposed implementation and subsequent governance. This research raises long-standing questions around the funding model of our cities and the governance model which controls it. While the reform as proposed would likely have small benefits for planning, this research suggests that those benefits might be amplified if it were accompanied with a corresponding reform to the urban governance model used in the state.
Weihang Nie
Active Transport and Micromobility in Sydney
Active travel is a crucial part of the transport network in any urbanised setting. It includes walking, cycling and any mode of transport consisting of physical activity and exercise. Active transport networks provide strong links for the public-transport system and possess characteristics of indirectly decreasing carbon emissions, improving population health and preventing diseases. Micromobility, which encompasses hybrid personal mobility options including e-scooters and e-bikes, has seen a sudden emergence in highly developed urban environments in the United Kingdom, the United States, and China, and has garnered utilisation and interest in Sydney. The study sought to understand deterrents and enablers of active transport and micromobility in the context of Sydney and, in doing so, assess how existing international active-transport interventions may affect Sydney’s activetransport and micromobility networks. A survey was conducted in Sydney with eightyone unique submissions. The results of the study concluded that the main deterrents and enablers of active transport are rider safety and better active-transport infrastructure, respectively. The cost of micromobility reduces its viability, and the study identified a need for more accessible micromobility. Active-transport interventions were also gauged for their effectiveness in promoting micromobility and produced almost identical results demonstrating that active transport and micromobility are interconnected.
Wenbo Wu
The 15-Minute City Concept in Binhai New Area
The pandemic has made people stay around home and rethink how cities and communities should be planned. The discussions about walking and cycling accessibility in cities, such as the 15-minute city concept, have been raised around the world. The 15-minute city concept is designed to provide accessibility to all essential urban services within a suitable walking distance and connect all neighbourhoods organically and to reshape the lifestyle for people. In 2020, the Binhai New Area in Tianjin, China, released the implementation plan of 15-minute living circle to reshape the urban form and to improve the habitability for residents in Binhai. Binhai is an economic and technological development zone. Since the day of the formation of Binhai, the essential urban services and other community support facilities were not the development priority. This thesis intends to understand the 15-minute city concept, the benefits, and the essential elements that need to be provided to support successful implementation of the concept. This thesis examines the current status of the implementation of the 15-minute city concept in Binhai to evaluate the success and failure factors of the project. It provides recommendations for the future implementation of 15-minute city concept in Binhai.
Wendy Zheng
Urban Cultural Heritage Tourism Study in Wuxi
Cultural heritage is often regarded as a tourist resource that can make a great contribution to the society and economy of a place or community, and so many countries use it as a tool for development. However, the development of cultural tourism brings its own challenges. This thesis delves into the social value of heritage and investigates how it can be compromised by cultural heritage tourism. Here, the social value of heritage is broadly defined as the value or special significance or value that people give to heritage sites. This thesis is also informed by a policy analysis, case studies, and questionnaire surveys in two heritage tourism precincts in Wuxi, China. The research finds that China attaches great importance to heritage values and preservation, but there are two reasons that threaten the social value of cultural heritage. One is the excessive emphasis on economic benefits of the policy, and the other is the lack of public participation and cooperation among stakeholders in the planning process. The findings indicate that the local government of Wuxi should take the economic value as an element of social value and balance it with other social values and bring public perception into policy considerations.
Xiage Yang
Equitable and Fair Travel: Investigating Barrier-Free Transportation for People with Vision Impairment in Shanghai
Transportation is a necessary process in life for everyone. There are 170 million people with vision impairment in China, about one in every hundred people. For those with vision impairment, barrier-free transportation is essential for travel in order to lead independent and healthy lives. Barrier-free transportation is about equal human rights. It is also the embodiment of an advanced civilization. However, it is rare for people with vision impairment to travel in Shanghai. This thesis aims to investigate why this is the case. A literature review was conducted to provide a theoretical context. Observations in the field, interviews with planners, and a policy analysis, combine to identify a range of problems. The research findings demonstrate that due to a lack of stringent policies, incentives and specific planning, the current barrier-free transport infrastructure fails to satisfy the needs of people with vision impairment. Recommendations for addressing the policy problems and improving the environment conclude the research.
Xiaofan Ma
In the past few years, the economic and social development of Chinese cities has been rapid, and the process of urbanization has continued to reveal new challenges. In the context of rapidly expanding urban areas, urban infrastructure is under tremendous pressure. Underpinning problems in natural hydrological cycles, an analysis of water resources and urban water problem governance, need a rethink. The sponge city theory proposed by the international low-impact development concept (LID) is a means to explore methods of rainwater management and adopt sponge city policies that can guarantee urban water supply. Sponge city design and application is one of the methods to support urban ecological rainwater management that can have a positive effect on the prevention and control of urban waterlogging. In China, the theory of the sponge city is still in the development stage nor is not mature in terms of theory and practice. This study interrogates relevant theories and policies of international sponge cities and draws on the experience of sponge cities in developed countries. In view of the urban drainage system, the layout of urban elements is rationally planned, and the urban rain and flood problems are reasonably controlled. This can better promote the research and development of sponge cities.
Xinlei Huang
The Four Types of Cyclists in a Chinese Cycling Environment: Shenzhen City
The Geller typology of four types of cyclists, including Strong and Fearless, Enthused and Confident, Interested but Concern, No Way No How, is popular and used in different countries. However, it still needs to be tested in China, because the popularity of the Chinese bike-sharing system has affected the riding behaviour and riding trends of Chinese citizens. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether the original classification method of Geller’s typology is applicable to the riding behaviour in China. By combining the original variable comfort level with the verified variable frequency, purpose, intention and attitude can reclassify the typology and enrich the characteristics of Chinese four types of cyclists. An online survey in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province of China, found that after adding these four variables, the number of Strong and Fearless as well as Interested but Concerned cyclists decreased, and the number of No Way No How cyclists increased. Additionally, there are more residents in Shenzhen currently cycling for transport, but the general trend is towards cycling for recreation. Looking at the Chinese bicycle-development trend from the Shenzhen case is positive, and a series of bicycle infrastructure plans will encourage more bicycle activities.
Xue Cheng
Smart City: A Convenient Life for Residents
Smart city is an urban form supported by the new generation of information technology and the next generation of the innovation environment in the knowledge society. Under the background of accelerating urban construction, this thesis briefly introduces the development process of the human city and the origin of the humanistic connotation of the smart city. It expounds on the humanistic spirit of the evolution of the smart city from a multidimensional perspective. This thesis discusses the living environment of smart cities and reveals ‘humanism’ in urban evolution. It proposes that smart city infrastructure, the integration of the Internet of Things and cloud-computing technology can assist in realising the automatic control and intelligent service of people and things in real cities. The smart city has several elements, including application informatization, networking, digitization, and intelligent technology. These elements support the scientific management of the city, people’s livelihood services, and the sustainable development of the city. At the same time, it summarizes the characteristics of smart cities, introduces the development of the internationally famous smart city, and finally looks forward to the bright future of the smart city.
Yijie Zhou
What Should China’s Village-Based Elderly Housing Do to Ensure the Welfare of the Elderly?
In recent years, a particular type of retirement village, with Chinese characteristics, has been proposed and delivered in some places in China. The ‘retirement village’ in other countries refers to a housing development in an area for the elderly. By contrast, the Chinese retirement village is a type of ‘village-based elderly housing’ (VBEH). The VBEH aims to provide more affordable and liveable housing in rural villages, attracting elderly residents from nearby cities. Therefore, the VBEH model is a creative experiment for the Chinese government to accommodate and care for the ageing population and address the general disadvantage of rural areas. However, because villages have a range of limitations associated with transportation, medical facilities and community support, it may be challenging to realise the vision of VBEH. This thesis evaluates the current situation of the VBEH using site visit, interviews, and policy reviews, then explores the significance of the existing retirement village to the future development of the VBEH model. It is hoped that the research results will be used to improve the VBEH’s development objectives.
Yiyao Hu
Enjoyment in the Playground: A Survey of Children’s Playground Use in Shanghai
With the open implementation of China’s two-child policy, as the future of society, the growth environment of children has attracted increasing attention. As a part of urban open space, the playground often has the most direct and effective contact with children. However, the government often ignores the needs of children, as a disadvantaged group, when planning public spaces, which leads to negative consequences for children in the playground—accidental injuries, accidental injuries to children, inconvenient facilities, etc. The research refers to the literature on the impact of playgrounds on children and child-friendly cities and explores the importance of playgrounds to children. Based on the observation of children’s activities in the playground, this thesis discusses the main obstacles of children’s use of the playground in combination with the results of questionnaire survey. Studies have found that current playground planning is not conducive to children’s use due to insufficient policies. The paper investigates the better way to promote the development of children’s playgrounds, so as to provide greater convenience for children and communities.
Yuchen Sima
The problem of population aging is a global crisis, and it is an indispensable part of the city-planning framework for the construction of an elderly friendly city and the protection of the welfare of the elderly. Since China’s fifth census in November 2000, China entered an aging society purporting an aging growth rate higher than the world average. To cope with the global trend of population aging, it is important to study planning strategies for the elderly. This thesis is based on a literature review and in-depth interviews with government personnel, urban planning professionals, and community managers, to understand the public facilities of outdoor recreational spaces for the elderly. This thesis takes Gusu District of Suzhou City as a site for analysis and research. The recommendations in this thesis indicate that it is necessary to improve and widely publicize and popularize the construction of an elderly friendly environment and improve departmental-linkage mechanisms to achieve progress in the social wellbeing of the elderly.
Yuqing Zhou
Equality of Access to Green Infrastructures in Jianghan District, Wuhan, China
Green infrastructure is always playing an important role in public health and wellbeing, as it can provide opportunities for people to interact with the natural environment and it has a high value in the built environment. This thesis is going to discuss social justice in urban greening and the study of the accessibility of green infrastructure for all social groups. The research and investigation in this thesis will be undertaken in Jianghan District in Wuhan, China, through an analysis of current green infrastructure planning policies. Literature review, policy analysis, map survey, and site observation have been chosen as key research methodologies. The result from this thesis demonstrates that although the Wuhan government has already taken some action on providing equitable access to quality green spaces, that is still not enough. There are gaps in the implementation of policies that are indicative of challenges that remain in providing green infrastructure. Based on key findings, this thesis provides recommendations on the green-infrastructure related policies in Wuhan, then contributes to addressing the disparity of access to the green infrastructure in Wuhan.
Zoe Halpin
Experimenting with Streets: The Implementation of ‘Tactical Urbanism’ in Response to COVID-19 in Sydney
The COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed a rethinking of how we design and plan for streets and public spaces. Importantly, it has led to an increased need for quality public space to accommodate physical distancing, diverse outdoor activities, and safer mobility options. Given that streets make up 80 per cent of public space (NACTO 2013), designing streets for people is crucial. However, in the delivery of people-centred street-design approaches, the current planning system is often criticised as being ‘clunky’, due to extensive approvals processes, red tape, and intricate coordination between multiple agencies and actors. ‘Tactical urbanism’ provided an extraordinarily agile response to the pandemic, ensuring that the built environment could support changing community needs. Legislative changes were enacted to allow the quick implementation of experimental, pop-up street interventions, echoing a global trend towards road-space reallocation. Through undertaking a literature review, case-study analysis, and in-depth interviews, this thesis explores how tactical urbanism has been implemented in Sydney in response to COVID-19. Findings of this research suggest ways that the NSW planning system and its various actors can leverage upon this tactical approach to not only recover from the pandemic, but to provide innovative solutions to future urban challenges.
Planning in times of uncertainty
CITY PLANNING 2021
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University of New South Wales
Master of City Planning
Message from the Course Convenor 84
Graduating Class 2021 86
Student Theses 88
