Has anybody else noticed that ‘urbanism’ has become a bit of a thing?
I don’t mean among urban planners, architects, developers and their kin who make it their business to know about such stuff. But in politics and in the general community, the language of ‘urbanism’ has begun to take hold. Everywhere, people seem to be talking about ‘liveability’, ‘walkability’ and new urban ‘precincts’; enthusing about ‘local communities’, the availability of ‘green spaces’ and ‘transport hubs’; and offerings in terms of ‘connectivity’ and ‘public amenity’.
Real estate prose these days is awash with this urbanist kind of language.
Our new Prime Minister and public transport aficionado, Malcolm Turnbull, is a self-confessed ‘urbanist’ – meaning he believes that our cities, and the way they are planned and developed, are important to the success of the country.
It’s why he has appointed Jamie Briggs MP, “to be the Minister for Cities and the Built Environment, to work with Greg Hunt, the Environment Minister, to develop a new Australian Government agenda for our cities in cooperation with States, Local Governments and urban communities.”
In the widely reported doorstop interview last Sunday (20 September) in which he announced his whole new ministerial line-up, he spent a considerable amount of time talking about the importance of cities.
Liveable, vibrant cities
While noting we have a Minister for Regional Development (and Deputy Prime Minister) in Warren Truss, Mr Turnbull said that, “cities have been overlooked, historically, from the Federal perspective.”
as part of this newfound romance with urban planning, I’d like to see some acknowledgement about and understanding of the issue of good, purpose-built (or age-friendly) housing for older people.
“Liveable, vibrant cities are absolutely critical to our prosperity,” said Mr Turnbull
“Historically the Federal Government has had a limited engagement with cities and yet that is where most Australians live, it is where the bulk of our economic growth can be found.”
The Prime Minister said we often overlook the fact that, “liveable cities, efficient, productive cities, the environment of cities, are economic assets.”
“You know, making sure that Australia is a wonderful place to live in, that our cities and indeed our regional centres are wonderful places to live, is an absolutely key priority of every level of Government.”
He added that the most valuable type of capital in the world today is not financial capital (“there’s plenty of that and it’s very mobile,” he said), but human capital.
“Men and women like ourselves who can choose to live anywhere. We have to ensure for our prosperity, for our future, for our competitiveness, that every level of Government works together, constructively and creatively to ensure that our cities progress.
Holding the PM to his word
The Property Council’s chief executive, Ken Morrison, who is in furious agreement with these sentiments, was quick off the mark with an editorial opinion published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday morning (22 September), making a strong argument for the economic importance of urbanism and the significance of the new PM’s appointment of a dedicated minister.
“Indeed, our biggest national productivity threat may well be that our growing cities become less productive, dragged down by a grinding increase in congestion, declining liveability and reduced connectivity in our cities,” wrote Mr Morrison.
He said the agenda for the new Turnbull Government should include investment in the transport infrastructure needed by cities – “a mix of roads, freight and public transport” and “backed up by real dollars.”
It also “must absolutely use the federation to address housing affordability.” This will involve creating powerful incentives for state and territory governments, he believes, “to reform their planning systems, build new housing supply close to jobs and innovate to get affordable housing on the ground.”
Resurgent cities
The third key area earmarked by Ken Morrison is the opportunity to encourage “resurgent cities”. Resurgent cities is a term that has been used to describe the intentional, planned regeneration of a city – one whose former economic base may have shifted and with it, a range of other factors such as population numbers and the demographic profile.
On the east coast of Australia, cities like Newcastle and Wollongong are examples but it can also refer to particular geographical or local government areas within bigger cities too.
Encouraging ‘resurgent cities’ comes at the price of good coordination and collaboration within and across many levels and portfolios in governments.
“This sort of collaborative approach to how we best manage our growing cities and invest in their future could easily be built into a bold new reform agenda,” he says.
The future for older Australians?
In general terms, the rhetoric sounds OK so far. Thoughtful design of our towns, cities and local areas is always a good thing but, as part of this newfound romance with urban planning, I’d like to see some acknowledgement about and understanding of the issue of good, purpose-built (or age-friendly) housing for older people.
There are word limits in media articles of course but Mr Morrison makes no mention of the recent report by the Property Council’s own Retirement Living Council, warning that there will be a serious shortfall in the amount of housing for over 65s in coming years, with demand for ‘retirement villages’ expected to double by 2025.
True, it’s hardly news. Everyone from futurists, economists, housing experts, consumer advocates, demographers, retirement village operators, welfare advocates, developers and others have been warning for the last decade that, while Australia faces an affordable housing crisis across the board, the impact will be greater for the older population unless there are policy changes and incentives to encourage more purpose built housing for older people in our cities and regional centres.
…it is fair to say that the interests and needs of older people do so often get missed in these exciting policy rushes to the head… so it will be up to every one of us to keep the issue alive and front of mind as we design the communities of our very near future.
But despite the continued warnings, the message struggles to get through. By ensuring there are good housing options for older people – places where people can downsize, be close to transport and other services they need; where older people have the kind of urban environment that allows them choices and opportunities to remain independent and well and to maximise their participation in the wider world and their local community – we are creating so many knock-on positive benefits.
There will be increased opportunities for families to find ‘family homes’ closer to where they work; for older people to more easily participate in the workforce and voluntary sector; to remain connected with younger people; for improved health outcomes; more intergenerational mixing and learning… the list goes on and on.
It’s early days – the conversation is just beginning. But it is fair to say that the interests and needs of older people do so often get missed in these exciting policy rushes to the head… so it will be up to every one of us to keep the issue alive and front of mind as we design the communities of our very near future – where all the baby boomers will become ‘old’.
We need to ensure that older people and their particular needs are considered intelligently in the planning mix; not forgotten or remembered as an afterthought, as is so often the case.
In (relatively) breaking news – The Property Council of Australia and the Retirement Living Council have welcomed the support from Treasurer, Scott Morrison, for the concept of enabling older people to unlock the capital in their homes, saying older Australian would benefit from such a policy. This was a policy the Treasurer has advocated in his former role as Minister for Social Services.
