iREPORT ON STUDY TOUR OFNORTH AMERICAN CITIES

David Crofts Undertaken whilst Group Manager City Strategy, Newcastle City Council now Principal, STRATEGY HUNTER Consultants solutions@strategyhunter.com.au

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REPORT ON STUDY TOUR OF NORTH AMERICAN CITIES

Executive Summary

This a summary of a Study Tour to the West Coast of North America undertaken by David Crofts, Assistant GeneralManager- Strategy at Newcastle City Council during March and April 2005.

The Study Tour was preceded by the American Planning Association Conference in San Francisco. The cities visited were Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver.

REGIONAL PLANNING

Generally North American State or Provincial Governments do not play a direct role in regional planning andfrequently it is up to local governments to form a voluntary collective organisation to pursue regional planning. Thesystem is dependent on voluntary co-operation and consensus amongst Local Governments. This assists in buildingtheir ownership and commitment to the resultant strategy. The result is very dependent on them meeting thatcommitment, and the regional plans are often weak when it comes to compliance powers. If regional co-operationis achieved a range of powerful implementation tools have been used at a regional and local level. In some Statesregional planning is required and in others it is encouraged by other agencies, for example Departments ofTransportation requiring it as a condition of funding. In NSW the State has a much stronger direct role, however the major deficiency in NSW is the extent ofparticipation by Local Governments in the development of regional strategies, and poorly developedimplementation tools.

IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS

At the local level and to some extent, the regional level through upwards delegation, North American LocalGovernment appears to exercise a much greater role in facilitating planning outcomes than Australian councils.

Several key tools are:

- redevelopment agencies- a management and funding role in public transport (see Mass Transit section later)- open space and green corridor acquisition/protection

The concept of redevelopment areas used in the US, together with associated financing mechanisms has merit.In areas of Newcastle where revitalisation and change is being sought, such as City West or the road corridorsleading out of the City Centre, a redevelopment agency could facilitate the amalgamation of small sites andstimulate quicker and better development as well as improved planning outcomes.

The ability of Northern American Local Governments to direct transportation funds through regional organisationshas greatly increased their ability to implement regional and local plans.

The Northern American experience reveals that it is possible to be considerably more creative in implementingplans than traditionally occurs in Australia. It also reveals that relying on the market to deliver planning outcomes,without assistance, may be a little naive. Consequently we need to be more adventurous.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Affordable housing is a much more critical issue in the North America than Australia. The context of affordablehousing is also quite different. However, a review of North American practice does offer some models from whichlessons can be learnt.

Whilst the affordable housing initiatives in the US allow considerable flexibility to meet local needs, they do little toaddress the scale of a significant housing affordability problem. Systemic attention to wider housing affordabilityissues at national level is required to address the problem at the scale required (as in Australia).

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The supply of affordable housing in Newcastle is likely to worsen. The role of US organisations such as BridgeHousing and ARCH as bodies with the expertise to bring together disparate players and financial packages to makea project viable is impressive and is a concept which should be given consideration in Newcastle.

The incorporation of significant amounts of affordable housing into revitalisation projects and Transit OrientedDevelopment (TOD) projects is a concept that Newcastle should examine as part of the strategy to intensify itscentres and transport corridors. The relative absence of Australian State and Federal Government incentives andgrants to pursue affordable housing is a major barrier to progress.

MASS TRANSIT

All the cities visited have major programs in place to upgrade and promote mass transit and public transport. Allcities visited are investing in light rail facilities. Notwithstanding this, buses are still the major public transportcarriers, particularly as feeders to light rail and other high capacity systems. The degree of integration betweentransit and land use planning varies from city to city, but in all cities intensification of land use is occurring alongpublic transport corridors and major nodes in the system. The fixed investment of light rail lines makes it moreconducive to long term development intensification than bus corridors, which may be readily shifted or deleted.

US cities are also investing in facilities and services that increase transit use. These include integrated ticketing, UPass and TravelSmart. Despite these investments car usage is continuing to dominate transport. This points to theneed to plan for public transport as a long term change process, and to target individual behaviour at the sametime as providing services.

Local/regional planning and management responsibility for mass transit is enabling greater responsiveness to localneeds and improved links to land use, economic, social and environmental planning objectives.

Newcastle Council has advocated the concept of regional autonomous management of the public transport systemfor some time, and this is confirmed by the North American experience. The positive impact of regional transportmanagement is greatest where the management body has strong links to the regional planning agency, such asthrough a commonality of Board membership. There is greater innovation in service delivery, and greater localresponsiveness which leads to a greater meshing of public transport delivery and land use strategy in NorthAmerica than in Australia.

MIXED USE/ HIGHER DENSITY DEVELOPMENT

Whilst continued segregation of land uses in new development is continuing, there is a clear trend towards greatermixed use. Large scale mixed use development and redevelopment is occurring, both horizontally (ie. differentuses in adjacent buildings, and vertically (ie. different uses on different floors in a building). This was evident inlocalities visited such as Redmond, Seattle, Ladera Ranch in Orange County Los Angeles and well as inner cityredevelopment in Portland. The mixing of land uses is recognition of the need to reduce automobile dependenceby locating compatible uses together, and of the revitalisation benefits of co-locating complementary land uses,such as shops and housing. The provision of higher density housing also alleviates pressure on other housing stockby increasing market choice and the diversity of offerings.

All of these trends are relevant to Newcastle, which under the forthcoming Lower Hunter Regional Strategy willhave a considerable opportunity to encourage intensive mixed use in key centres and corridors through the City.However, land use regulation may not be sufficient to stimulate development and other incentives, such assubsidies or facilitated site amalgamations may be necessary. Even in the United States, public sector incentiveshave been necessary to encourage the initial development of intensive mixed use at transit stops.

The projects visited show that scale is important. The perceived scale at the street must be comfortable to thepasser-by, and preferably ground floor residences should have their primary entrance on the street. Secondly, theNorth American experience is that opportunities to intensify development should not be squandered byunderdevelopment. Sufficient scale and quantity of development must be reached for the benefits of mixed useand transit to be delivered.

The Newcastle Urban Strategy is consistent with the trends occurring overseas. The Corridors RedevelopmentStudy currently underway will help guide increased development intensity and mixed use along the transportcorridors leading from the Newcastle City Centre. This study is timely and will assist Council in increasing densitiesconsiderably along these corridors, as has occurred successfully overseas.

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REVITALISATION, RETAILING AND MAINSTREET MANAGEMENT

The redevelopment area in Portland (Riverside and Pearl) offers some guidance for Council in how to continue theredevelopment of City West as a mixed use higher residential density area. This may mean revisiting theDevelopment Control Plan to increase development intensity, facilitating of redevelopment sites (RedevelopmentAgency model) and work with tertiary institutions such as TAFE to achieve greater vitality and benefits from theirpresence in the area. The provision of adequate affordable housing should be an important objective of Council inCity West.

Many street based shopping centres have Mainstreet style committees funded through mechanisms similar to ourspecial benefit rates. These committees are called BID, or business improvement districts. In general they appearto have greater drive provided from the business sector than is our experience, and appear to be a little betterresourced. Whilst they perform similar functions to our Mainstreet committees, they also take a greater role inservice delivery, particularly in relation to street cleaning and general presentation issues.

In virtually all the cities visited the following were evident:

High quality street furniture kept in good condition Absence of graffiti, except on designated aerosol art walls. The exceptions were run down areas of town. High quality well planned public spaces, often with flower plantings Activation of public spaces through permanent or mobile caf/ coffee outlets, and/or public activities such as

art displays An abundance of public art Footpaths were generally of concrete or bitumen unless in a special place Good orientation and direction signage Quality displays of merchandise in shop windows Use of valet parking to maximise car parking availability and consumer convenience Centralised car parking structures, often charging market price Good public transport including free travel zonesOther than LA and some of the rundown areas of central San Francisco, there appeared to be a higher level ofpride in the condition of public spaces than is evident in Newcastle.

The role of Business Improvement Districts (Mainstreet Committees) in area revitalisation is important. Councilshould continue to support these Committees but also look at how they might take on new models for committeeoperation, which provide greater autonomy and local business empowerment.

Entertainment and food are becoming more prominent as retail drivers.

CULTURAL PRECINCTS

Yerba Gardens in Central San Francisco illustrated how diverse a cultural precinct can be. Its appeal to a widerange of age groups and interests is outstanding as is the extent to which reflects the nature and character of SanFrancisco in its design and activities. Many cultural precincts are too limited in their target groups. Yerba Gardensshows that it is possible to appeal to a wide section of the community but still exhibit excellence and promotecultural development. Newcastle should bear this in mind as its Civic Cultural Precinct develops.

CAR PARKING

There is a general trend towards tighter management of the supply of car parking and encouraging a movetowards market pricing.

There are considerable benefits in charging for car parking at market prices. Charging an appropriate price for carparking will encourage people to car share or use public transport, particularly if complemented by other measures.A clear link between car parking revenue and area improvements funded by the revenue, can deliver an ongoingand relative secure cash flow to finance a multiyear program of amenity improvements to the retail centre. Theclear linkage makes local business owners and parking users more positive about the parking charge as they cansee the benefits. The use of shared car parking in order to increase the efficiency of land use and to lowerbusiness capital costs so as to encourage revitalisation has merit. It could have application in the heritage areas of

vNewcastle where it is difficult to create additional car parking onsite to cater for new building uses, as well as fornew development.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Economic activity has generally recovered after the burst of the Dot Com boom, which particularly affected theWest Coast of North America. The growth of service industries is supporting most employment growth.Information Technology industries are once again seen as a growth engine, most prominently in the areas ofinnovation and product development, as production progressively moves offshore. Two growth industries I becomeaware of were multimedia and biotechnology. Both have evolved from existing strengths such as IT andentertainment/films in the former and IT and pharmaceuticals/medical technology in the latter. These areas areglobal growth industries of the future, and Newcastle should consider how it could participate in this growth.

Associated with this are the creative cities and Life 2.0 agendas. Both of these agendas are about how localitiescan attract growth industries in the service sector, particularly those that involve the creation of intellectualcapital/property. The urban development trends described in this report are consistent with creating the physicalenvironment for such industries, however attention also needs to be paid to the creation of an appropriate socialenvironment. The tolerance, diversity and liberal attitudes of Vancouver, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland meetthese criteria as well. Newcastle needs to ensure that its social environment reflects these attributes if it is toattract and retain these industry sectors.

ACTION AREAS

Documents produced in the preparation of the Sydney Metropolitan Strategy, as well as research undertaken byNewcastle city Council clearly demonstrate that decisive action is required to ensure our community is able to meetits future urban challenges. Fortunately the Study Tour confirmed that Newcastle City Councils urban policyframework is sound. However, Council does need to put some additional building blocks in place to avoid theproblems being faced by many cities. Adoption of a regional leadership role is probably the most important actionCoucil can take. The assessment of the experiences of cities visited on the Study Tour has resulted suggestedagenda of action areas in which Newcastle City Council needs to exercise leadership.

1. Ensuring sound regional planning and implementation, including a more involvement and responsbility of LocalGovernment role at the regional level

2. Public transport and mass transit, including autonomous regional management3. Reducing single occupant motor vehicle usage4. Strongly linking regional land use planning with transport management and growth management5. Identifying and actively facilitating areas for mixed use and higher residential densities6. Facilitating affordable housing7. Exploring growth sectors in our economy8. Assisting Mainstreets to have greater business involvement and drive9. Managing our parking effectively as a market commodity to achieve public objectives10. Improving the public realm, public spaces cleanliness and associated community pride and responsibility 11. Activating our City Centre through inclusive cultural precincts and activities

In each section of this report I have drawn out lessons that could be drawn on to advance these action areas.

Many of these areas require Council to exercise leadership in its relations with other Councils and the StateGovernment. Many actions reinforce and confirm work already underway, and do not require the allocation ofadditional funds. However, they do require the expenditure of time and effort by the elected Council and Councilofficers. Council needs to discuss and form a collective view on the above directions and how they fitwith Councils existing priorities. A table of the suggested directions, current status and possible futureactions follows.

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POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS ARISING FROM STUDY TOURSuggested Direction Current Status Possible Further Actions

1. Ensure sound regional planning andimplementation, including moreinvolvement and responsibility of LocalGovernment role at the regional levelNCC adopt regional leadership role

Involvement in Sydney MetropolitanStrategyInvolvement in Lower Hunter SubregionalStrategy

5 Lower Hunter Councils to develop collective position, establish standing cross-Councilcoordination group

2. Better public transport and mass transit,including autonomous regionalmanagementNCC adopt regional leadership role

Sustainable Transport in the LowerHunter report (under review) adopted byCouncil5 Lower Hunter Councils have jointsteering group

Advocate to State Government for autonomous regional public transport managementManagement structure to include significant local government membershipLink to above structures by cross membership

3. Strongly link regional land use planningwith transport management and growthmanagementNCC adopt regional leadership role

Lower Hunter Subregional StrategyNewcastle Urban StrategySustainable Transport in the LowerHunter

Cross membership of Subregional planning and transport groups / management structures (seeabove)

4. Reduce single occupant motor vehicleusage

Various strategies eg. Newcastle CyclePlan PAMP, Carshare

Adocate implementation of the Sustainable Transport for the Lower Hunter report eg. transit lanes,discounts at car parks for multiple occupant vehicles, U pass, cycleways, footpaths, etc.

5. Identify and actively facilitate areas formixed use and higher residentialdensities

Newcastle Urban Strategy Identify market interventions especially those beyond regulatory mechanisms (DCPs)

6. Facilitate affordable housing Affordable Housing Strategy Increase advocacy to State and Federal GovernmentsFurther research market interventions

7. Explore growth sectors in our economy Newcastle Economic DevelopmentStrategy

Progress multimedia and biotechnology aspects of the Newcastle Economic Development Strategy

8. Assist Mainstreets to have greaterbusiness involvement and drive

Mainstreets Operating Policy More streamlined relationship with greater business ownership, review structures/accountabilityarrangements

9. Manage our parking effectively as amarket commodity to achieve publicobjectives

NELA Parking Strategy adopted andprogressively implemented

Move to market pricing as per NELA StrategyExplicitly link net parking revenue to area improvementsInvestigate mechanisms for greater shared parking

10. Improve the public realm, public spacescleanliness and associated communitypride and responsibility

Existing service levelsMainstreet and Alliance initiatives

Community commitment to a clean city

11. Activate our City Centre through inclusivecultural precincts and activities

CCP Statement of Strategic InterestCCP Master Plan

Ensure inclusiveness, maintain diversity

12. Greater Councillor leadership of futurecity direction

No overall monitoring of City StrategyImplementation

Council to determine leadership role

1REPORT ON STUDY TOUR OF NORTH AMERICAN CITIESFULL REPORT

Note: this report contains many hyperlinks to more detailed information sources. It is best read on an internet enbled computerin order to get maximum benefit from this facility.

This report provides details of an Investigation Tour to the West Coast of North America undertaken by DavidCrofts, Assistant General Manager- Strategy at Newcastle City Council during March and April 2005.

The Investigation tour consisted of two components; a Study Tour organised by the University of Sydney, andattendance at the American Planning Association Conference.

The Study Tour consisted of 20 participants drawn from senior levels of Government, the land development sector,the media, the legal fraternity and universities, attended the Study Tour. It was led by Professor Ed Blakley, Chairof Urban and Regional Planning, and Director Planning Research Centre, University of Sydney. Professor Blakelyhas considerable experience in planning and development, and is also Chair of the Sydney Metropolitan StrategyReference Panel for the Department of Infrastructure Planning and Natural Resources (DIPNR).

The aim of the Study Tour was to review a sample of urban development projects in a number of west coast NorthAmerican cities, with particular reference to urban consolidation, mixed use, economic revitalisation, affordablehousing, mass transit and regional metropolitan planning/coordination. Implementation tools, such as financingtechniques and the relationship between the public and private sectors were also examined.

The cities visited were: Los Angeles San Francisco Seattle Portland Vancouver

A hectic schedule was followed, permitting 1-2 days in each City for limited site visits and meetings with localgovernments, regional agencies, private developers and non government agencies. Detail of the schedule is atattachment 1.

Vancouver

Portland

Seattle

San Francisco

Los Angeles

2The Study Tour was preceded by the American Planning Association Conference in San Francisco. This Conferenceprovided an excellent primer for the Study Tour by helping build context and understanding of the nature of urbandevelopment and revitalisation in the United States.

This report summarises the major conclusions of the Study Tour from my perspective. It is divided into majorissues identified during the Tour.

REGIONAL PLANNINGIn much of the West Coast of North America regional planning has limited scope and limited implementationpowers. By and large the State Governments do not play a direct role in regional planning and frequently it is up tolocal governments to form a voluntary collective organisation to pursue regional planning. In some States, such asOregon, the State Government plays a greater role in directing regional planning requirements. Often regionalplanning is encouraged by other agencies, for example Departments of Transportation requiring it as a condition offunding. Urban sustainability is now a major objective of regional planning, whereas initially it was driven byconcerns about the loss of agricultural land and specific environmental issues (eg. salmon, air quality, etc).

Localities where regional planning has been effective include Portland, Seattle and Vancouver.

PortlandState law requires local comprehensive plans to address state planning goals, to be coordinated with other localand district plans, and to include consistent implementing measures (eg. zoning ordinances). With its powers tocertify local plans, to force corrective action for deficient plans, to suspend local land use decision-makingauthority, to block the allocation of certain State funds, and to review areas of critical State concern, the Stateplanning agency is able to ensure that State planning goals are achieved. For example, a State requirement is thatevery city establish urban growth boundaries to delineate land sufficient for development for a 20-year period.Outside the boundaries, highly restrictive zoning limits land uses to conservation, or agriculture and relatedactivities. Further details can be found at http://www.abag.ca.gov/planning/theoryia/cmproregon.htm. The Portland Plan was developed by the Metropolitan Council (Metro) in the mid 1990s. For more details seehttp://www.metro-region.org/ and http://www.abag.ca.gov/planning/theoryia/cmprmetroportland.htm. The MetroCouncil was established largely to take advantage of Federal funding, which was directed through regional bodies.Over time the Metro Council has acquired a range of functions, from waste management to running a Zoo! Itacquired a land use planning function from the local councils in the 1990s. The Councils gave up some of theirplanning powers because they were used to some State intervention (more so than many other US States) and theouter Councils saw it as an opportunity to balance the dominant influence of Portland Council, had it acted alone.The Regional Plan had an initial focus on protecting farmland from urban encroachment. Over time the focus hasshifted to issues of urban form and sustainability.

The policies of the current Regional Plan 2040 Growth Concept encourage:

efficient use of land protection of farmland and natural areas a balanced transportation system a healthy economy diverse housing options.

The Growth Concept uses interrelated types of centres:

the central city is the regions employment and cultural hub. regional centres serve large market areas outside the central city, connected to it by high capacity transit

and highways. smaller town centres with local shopping and employment opportunities within a local market area connect

to each regional centre by road and transit.

The 2040 Growth Concept places an emphasis on infill and redevelopment of existing areas rather than expandingthe urban growth boundary to build on undeveloped sites. Many potential centres are already developed, butcurrently have a lower concentration of housing or employment than necessary to achieve the mix of land usesand transportation patterns called for in the Growth Concept. Therefore, the redevelopment of some existing landand buildings will be needed.

Metro has responsibility for regional transport planning, which it links closely to its land use plan, by directing Stateand federal transportation funds in the region.

3VancouverVancouver also has a regional planning framework. It is enshrined in the Liveable Region Strategic Plan, producedby the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/ The GVRD is an instrument of theProvince, which is governed by a Board controlled by the local municipal authorities. It has a strong relationship tothe transport planning and delivery body, Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (Translink).

The Liveable Region Strategic Plan is produced by the GVRD, endorsed by the local municipalities and adopted bythe Provincial Government as a regional growth strategy under enabling legislation.

The main aims of the Livable Region Strategic plan are to:

Protect the Green Zone, including major parks, watersheds, ecologically important areas and resourcelands such as farmland. It also establishes a long-term growth boundary.

Build complete communities: Focused on regional and municipal town centres, more complete communitiesaim to place more jobs closer to where people live and or accessible by transit, shops and services nearhome, and a wider choice of housing types.

Achieve a compact metropolitan region: The plan avoids widely dispersed and accommodates a significantproportion of population growth within the "growth concentration area" in central part of the region.

Increase transportation choice: The plan supports the increased use of transit, walking and cycling byminimising the need to travel (through land uses) and by managing transportation supply and demand.

Further details can be found at http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/growth/lrsp.htm

SeattleThe Growth Management Act (GMA), passed by Washington State in 1990, requires that counties and citiesdevelop a collaborative set of policies to guide each jurisdiction's comprehensive plan. The Growth ManagementPlanning Council (GMPC) oversees implementation of the State's Growth Management Act, making decisions aboutwhere and how new households and employment should be accommodated. An important element is the Staterequirement that every city establish urban growth boundaries to delineate land sufficient for development for a20-year period. Outside the boundaries, highly restrictive zoning limits land uses to farming and related activities.The comprehensive plans of all the cities in King County, and of the County itself, must be consistent with theGMPC's decisions. Further details can be found at http://www.metrokc.gov/ddes/gmpc/index.shtm. The GMPCconsists of elected officials from King County, Seattle, Bellevue, other cities and towns in King County and specialpurpose districts.

Another, broader level of regional planning exists for the wider central Puget Sound region. Four counties -- King,Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomishmembers of the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) (Seattle is within KingCounty). In addition to the four counties, 70 cities, three ports and two state agencies are members of the Council.

4The primary purpose of the Puget Sound Regional Council is to serve as a regional forum for local governments,working with state transportation interests, ports and local transit agencies, to resolve growth and transportationissues. Further details can be found at http://www.psrc.org/

The PRSC has produced as VISION 2020 is the growth management and transportation strategy under State andFederal legislation for the central Puget Sound region, which encompasses King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomishcounties. VISION 2020 reflects and builds upon planning by local governments under the State GrowthManagement Act. The GMA requires consistency among local and regional plans, and the Council works with citiesand counties to ensure consistency. The Regional Council uses VISION 2020 and the regional transportation plan,Destination 2030, as guidance for decisions on how to spend Federal transportation funds in the region. Inaddition, all other major transportation improvements in the region must be consistent with VISION 2020 andDestination 2030. For more information see http://www.psrc.org/projects/vision/index.htm.

Lessons:A planning system, which provides high level of consistent co-ordination and direction at the regional level, hasconsiderable advantages. Urban areas are full of interactions between their constituent parts. Planning objectivescan only be delivered within a strong regional framework. The dependence of the Northern American regionalplanning system on voluntary co-operation and consensus amongst Local Governments assists in building theirownership and commitment to the resultant strategy. However, the result is very dependent on them meeting thatcommitment, and the regional plans are often weak when it comes to delivery. They are more suited to consensusand co-operation rather than controversy. Some States, such as Oregon, with specific requirements for regionalplanning and its outcomes, are an exception to this rule. The NSW system would appear to be stronger in its effectthan most North American examples because of the extent of direct State involvement. On the other hand, theNSW system lacks some of the precise performance targets required of North American regional plans. A majordeficiency in NSW is the very limited extent of participation by Local Governments in the development of regionalstrategies, and the low level of planning implementation links (see below).

PLANNING /IMPLEMENTATION LINKSMost of the North American regional co-ordination plans rely on consensus and the goodwill of the consistent localgovernments for implementation. The regional plans generally do not appear to have the directive and inventionistnature of Australian metropolitan plans, other than funding sanctions (particularly transportation funds), with theexception of some States.

At the local level and to some extent, the regional level through upwards delegation, US Local Government appearsto exercise a much greater role in facilitating planning outcomes than Australian councils.

Chiefly, this occurs through redevelopment agencies a management and funding role in public transport (see Mass Transit section later) open space and green corridor acquisition/protectionRedevelopment agenciesI was surprised at the extent of the use of redevelopment agencies and their impact on new urban development inexisting areas. Most urban Local Governments appear to have redevelopment agencies. These agencies usuallyoperate like a Council subcommittee comprised only of Councillors. Under State legislation a locality may bedefined and declared a redevelopment area. The purpose of a redevelopment area is usually to remove blightor to increase affordable housing. The term removal of blight appears to be interpreted fairly broadly. Theredevelopment agency works through a variety of actions, such as amalgamating sites, facilitating developmentthrough resale or joint venture, improvements on-site or in the vicinity. The agencies are typically funded throughtax increment financing

Tax Increment FinancingTax increment financing works by calculating the rate yield from a locality at the time it is declared aredevelopment area. The increase in rates as a result of redevelopment and area improvement is then calculated -tax increment. This tax increment is then made available to the agency which uses it as the basis for raising aloan, which is then used by the agency for property acquisition etc. The theory behind this practice is that the taxincrement would not occur if the redevelopment did not happen, and therefore the local government would not bedisadvantaged by the use of this funding by the redevelopment agency. Clearly, this assumes that thedevelopment would not otherwise happen, or would happen much slower, if a redevelopment area did not exist.

5The level of tax increment is much greater in the US relative than it would be in NSW because their rating systemis calculated on improved capital value, not unimproved capital value. Thus, the value of the new developmenton the land contributes to the increase in rates, not just the increase in land value alone.

Used in conjunction with other funding sources (such as the affordable housing funding described elsewhere in thispaper), and compulsory acquisition powers (titled eminent domain), tax increment financing has supported quitemajor redevelopment projects. I was very surprised at the widespread use of this implementation tool. It hassignificantly assisted implementation of local revitalisation plans, particularly transit oriented development (seeelsewhere in this paper).

In some US States, 20% of funds raised through tax increment financing must be spent on affordable housing.

Transport Planning and ManagementUS Local Governments have a greater direct influence in the delivery and management of local and regionaltransport, than in Australia. This occurs either through the direct delivery of local services, such as in Pasadena, orthrough representation on a regional transportation authority, such as in Portland. Additionally, collective regionaltransportation bodies, such as the Puget Sound Regional Council (Seattle), direct substantial Federal transportationfunding to meet local and regional priorities, which are usually consistent with the regional land use strategy.Interestingly, in many cases, it was the requirement of Federal legislation that transportation funding be directedthrough regional bodies, and be consistent with a regional transport plan, that led to many of the regional planningbodies being established.

The resultant closer relationship between local government, the allocation of transportation funding and themanagement of public transport has increased the potential ability to more closely mesh land use planning andtransport, than is the case in Australia. The greater control and influence of Local Government over regionalplanning was described earlier.

Growth Boundary and Green Space acquisitionA number of Local Governments, Boulder Colorado, being the most often quoted example, have large greenspace property acquisition schemes. These schemes serve a number of purposes such as to reserveenvironmentally sensitive lands or to create additional public open space. Some areas also use land acquisition tosupplement land use regulation. For example Boulder acquires undeveloped land in order to control its growthboundary. Where this land is farmland, it is managed as such and is leased to farmers. Boulders land holdings arevery extensive and include land in neighbouring Local Government areas, which are surrounded by Boulder County,and consequently it is influencing their growth. As a result, the surrounding areas have formed a regional compactwith Boulder to jointly manage growth in the area, as a way for them to regain some control over their destiny!http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/cao/documents/x-bgmcs1.html. The County has preserved 36,000 hectares throughtheir open space program so far. More than half of that is owned in fee 22,500 hectares, and the remainder island owned privately but has conservation easements owned by the County that prohibit development. The City ofBoulder has preserved approximately 16,000 hectares. The open space program is one of several planning toolsused to control growth; other tools include stringent land use regulations and regional intergovernmentalagreements.

The initial major influence over a number of regional planning exercises was the protection of valuable agriculturalland from urban encroachment or the protection of a natural asset (eg. salmon along the North West Coast). Morerecently urban sustainability has emerged as the significant driver.

Portland Transit Oriented Development Implementation ProgramThe Portland Metro Council has an impressive Transit Oriented Development Implementation program as acomponent of its Centred Program (details at http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=6547). Metro'sTransit-oriented Development (TOD) Implementation program facilitates the construction of "transit villages" andprojects that concentrate a mix of retail, housing, and jobs in areas around regional light-rail systems and othertransit lines. This program operates through a series of cooperative agreements between the region's electedregional government (Metro), local jurisdictions and private developers. The primary use of program funds is siteacquisition. The Program aims to accelerate change in selected locations by recognising that the market is oftenreluctant to support pioneer developments.

Property is acquired, planned and reparceled. It is then sold with conditions to private developers for constructingtransit-oriented development and/or dedicated to local governments for streets, plazas, and other public facilitieswhere appropriate. In many cases the land value is written down to cover the additional development costsrequired to construct a specific TOD project. Sometimes easements which require certain density and land useoutcomes are purchased over a property, in order to achieve a TOD outcome without site acquisition having to

6occur. The price paid for the easement in effect compensates the owner for the additional cost of undertaking aTOD style development, where the market does not yet support a higher financial return for the more intensivedevelopment relative to lower intensity development.

The TOD Program aims to achieve a more ambitious development than would otherwise have been developed on agiven site. A base case is established for the development that would have otherwise occurred. This is comparedwith the proposed TOD funded project in terms of building costs and penalties resulting from higher densities andmixed use, and the capitalised value of fare box revenue. The maximum TOD contribution is the lower of the costpenalties or new fare box revenue (from Implementation Program Report provided by Metro)

In Gresham the TOD program has acquired most of the land surrounding a new light rail station and is facilitatingthe construction of 5 storey mixed use, residential over ground floor retail development. A summary overview ofTOD development in Portland and some examples can be found athttp://www.djc.com/special/design97/10032237.htm

A complementary initiative in Portland is Get Centered!, an awareness and information sharing campaign toencourage developers, architects and elected officials in revitalising and developing transit oriented development inthe regions Mainstreets, centres and transit stops. Get Centered! highlights successful mixed-use developmentsthat combine housing, retail, restaurants and offices and the tools that can make this happen. I attended a GetCentred event at Gresham, an outer suburban area, and was most impressed with the level of attendance and theinitiatives underway. Details of Get Centred! can be found at http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?articleid=12285.

A useful document for evaluating the capacity of Centres and corridors to accommodate development intensity canbe found at http://www.metro-region.org/library_docs/land_use/centersreport.pdf and for evaluating the scope ofthese centres to intensify can be found at http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=11143

Negative factor:The use of a rating system based on improved capital value combined with dependence on a share of local salestax as revenue sources for Local Government has serious negative impacts on the integrity of the planning system.In order to generate maximum revenue for their operations US Local Governments are very tempted to approvehigh value development and in particular retailing at the expense of planning objectives. Additionally, the TaxIncrement Financing mechanism is very dependent on projected valuation increases; should this increase occur toa lesser extent the loan might be difficult to service. The financing tools used for the public interventions tosupport more intensive mixed use development are quite complex and often involve many funding sources, andconsequently projects can be quite complex and may involve meeting a very wide range of objectives, dependingon the expectations of the funding partners.

Lessons:The ability of Northern American Local Governments to direct transportation funds through regional organisationshas greatly increased their ability to implement regional and local plans.

Whilst Australia does not have the same extent of blight in its urban areas as in the US, the concept ofredevelopment areas is worth considering, together with the associated financing mechanisms, albeit within ourrating structure. In areas where revitalisation and change is being sought, such as City West or the road corridorsleading out of the City Centre, a redevelopment agency could facilitate the amalgamation of small sites andstimulate quicker and better development, as well as improved planning outcomes.

The Northern American experience reveals that it is possible to be considerably more creative in implementingplans than traditionally occurs in Australia. It also reveals that relying on the market to deliver planning outcomes,without assistance, may be a little naive. Consequently we need to be more adventurous.

Council has advocated the concept of regional autonomous management of the public transport system for sometime, and the value of this advocacy position is confirmed by the US experience. There is greater innovation in

7service delivery, greater local responsiveness and greater meshing of public transport delivery and land usestrategy in North America than in Australia.

AFFORDABLE HOUSINGAffordable housing is a much more critical issue in the North America than Australia. The context of affordablehousing is also quite different. However, a review of North American practice does offer some models from whichlessons can be learnt.

A number of affordable housing projects were visited. In the United States there is a number of large non profitaffordable housing developers. For example, Bridge Housing Corporation has developed over 10,000 homes inCalifornia, and their properties house some 23,000 people. http://www.bridgehousing.com/

These housing corporations often deliver not only housing but also deliver a range of support services, and oftentarget areas in need of revitalisation. Bridge Housing has considerable expertise in bringing together partnershipand project packages. They do not restrict themselves to rental housing but also produce affordable housing forsale. Bridge previously outsourced tenant management but is now undertaking some of that function themselves.

The funding of affordable housing is complex with some projects obtaining funds from up to nine sources. Thesefunding sources include the Federal HOPE IV scheme, tax credits, tax increment financing and below market rateloans from Local Government.

Tax creditsThe tax credits system was set up after many Federal tax deductions for general housing owners and investor wereremoved. It was introduced to encourage investment in low income housing. It works as follows:

The 1986 Federal Tax Reform Act created the ability to assist the development of low-income rental housing byproviding qualified Owners with Credit to reduce their Federal tax obligations. The Credit is a dollar for dollarreduction of Federal income tax liability for Owners of or investors in low-income rental housing. The Credit isavailable for a 10-year period subject to compliance with certain requirements. The amount of Credit is based onthe type of Project, the costs of developing a Project, the percentage of Qualified Low-Income Housing Units in aProject, and the nature and amount of financing for a Project.

Investors contribute equity to a Project in return for Credit, commonly through a syndication process. The investorsuse the Credit to reduce their Federal tax liabilities and the Developer uses the investors equity to help rehabilitateor construct the Project. Since the Developer is able to complete the Project with less debt-service financing, theProjects rents can be reduced to serve households with low incomes.

A Qualified Low-Income Housing Project may consist of apartment buildings, single family dwellings, duplexes ortownhouses. It is Residential Rental Property in which a minimum percentage of the Housing Units in the Projectare Rent-Restricted and occupied by Residents whose Income is at or below the appropriate Area Median GrossIncome. Residential Rental Housing Units must be: available for the general public; suitable for occupancy, taking into account local health, safety and building codes; and used other than on a Transient Basis (with a minimum initial lease term of six months), except in the case of

Transitional Housing. Projects may give preference to individuals with special needs such as the elderly, people with disabilities,

large households or homeless individuals if consistent with the Fair Housing Act. Other eligible Projects (all of which must have a minimum initial lease term of six months) include: Single room occupancy (SRO) housing rented on a monthly or longer basis. Transitional Housing that contains sleeping, kitchen and bathroom facilities and is located in a building that is

used exclusively to help transition homeless individuals to independent living within 24 months

The Project must be maintained as low-income housing for a minimum of 30 years.

Each Low-Income Housing Unit must be Rent-Restricted, with the Maximum Gross Rent not exceeding 30% of theapplicable Area Median Gross Income, adjusted for Imputed Household Size

A minimum of forty percent (40%) of the Total Housing Units in the Project must be rented to Residents withIncomes at or below sixty percent (60%) of the Area Median Gross Income adjusted for household size (the"40/60 test"); or

8A minimum of twenty percent (20%) of the Total Housing Units in the Project must be rented to Residents withIncomes at or below fifty percent (50%) of the Area Median Gross Income adjusted for household size (the "20/50test").

A number of complex formulas apply to determine the eligibility for tax credit.

(from Washington State Housing Corporation website)

Public Housing Redevelopment - Hope VIHope VI is a Federally funded program delivered through Public Housing Authorities (PHA). The PHA generally existat a local or regional level. A Board appointed by the relevant Local Government administers them. Hope VI is amajor funding source for the rejuvenation of public housing and permits the use of a variety of delivery models forpublic housing. There are two funding categories:

Revitalisation grants fund the capital costs of major rehabilitation, new construction, and other physicalimprovements; demolition of severely distressed public housing; management improvements; planning andtechnical assistance; and community and supportive services programs for residents.

Demolition grants fund demolition of severely distressed public housing, and the relocation and services forrelocated residents.

Details can be found at : http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/ph/hope6/index.cfm and http://www.spur.org/documents/050301_article_01.shtm

Example:

North Beach Place, San Francisco

North Beach Place is one of the largest mixed income, mixed-use complexes in California, with proximity to bothtransportation and employment; this complex is regarded as a model for transit-oriented urban infill developments.It is located on the former site of a run down public housing complex. It comprises a 341-unit mixed income andaged housing development including 229 public housing units, 112 apartments affordable to families with incomesbelow 50% of the San Francisco median, a parking garage for 323 cars, 2000 square metres of commercial space,including 300 square metres of incubator space for resident entrepreneurs; and a childcare/community centre.

During the inspection I was very impressed with the comfortable scale of this development, and the extent towhich the housing addressed the adjacent streets. Careful attention has been paid to ensuring that passive securityfeatures including good external lighting had been incorporated into the development.

It was developed by BRIDGE Housing, Em Johnson Interest, The John Stewart Company (known as North BeachDevelopment Associates) using $23.2 M in HOPE VI Funds with a total project cost of $106.3 M

9The San Francisco Housing Authority will have the option to purchase the residential component at the end of theTax Credit Compliance Period of 15 years.

ARCHARCH is a partnership of Local Governments in the eastern Seattle area. Unlike Bridge (referred to above) ARCHdoes not manage or own housing. It assists other bodies/agencies to do this. Its aim is to preserve and increasethe supply of housing for low to moderate income households. It assists individuals looking for rental and owneroccupied affordable housing, provides financial assistance to groups creating affordable housing and assists thepartnership members to develop housing policies, strategies and advocacy. ARCH has been particularly successfulas a facilitation agency, especially as it offers high level skills in identifying suitable financial packages foraffordable housing projects. A number of ARCH facilitated projects were visited as part of the study tour andfurther details can be found at http://www.archhousing.org/. Once again, careful detail to design to ensure acomfortable and secure environment was evident.

Santa Monica- Colorado Court

The Study Tour inspected this development, located close the retail core and beach of Santa Monica, on a highlyvisible corner site. It was developed to provide affordable housing and well as to provide a demonstration ofenvironmental technologies to reduce resource use as well as make the site as energy self sufficient as possible.The building is not unlike Councils S&W Miller proposal, with the exception that ongoing subsidies are available tomake the Santa Monica development viable.

The development features 44 single occupant units, community facilities, spaces for 20 cars and outdoorcommunal spaces. All of the units are affordable housing, with half reserved for residents below 35% of theregional median income, and half reserved for residents below 40% of the regional median income. The facility ismanaged by the Community Corporation of Santa Monica (CCSM- http://www.communitycorp.org/index.html), andwas funded through a mix of affordable housing and energy efficiency promotional funds.

The City of Santa Monica has a long history of interest in energy efficiency and ESD, as demonstrated by theirGreen Building Guidelines, which can be found at http://greenbuildings.santa-monica.org/.

Colorado Court extensively applies passive solar technology through orientation, the choice of building materialsand construction to maximise building performance and cross flow ventilation. A mix of photovoltaic cells and a gasturbine electricity generator provide power, with the excess sold to the power grid. The gas turbine has acogeneration system to heat water and to provide space heating when needed. An underground stormwaterretention system not only retains 95% of site runoff but also resolved an existing stormwater runoff problemaffecting adjacent properties. The garden uses drought tolerant plants. Further details can be found athttp://www.globalgreen.org/pdf/casestudy_colorado.pdf.

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LessonsWhilst the affordable housing initiatives in the US allow considerable flexibility to meet local needs, they do little toaddress the scale of a significant housing affordability problem. Systemic attention to wider housing affordabilityissues at national level is required to address the problem at the scale required.

The supply of affordable housing in Newcastle is likely to worsen. The role of organisations such as Bridge Housingand ARCH as bodies with the expertise to bring together disparate players and financial packages to make aproject viable is impressive and is a concept which should be given consideration in Newcastle. However, it shouldbe noted that the potential funding sources in NSW a much more limited than the US.

The incorporation of significant amounts of affordable housing into revitalisation projects and Transit OrientedDevelopment (TOD) projects is a concept that Newcastle should examine as part of the strategy to intensify itscentres and transport corridors.

MASS TRANSITAll the cities that were visited have major programs in place to upgrade and promote mass transit and publictransport. All cities visited are investing in light rail facilities. Notwithstanding this, buses are still the major publictransport carriers. The degree of integration between transit and land use planning varies from city to city, but inall cities intensification of land use is occurring along public transport corridors and major nodes in the system. Thefixed investment of light rail lines makes it more conducive to long term development intensification than buscorridors, which may be readily shifted or deleted.

Not withstanding the efforts to promote public transport, car is king in North America and even in areas wheregood transit is available there is still high motor vehicle usage (albeit lower than elsewhere). However goodavailability of public transport and transit oriented development does reduce motor vehicle usage as evidenced bythe statistics from Portland, below. The increasing problem of congestion and the environmental impacts of motorvehicles are serving to reinforce efforts to increase mass transit further.

Examples include:

TriMet is a municipal corporation controlled by Local Governments providing public transportation for much of thethree counties in the Portland, Oregon, metro area. TriMet operates a comprehensive transit network including a44-mile, 64-station MAX light rail system, 93 bus lines, with 80 connecting with MAX. Buses also serve 18 majortransit centres and the Portland Streetcar, provides a door to door service for seniors and people with disabilities,and enhanced amenities and information such as real time arrival and departure information at major stops.Further details can be found at http://www.trimet.org/news/pdf/factsheet.pdf. Passengers can ride any bus, MAXtrain and/or Streetcar free within the downtown "Fareless Square" area.

Portland Transportation OptionsPortland, Oregon, has a particularly impressive public transport system which is well integrated across a number ofmodes and easy to use. I was impressed with the frequency, speed and quality of their transit services. Theirprovision of transit is oriented around reducing motor vehicle usage, so all alternatives are promoted, includingwalking, cycling, car pooling and so on, see http://www.portlandtransportation.org/getaround/default.htm#optionsA single ticket can be used across all modes of transit. A range of support mechanisms are provided to encouragepeople to use transit, and a number of localised Transportation Management Associationshttp://www.ldtma.com/index.html exist to encourage the use of alternatives to the single occupant motor vehicle.This assistance includes a Commuter Consultation to help people find the best commuting alternative (personalor web based http://www.trimet.org/commute/index.htm), a web based car pool matching servicing(http://www.carpoolmatchnw.org/) and flexcar, part time access to a motor vehicle when you need it, seehttp://www.flexcar.com/ for details. Most impressive is the emergency free riding home program that enablescertain transit users to obtain a free taxi or overnight rental car to get home in the case of an emergency, such asa sick child (http://www.trimet.org/employers/erh.htm). Bicycling is well supported. Buses, streetcars and MAXlight rail all take bicycles (http://www.trimet.org/guide/bikes.htm), and a range of supportive infrastructure such asbike lockers, racks, showers etc is provided, details at http://www.portlandtransportation.org/Bicycles/default.htm.Public transport also has high accessibility to those with disabilities(http://www.trimet.org/guide/accessible/index.htm).

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It should be noted that a number of US States, such as Oregon and California require certain employers to provideeither commute options, with mandatory car travel reduction targets(http://www.deq.state.or.us/nwr/ECO/Who%20is%20affected.HTM), or mandatory cash out of benefits where freeparking is provided to employees (http://www.lao.ca.gov/2002/parking/031802_cash_or_parking.html). Researchshows that where parking is not free or low priced the sharing of vehicles (car pooling) increases significantly.

An earlier section on planning/implementation relationships described the close relationship between land useplanning, facilitating Transit Oriented Development, and the actual transit system. The strength of this relationshipin Portland was very impressive and appeared to be yielding very positive results. For example, in transit areas11.5% of all trips were by transit, relative to 1.2% in other areas, furthermore non auto modal share was 41.9% intransit areas relative to 12.7% elsewhere. The latter demonstrates the benefits of mixed use and having a morepedestrian and cyclist friendly environment in these more intensive localities.

San Francisco BARTWalnut Creek and Berkeley in San Francisco are examples of areas becoming intensive mixed use centres due tothe proximity of the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit http://www.bart.gov/index.asp) light rail system. Berkeley isexperiencing redevelopment to revitalise older run down areas, often with the assistance of the BerkeleyRedevelopment Authority http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/redevelopment/. Examples of projects undertaken by aspecific local developer can be found at http://www.panoramicinterests.com/projects/. Walnut Creek hassubstantial new development and is emerging as the major regional centre in East Bay. The growth of high qualityhigh density (4-6 storey) residential and mixed use development adjacent to the retail and office core of WalnutCreek was quite noticeable and indicative of what is occurring around other centres in the San Francisco area. Forcurrent projects see http://www.ci.walnut-creek.ca.us/planning/CurrentProjects.htm and for an overview seehttp://www.abag.ca.gov/planning/theoryia/compwalnutcrk.htm.

Pasadena- Metro Gold Line (LA), Mixed Use and Local TransportPasadena in eastern Los Angeles has a number of new residential developments that were constructed inanticipation of the now operating light rail system, such as one that uses air space over the Memorial Park station.A number of other intensive mixed use developments adjacent to light rail stations are underway in Pasadena,including 347 residential units (with 21 affordable units) and 1100 square metres of retail, 1,200 parking spaces tobe provided in a 3 and 4 level subterranean garage -- 600 spaces for the Del Mar Gold Line station parking use,and 600 spaces for residential parking. This particular project received incentives from Pasadenas RedevelopmentAgency (see later). http://www.cityofpasadena.net/planninganddevelopment/development/redevelopment.asp

The Gold Line is part of the network of light rail lines (Metro http://www.mta.net/) being constructed in LosAngeles, a number of which replaced lines removed in the 1950s! Metro is the Los Angeles MetropolitanTransportation Authority which delivers public transport services (buses and light rail) throughout Los AngelesCounty as well as some cycleways, and transit lanes. It is also the regional transportation planner. It is managed

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by a Board drawn from Local Governments in the area. A complex mix of Federal, State, County and local taxdollars as well as fare box revenue and bonds funds metro. One percent of county sales tax funds the agency.

On a more local level, Pasadena has a bus system called ARTS which has a number of park and ride areas long itsroutes, and features a low fare of 50 cents, run by the Local Government. The distinctive buses feature public artlivery. They are complemented by a dial a bus system for the disabled and those aged over 60 who have difficultyusing a fixed route system. A number of other bus systems serve Pasadena, and integrated ticketing is available.http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/trans/transit/trans_arts.asp

Redmond (Seattle) Overlake Transit CentreAn example of co-locating housing with a mass transit centre, and encouraging mixed use in the heart of theOverlake commercial area of Redmond (Seattle) is the Overlake Transit Centre. Redmond City has amended itsplanning controls to encourage housing in the area. Overlake is a major employment centre with about 600 firms,including Microsoft's main campus. Shops, restaurants, personal services and major retailers are within a shortwalking distance. The Village at Overlake contains 308 affordable housing units of differing sizes of which 30 arewheelchair accessible and barrier free. Residents have a day-care centre on site, free buspasses and parking spotsfor Flex Car, a local car-sharing program. Only six out of 10 households renting at Village at Overlake have a car.On the ground floor of the development is a large park and ride facility together with a bus interchange. Projectdetails are at http://www.kcha.org/aboutus/newsreleases/Overlake12-10-01.aspx.

U PassAn interesting innovation is the U Pass, which is available in many cities. Principally directed to tertiary students,but also available in some areas through employers, the U Pass allows unlimited public transport travel for oneyearly fee. There is evidence that it has increased patronage significantly. Example at:http://www.washington.edu/upass/getting_upass/what_is_upass.html .A number of cities have also usedTravelSmart type programs to positive effect, whereby users can get a personalised guide to the public transportsystem that meets their needs.

Regional and Local Management of TransportThere is considerable local/regional autonomy in the planning and management of transportation systems in NorthAmerica, for example Vancouvers Translink http://www.translink.bc.ca/. Translink is also an instrument of theProvince but is controlled by local municipal authorities via Greater Vancouver Regional District (GRVD, see above)appointments to the Translink Board.

TransLink has responsibility for the following, within the GVRD: transportation planning and funding; operation of the regional transportation system, which includes the bus transportation system, rail

transportation system, custom transit services, the Albion ferry service; and Funding cycling facilities and the Major Road Network; and transportation demand managementTranslinks services funded primarily from transportation revenue sources fares, fuel taxes, parking taxes, vehicletest fees, vehicle charges and tolls.

Lessons:US cities are making considerable investments not only in mass transit, and transit supportive development butalso in facilities and services that increase transit use. These include integrated ticketing, U Pass and TravelSmart.Despite these investments car usage is continuing to dominate transport. This points to the need to plan for publictransport as a long term change process, and to target individual behaviour at the same time as providing services.

Local/regional planning and management responsibility for mass transit is enabling greater responsiveness to localneeds and improved links to land use, economic, social and environmental planning objectives. Newcastle shouldcontinue to strive for a regional autonomous public transport system for these reasons. Strong links between theregional transport agency and regional planning agency is also essential to get good results.

MIXED USE/ HIGHER DENSITY DEVELOPMENTWhilst continued segregation of land uses in new development is continuing, there is a clear trend towards greatermixed use. Mixed use is occurring horizontally (ie. different uses in adjacent buildings, and vertically (ie. differentuses on different floors ion a building). This is evident in localities visited, as diverse as Redmond, Seattle, LaderaRanch in Orange County Los Angeles and well as inner city redevelopment in Portland. The mixing of land uses isrecognition of the need to reduce automobile dependence by locating compatible uses together, and of the

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benefits of co-locating complementary land uses, such as shops and housing. The provision of higher densityhousing also alleviates pressure on other housing stock by increasing market choice and the diversity of offerings.

In every city there were examples of large scale mixed use development and redevelopment. Mixed use was mostevident in redevelopment areas, such as Emeryville in San Francisco. In Emeryville within three blocks were theheadquarters of the Pixar animation studios, new multistorey housing, adaptive reuse of warehouses to artistshousing, a Council administration building and retailing. This was in an area that ten years before was a decliningindustry and warehouse area. http://www.ci.emeryville.ca.us/econdev/redev_project.html

Mixed use housing and community facilities in Emeryville

In quite a few areas mixed use (usually in a transit supportive location) had been facilitated by incentive fundingfrom the local Redevelopment Agency (see later) and Environmental Protection Agency brownfields siteredevelopment grants.

In Portland Oregon the light rail system (MAX http://www.trimet.org/max/index.htm) is being progressivelyextended through the urban area as a series of spines. The Metropolitan Council (Metro http://www.metro-region.org/) has a program of facilitating new mixed use development adjacent to light rail stations, as describedin regional planning above. At Gresham a considerable amount of new development is occurring which will resultin a new mixed use centre complementing an existing traditional Mainstreet. Key components of this developmentare being facilitated by public-private partnerships through Metro in order to reduce development risk untilsufficient development momentum is achieved (see under Planning/Implementation links).

In most cities higher density development is being directed around centres and along transport corridors. The sitesvisited generally paid considerable attention to complementing the public realm by addressing the street andproviding a comfortable perceived scale to the passer-by. Some high rise development inspected in Vancouverfeatured a podium level of terrace style housing, each dwelling with a front entrance to the street.

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Ground floor dwellings address the street with separate entrances- high rise/ high densitydevelopment, Vancouver

A number of cities are consciously targeted there area improvement programs to areas undergoing intensificationas another way of supporting the land use planning objectives.

The largely single detached dwelling dominated areas are not be subjected to the same degree of change as theareas targeted for intensification. In many cases this is for political reasons (local opposition) as well as planningreasons (to reinforce centres and transit systems).

A common basic design for mixed use/higher density residential was evident in a number of centres. This consistedof a four to six storey residential building built to the street boundary, with retail or commercial on the groundfloor. The development was usually higher than this in the City Centres. If the area could not support sufficientretail or commercial development, it was only located on the corners of the development with residential on theground floor in the middle. The marked exception to this was Vancouver, which had large numbers of high towerblocks in the suburban centres. This enabled view sharing and also the provision of considerable ground or podiumlevel recreational space.

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High density transit oriented development at Barnaby, Vancouver

Lessons:Mixed use is clearly gaining momentum as a preferred land use, usually in conjunction with transit. Mixed use isbeing encouraged at both the fringe and on redevelopment sites. Even in the United States, public sectorincentives have been necessary to encourage the initial development of intensive mixed use at transit stops. All ofthese trends are relevant to Newcastle, which under the forthcoming Lower Hunter Regional Strategy will have aconsiderable opportunity to encourage intensive mixed use in key centres and corridors through the City. However,land use regulation may not be sufficient to stimulate development and other incentives, such as subsidies orfacilitated site amalgamations, may be necessary.

Scale is also important. Firstly, the perceived scale at the street must be comfortable to the passer-by, andpreferably ground floor residences should have their primary entrance on the street. Secondly, opportunities tointensify development should not be squandered by underdevelopment. Sufficient scale and quantity ofdevelopment must be reached for the benefits of mixed use and transit to be delivered.

The Newcastle Urban Strategy is consistent with the trends occurring overseas. The Corridors RedevelopmentStudy currently underway will help guide increased development intensity and mixed use along the transportcorridors leading from the Newcastle City Centre. This study is timely and will assist Council in increasing densitiesconsiderably along these corridors, as has occurred successfully overseas.

REVITALISATION, RETAILING AND MAINSTREET MANAGEMENTMany street based shopping centres have Mainstreet style committees funded through mechanisms similar to ourspecial benefit rates. These committees are called BID, or business improvement districts. In general they appearto have greater drive provided from the business sector than is our experience, and appear to be a little betterresourced. Whilst they perform similar functions to our Mainstreet committees, they also take a greater role inservice delivery, particularly in relation to street cleaning and general presentation issues.

In virtually all the cities visited the following were evident: High quality street furniture kept in good condition Absence of graffiti, except on designated aerosol art walls. The exceptions were run down areas of town. High quality well planned public spaces, often with flower plantings Activation of public spaces through permanent or mobile caf/ coffee outlets, and/or public activities such as

art displays An abundance of public art Presence of roaming greeters, a combination information, security, presentation person Footpaths were generally of concrete or bitumen unless in a special place Good orientation and direction signage Quality displays of merchandise in shop windows

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Use of valet parking to maximise car parking availability and consumer convenience Good public transport including free travel zonesOther than LA and some of the rundown areas of central San Francisco, there appeared to be a higher level ofpride in the condition of public spaces than is evident in Newcastle.

PasadenaPasadena City Centre is divided into several precincts each with a distinctive character: Old Town (Old Pasadenahttp://www.oldpasadena.org/about.asp, and for a detailed description of activities http://www.oldpasadena.org/news/2003OPARonlinesm.pdf, Civic Centre, Playhouse District, and Southlake. OldTown in particular has a rich heritage of buildings dating around 1910-1930, although these are also evident in theother precincts.

Old Town Pasadena

Old Town is the retail core, Civic contains public and commercial administration, Playhouse contains arts relatedactivity (but not as much as a cultural precinct, with most of the cultural institutions appear to be scatteredwithin all Precincts).

The Precincts each constitute a separate Business Improvement District (BID) with revenue raising. The effect isnot dissimilar to the Alliance, however the legal structure of the BID committees is very similar to our precinctcommittees (the BID committees are effectively an instrument of Council and enabled by State legislation) The BIDdo area improvements, marketing and all cleaning. They employ greeters in distinctive uniforms. The greetersperform a number of functions including security, visitor information, as well as identification ofoperational/housekeeping problems and referrals to get them fixed.

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Pasadena BID Greeter

Some 15 years ago the City Centre was in need of assistance due to economic decline. Council adopted a strategyof charging for on street car parking (meters), and providing a number of car parking stations as a key factor toencourage revitalisation. Some of these car parking stations are above ground with active shopfronts on theground floor, and others are underground, with the land above made available for private development. The netrevenue from the car parking has been spent on area improvements, such as street furniture, lighting and analleyway program.

Parking meter revenue tied to area improvements

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The Council has also worked closely with local developers to achieve high quality redevelopment within very stricturban design criteria. For example, historic facades and existing buildings are not able to obtain approval to bedemolished, thus adaptive reuse is common.

Existing and new alleyways are being upgraded/created associated with new development. The alleys areprevented from being dead by locating a key attractor, eg. Cinema, within the alley/courtyard system. Councilprovides lighting and street furniture of a consistent style in the alleys.

San RafaelSan Rafael provided another example of downtown revitalisation. San Rafael is a traditional downtown, which in1990 commenced a three year visioning process, which led to a new City Plan and land use changes in 1996.Dramatic changes have occurred, although considerable development is still to occur.

Stage 1 of a corporate office complex has been established on a formerly contaminated brownfields site adjacentto the Town Centre. This development was facilitated by the San Rafael Development Agency, which is fundedthrough tax increment financing. Private developers are now driving much of the redevelopment.

We then inspected the adjacent Downtown Transportation Centre to hear about planning issues involved with aproposed commuter rail station. The centre is currently a bus interchange but will soon include a rail station, dueto the construction of a new rail link through the area. There was formerly a rail service in the area that was closedseveral decades ago. The ultimate rail link will cover a corridor just over 100 km in length. The right of way for therail link will also incorporate a cycleway, and most of the stations will include transit oriented development aroundthem. (http://www.sonomamarintrain.org/faqpage.asp)

The Downtown area has undergone significant rejuvenation with the formation of a BID(http://www.downtownsanrafael.org/) and its joint activities with the San Rafael Redevelopment agency(http://cityofsanrafael.org/redevelopment/). The result is a very attractive Main Street along traditional lines withsignificant sensitive redevelopment taking place to introduce mixed use (particularly housing) and intensifieddevelopment. A Downtown Community (redevelopment) Plan was produced by the City of San Rafael to guideredevelopment, through a participative process (http://www.gast-hillmer.com/sanrafael.html). I have detailed information on the process used and the outcomesachieved.

A good example was the former Macys Department store site (now called Rafael Town Centre) which has becomeground floor retail, with offices and residences (one third affordable) above. This is an excellent example of acreative response to the loss of the main streets only Department Store. As part of the redevelopment a newpublic plaza was created. Further details of San Rafaels housing initiatives can be found athttp://www.abag.ca.gov/planning/theoryia/houssanrafael.htm . 10% of new downtown housing must be affordableand a variety of incentives exist.

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Mixed Use replaced a closed Department store in San Rafael

Another example is the restored Rafael cinema and film centre. This link has further details,http://cafilm.org/nav0_2.html. This is an outstanding art deco cinema that as a result of restoration andsympathetic renovation/extension has several cinema screens. It has professional quality facilities and is usedregularly for post production film editing, thus assisting the areas economic base. It was redeveloped using amixture of public and private donor funding, for more information see this link http://cafilm.org/nav1_3.html

Portlands River/ Pearl DistrictThe River District is a former industrial and warehousing district on the periphery of the Portland City Centre. .http://www.pdc.us/ura/river.asp It is undergoing significant redevelopment as a mixed use area, with over 5000additional dwellings being constructed in multistorey buildings. A new streetcar line serves the District (streetcarsare smaller, travel slower and have more stops than light rail, details athttp://www.heritagetrolley.org/existPortlandProjectDesc.htm). It features a number of significant heritage buildingsand a major effort has been made to provide 2,000-3,000 affordable dwellings as part of the development. Someparts of the redevelopment are up to 14 stories in height, often with retail on the ground floor.

A redevelopment strategy was adopted by Portland City in 1994 and the redevelopment area declared in 1998. Asingle developer, Hoyt Property, who own some 30 blocks, controls much of the land. It is one of severalredevelopment areas being facilitated by the Portland Redevelopment Authority(http://www.pdc.us/about_pdc/faqs.asp) which was established by Portland City Council as its redevelopmentagency.

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Mixed use on the Street Car route in the River/Pearl downtown area, Portland

An example of the redevelopment occurring is The Brewery development which involves the adaptive reuse of twobuildings and the construction of new buildings providing some 60,000 square metres of office space, 22,000square metres of retail, around 350 dwellings, and the Portland Arts Institute http://www.aipd.aii.edu/about.aspwhich offers courses from fashion design to multimedia. A supermarket and huge book store are adjacent.

A more detailed article on the redevelopment of the River District and the adjacent area can be found athttp://www.americanrivers.org/site/DocServer/chapter_6.pdf?docID=433

Yerba BuenaYerba Buena occupies an area of around 35 hectares over several blocks in central San Francisco. It had becomerundown and calls rose for its redevelopment and revitalisation. Through the San Francisco Redevelopment Agencya redevelopment scheme was produced following considerable consultation with a very wide range of stakeholders.

What has resulted is a very intensive and creative mix of land uses. The peripheral blocks contain commercial and2500 dwelling units, including 1400 units of affordable housing. The three central blocks contain a conventioncentre, major hotels, and entertainment complex, open space, cultural facilities and childrens facilities.

The massive Moscone Convention Centre (can cater for Conferences of over 6000 delegates) occupies two blocks.However the roof of one of the blocks houses a childrens museum (http://www.zeum.org/home_flash.html), ayouth oriented recreation facility consisting of an ice skating rink and bowling alley, and an excellent outdoorchildrens playspace and playground. Because of the topography of the area the roof level is entered via an atgrade walkway from the adjacent block. The adjacent block contains The Esplanade and East Gardens, whichare adjoining outdoor gardens and public spaces featuring a high standard of design and public art. Majorpedestrian paths cross the site through these gardens, which are an oasis amidst the urban activity surroundingthem. They also contain the Martin Luther King memorial constructed as part of an amazing water feature. Detailsof these spaces can be seen at http://www.yerbabuenagardens.com/features/gardens.html.

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An inclusive cultural precinct with attractions for all ages

A number of facilities address these spaces, including the Sony Metreon (http://metreon.com/), which is a hightech entertainment complex featuring a multiplex cinema, restaurants, an online game complex, electronicarcade/adventure games and so on.

On the other side of the Esplanade Garden is the Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts(http://www.ybca.org/b_ybca.html) This organisation is an edgy (contemporary!) multimedia organisation withperformance/display spaces and events in visual arts, performance arts and film/video with a significanteducation/community programs component.

Immediately across the road is the outstanding San Francisco Museum of Contemporary Art(http://www.sfmoma.org/).

The net effect is a series of vibrant activities and facilities interspersed by tranquil yet urban spaces. There areattractions for all age groups, and the mix of activity from the free playground and gardens to the commercialMetreon, and from high culture to kids games is quite extraordinary. As a cultural precinct Yerba Gardens reflectsthe diversity, inclusion and innovation than is intrinsically part of San Francisco, and also reflects a real confidencefor the future. This only real downside is that it contains a Starbucks. The buildings in the precinct are generallynotable in themselves http://www.yerbabuenagardens.com/features/buildings.html.

An overview of the overall development can be found at http://www.sfgov.org/site/sfra_page.asp?id=5610.

Lessons:The role of Business Improvement Districts (Mainstreet Committees) in area revitalisation is important. Councilshould continue to support these Committees but also look at new models for committee operation, which providegreater autonomy and local business empowerment. The redevelopment area in Portland (Riverside and Pearl)offer some guidance for Council in how to continue the redevelopment of City West as a mixed use higherresidential density area. This may mean revisiting the Development Control Plan to increase development intensity,facilitation of redevelopment sites (Redevelopment Agency model) and work with tertiary institutions such as TAFEto achieve greater vitality and benefits from their presence in the area. The provision of adequate affordablehousing should be an important objective of Council in City West, and mechanisms to achieve this should befurther investigated.

Yerba Gardens illustrates how diverse a cultural precinct can be. Its appeal to a wide range of age groups andinterests is outstanding as is the extent to which reflects the nature and character of San Francisco in its designand activities. Many cultural precincts are too limited in their target groups. Yerba Gardens shows that it is possibleto appeal to a wide section of the community but still exhibit excellence and promote cultural development.Newcastle should bear this in mind as its Civic Cultural Precinct develops.

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CAR PARKINGI attended a presentation by Donald Shoup at the American Planning Association Conference. He has recentlyreleased a book titled the High Cost of Free Parking. His thesis is that the cost of providing parking is transferredto other goods and services, if the parking is priced below its real cost. He says that excessive parkingrequirements/provision has a significant negative impact on urban form and design, traffic congestion and publictransport usage.

He believes cities should charge the market price for kerbside and built structure car parking, and users as muchas possible should share that offstreet car parking. For example, in Petaluma, California, developers pay a fee tothe City rather than providing their entire car parking on site. This money is then used to pay for shared parking,thus maximising the utilisation of what car parking exists. He believes that if all the car parking spaces are taken,then the charge for parking is too low. He also believes that the net revenue for car parking should be invested inarea improvements in the locality, in order to provide a return and improve its attractiveness for investment (as inPasadena).

Free or underpriced parking is a no no!

His research has found that where car parking is free, the single occupancy of motor vehicles is higher and whenparking is charged more car sharing (and public transport) occurs. Combined with transit lanes and othermeasures the sharing of motor vehicles and mass transit can be increased even further.

Case study: PasadenaIn the early 1990s Pasadena began charging for on streetcar parking. Local retailers initially opposed this. Thecompromise was that all net parking revenue would be spent on area improvements. The City borrowed moneybased on the projected parking revenue stream and used it to implement a $5 million streetscape improvementplan. In 2001 the meters yielded $1.4 million, with costs of $0.2 million, given a net revenue stream of $1.2million. Roughly half the net revenue pays for higher service levels to the area, whilst the other half is used toservice the loan.

Pasadena also has a program whereby businesses pay a yearly fee on lieu of providing off street spaces (in 2001this fee was $115 per year) Details at http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/planning/deptorg/curplng/pkgcredit.asp. Asthis fee is less than the cost of providing an offstreet space, businesses usually elect this option. Furthermore, as aheritage area where the provision of additional parking is difficult, the measure has stimulated adaptive reuse thatwould have been otherwise unviable. Around 1,600 spaces are provided in the built structures, less than would berequired for the individual developments because of sharing of the spaces across uses with different demand peaksacross the day and night. This permits 1.5 in lieu credits to be issued per in lieu off street space. The fundingdifference is made up from user charges of the off street spaces. My observation when visiting the area was thatPasadena is booming and that the quality of the streetscape, public art, street furniture and lighting is extremely

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high. The built car parking structures were well designed architecturally and each