Environmental Design and Public Health in Victoria

Yesterday the Parliamentary Inquiry into Environmental Design and Public Health in Victoria, tabled their report in the Legislative Council.  To view the report click here.

"This report explores the compelling evidence linking ...public health challenges to the planning and design of our urban environments. We know that there are a range of health benefits from designing environments that encourage physical activity through walking, cycling and using public transport. We know that open space and green areas not only provide opportunities for physical activity but also benefit mental health. We are also increasingly aware that the style of sprawling low density, car‐oriented residential development that characterised Victorian urban fringe areas in the past can be a barrier to people making healthy lifestyle choices.

This report emphasises the importance of considering health in the design of our communities, such as: creating environments that promote physical exercise and social interaction; providing access to healthy, fresh food; facilitating access to green and other open public spaces; and ensuring inclusivity and accessibility in the built environment.  Such health‐promoting elements can be purposely designed into the built environment, or, as is too often the case, designed out."

Urban Renewal and Social Housing Seminar

Urban Renewal and Social Housing Seminar

This seminar will see a panel of expert speakers examine three major contemporary developments in Melbourne, to highlight the issues and opportunities surrounding urban renewal and social housing.

Marius will talk about how the multi-year Carlton Redevelopment, which integrates affordable housing via a major urban renewal project, delivering 1100 private, social and retirement housing units via a development plan framework. The project has been a catalyst for related initiatives in sustainability, community engagement, infrastructure and services.

Matthew will examine the Port Phillip Housing Association’s approach - its key objectives as well as the benefits and challenges associated with partnering with the private sector. There will also be discussion around the built form, such as the issues of type and quality in private versus community housing, and the social aspects of housing - community consultation, place management and potential outcomes.

Dom will talk about The Nicholson in East Coburg, a highly innovative, place-managed, mixed-tenure, mixed-use apartment complex constructed using Unitised Building’s factory-based modular construction methodology. Dom will also discuss how it could serve as a commercially replicable model for the integration of social and affordable rental housing into inner-city private sector developments.

FACILITATOR: Steve Dunn - Director, Structure Planning, Growth Areas Authority

PRESENTERS:

Marius Vogl - CPP and registered architect in the Department of Human Services

Matthew Reszka - Director of Reshape Development

Dominic Arcaro - Chief Development Officer at Places Victoria

Please register online or fill out the flier and return to Eula ateblack@planning.org.au or via fax on 03 9347 2900. If you have any inquiries please contact Mateusz at mbuczko@planning.org.au.

http://www.planning.org.au/events/event/housing-seminar

Our Dwindling Food Variety

The infographic linked below shows how many varieties of fruits and vegetables people used to be able to buy. Now this shows American data, and no doubt there were many regional variations and also many cases of the same vegetable having different names in different places, but even so, the idea that we could go from 544 varieties of cabbage to 28 is startling.
National Geographic Magazine - NGM.com

There's no reason to believe that Australia is any better than America in this regard. I think it's a big issue for planning, albeit tangentially. Unusual varieties of food plants thrive in conditions where lots of people are growing their own food and saving and sharing their own seeds. This encourages regional genetic diversity amongst plants, as people with varying climactic conditions will only save the seeds that perform best in their environment.

To me this suggests that planning and urban design policies which discourage home gardens work against food security by reducing the conditions which encourage genetic diversity in food plant species. I refer to policies which restrict garden size, estates that are 'designed' so that all front gardens must look similar and which reduce social interaction. Vegetable gardening often flourishes in conditions where people can share their oversupply of produce and also share their seeds. It promotes social interaction.

I would like to see planning and urban design policies which encourage the humble vegie garden more. Maybe the big developers could plant espaliered fruit trees along driveways as part of the landscaping package in new estates. Even better, perhaps they could set aside land for community gardens: there could even be a trade-off of smaller lot sizes for dwellings but mandatory access to a plot in the community garden - similar to the allotment policies previously practiced in Great Britain. Councils should not ban people from planting out their nature strip with food plants if they want to.

I would also like to see garden design fashions encourage productive gardening. I'm seriously considering ripping up my front lawn and setting out a vegetable garden instead. Why should a front garden have to consist of a lawn and garden beds? Yes I might lose a few carrots every now and again but the way I see it, if someone is desperate enough to steal vegies, well I don't mind making the donation.

Creative Public Art

 How great are these? Shepparton has hit on a creative and relatively inexpensive way to create public art through the town. It becomes both a community engagement activity as well as a tourist attraction.

The cows link back to the region's dairy heritage. Some of these were done by professional artists, some were done by locals. There's a strong sense of whimsy.

This is just a small sample of the many cows around the town. They aren't all the same template - some of them have clearly been created individually from the frame out.

 I also love that they have someone who moves the cows around on a regular basis. This would hopefully mean that the display never gets 'tired', and that even the locals discover new elements to the installation all the time.

This seems like a great public art model to me.

Rockhampton in QLD has a similar display of fibreglass cattle, however there aren't as many, they aren't as gloriously painted, and they are very definitely bulls, not cows.

Victorian Government Reveals Wind Farm Bans

Victorian Government Reveals Wind Farm Bans:

'via Blog this'

The Victorian Government "will amend planning laws to give households power to veto wind turbines within two kilometres of their homes. Turbines will also be banned in the Macedon and McHarg ranges, in the Yarra Valley, on the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas, and within five kilometres of the Great Ocean Road and the Bass Coast."

I am going to be interested to see the consequences of this decision for planning as a whole. The Minister seems to be saying that preservation of the landscape needs to take precedence over other planning considerations. Yet many forms of development can change views and alter people's perceptions of their environment. So the question is, does landscape impact now need to be given greater weight in the assessment process? Will it mean that anyone proposing a development has to mitigate their impact on the landscape as much as possible?

This is a big issue for planning major infrastructure such as roads and power, as they are highly visible and impossible to disguise.

It is also an issue in terms of what factors are given greater weight in planning decisions - facilities which benefit the whole community, such as power generation, or the views of a small number of individuals. Previously it has always been assumed that everyone in society has to accommodate some elements of development that they may not like, because they serve the greater good. It's almost impossible to escape something undesirable in the modern landscape, whether it's a road, a drain, a power line, a factory or whatever. But they are part and parcel of living in an industrialised society. In other words, you've got to accept the bad along with the good if you want to receive the benefits of modern technology. So why should the impact of wind energy turbines be considered any differently to the impact of any other form of infrastructure?

I wonder if it is because there is an attitude than new energy generation isn't needed, because of the power stations in the Latrobe Valley? And seriously, has any wind turbine opponent ever gone and had a look at their landscape impact?! Why is it wind energy that is so divisive?

It will be interesting to see if large scale solar power generation or geothermal power generation plants generate the same opposition as wind energy.

The spread of Diabetes since 2004 - Slate Labs

The spread of Diabetes since 2004 - Slate Labs

This is a fascinating look at the spread of disease. I have another map somewhere which shows access to healthy food options, and there's a direct correlation. I'll hunt it out and post it.

The map is interesting because it shows that 'lifestyle' diseases are geographically based. The next step of course is working out what it is about those areas that makes them unhealthy .. urban form? Access to fresh food? Transport infrastructure? Culture?

It would be very interesting to do a similar mapping exercise in Australia and work out if we also have geographic clusters of disease.

Urban Demographics: Parking Rates Worldwide

Urban Demographics: Parking Rates Worldwide

I always knew parking rates were a rip-off in Melbourne!

How soon does a bike pay back its initial carbon footprint? - By Brian Palmer - Slate Magazine

How soon does a bike pay back its initial carbon footprint? - By Brian Palmer - Slate Magazine

This is an interesting article on the relative carbon footprint or different types of community transport, undertaken using life-cycle assessment. One of the most interesting comments is that trains are usually much worse than almost any other form of transport, if assessed on a per passenger basis. This is because of the number of trains per day that have very few passengers. It is only the peak hour trains, jammed full, which have a good environmental performance. Part of the issue with trains is also the need for dedicated land and infrastructure, which all adds to the impact.

I wonder if this means that a flexible bus system, with different sized buses for different times of day, and using the same road-space as other vehicles, would have a better environmental performance than rail?

A Freeway for the Mornington Peninsula?

Study eyes Peninsula freeway - The AGE, 10th August 2011

It was probably inevitable that there would be rumblings in this direction once Peninsula Link was underway. Some eastern-suburbs holiday home owners must be salivating at the idea of having a freeway connection all the way down to Sorrento.

I hope this study looks at the need for connections to and between activity centres on the Pensinsula. As the population in this part of the world ages, there will be many people who are unable to drive who will become very isolated if there are no alternative means for them to get around.

ABS Spotlight : Spotlight

ABS Spotlight : Spotlight

This cracks me up - it's a great little animation to show how the Census data can be used to profile communities. I'd love to know how they put this together, someone is a very clever programmer.

NYT: The High Line Isn’t Just a Sight to See; It’s Also an Economic Dynamo

This is a really interesting comment on the impact that urban improvement has had on property values. It shows that investing in improving an urban eyesore has directly led to increased investment and increased the value of adjacent properties. This could be used as an argument for public investment in parks and gardens. It could even be used as an argument for private investment in parks and gardens!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/nyregion/with-next-phase-ready-area-around-high-line-is-flourishing.html?_r=4&src=me&ref=nyregion

The Secret History of America’s Interstate Highway System » INFRASTRUCTURIST

The Secret History of America’s Interstate Highway System » INFRASTRUCTURIST

It just goes to show ... Melbourne isn't the only place where highway planning has been going on for years without the general public being aware of it.

Walkability Forum

The Promoting Liveability through Walkability Forum will be held at the Darebin Arts Centre on the 28th June 2011. See the attached link for more details.


http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102998497947-434/Walkability+Forum+Program.pdf

Joint Built Environment and Health Promotion sector Forum concerning the Parliamentary Inquiry into Environmental Design and Public Healt

Joint Built Environment and Health Promotion sector Forum concerning the Parliamentary Inquiry into Environmental Design and Public Health

Date: Friday 17 June 2010

Time: 10am – 1pm

Location:        MAV, Level 11, 60 Collins Street, Melbourne

Speakers:

•           The Hon. David Davis, Minister for Health

•           Assoc. Prof. Trevor Budge, Latrobe University

•           Assoc. Prof. Carolyn Whitzman, University of Melbourne

•           Kelly Anne Jolly, Director Cardiovascular Health, Heart Foundation

•           Assoc. Prof. John Fitzgerald, CEO, VicHealth

•           Jason Black, Project Director, PIA

Facilitator:      Ruth Davies, PIA Social Planning Chapter Chairperson

Cost: Free

To Register:      http://events.mav.asn.au/?mav_conference_detail_UNID=451

The Forum will be opened by the Health Minister who will be followed by a panel of experts each presenting for 10 minutes representing a range of professionals from the planning and health fields on various issues concerning the relationship between the built environment and community good health.  The presentations will then be followed by a 1 hour workshop to assist with the development of submissions to the inquiry from the Institute, other bodies and individuals.

Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy | Video on TED.com

This is a succinct and so very true dissection of the reasons why people don' get engaged in local politics and planning.

Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy | Video on TED.com

Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy | Video on TED.com

This is a succinct and so very true dissection of the reasons why people don' get engaged in local politics and planning.

Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy | Video on TED.com

Effort to Restore Children’s Play Gains Momentum - The New York Times

This is an interesting article on the need to relearn how to play.  It's pretty sad if kids in America are being given instruction manuals on how to engage in creative play!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/garden/06play.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage

The article points out the modern dilemma of the lack of child freedom.  If children can't move around between each others homes and the local playgrounds independently, it makes it very difficult to get together and play.  This is a real loss, since playing together is one of the important ways to learn social skills.  We need to work on creating urban spaces that are both objectively and subjectively safe for children, and give them back their freedom.

Thinking creatively about public open space

There's many ways to provide and manage public open space in the inner city.

New York seems to have thought up several different ways.  Have a look at this article, which talks about how the city has reclaimed an abandoned, above ground railway line (Like Chicago's Elevated Line) for public parkland.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/high-lines-next-phase-less-glitz-more-intimacy/

I was also impressed with Bryant Park, which is in behind the New York Library [http://www.bryantpark.org].  The management structure for the park is unusual.  The Park is owned by New York City, but is run by a not-for-profit, private management company, which seems to mostly comprise local enighbours.  This gives management flexibility in the types of uses allowed on-site, but presumably should prevent over-commercialisation to the point that residential amenity is impacted.  The park includes everything from open lawn to a free library, where anyone (including children) can sit down and read a book for a while.  What a great idea!  It's also an exemplar of active private philanthropy.  I hope I get the opportunity to visit again.

Front and Centre - Planning for Community Hubs

This article was published in the December edition of the Victorian Planning News

One of the key events held in the 2010 Planning Week was “Front and Centre – Planning for Community Hubs”. This one-day Forum was organised by the Social Planning Chapter. Participants heard inspiring stories of successful community hubs, discussions on lessons learnt in planning for various types of hubs, and some thought-provoking discussion on their role in community development.

The Victorian P&E Act says that the purpose of planning is:

(a) to provide for the fair, orderly, economic and sustainable use, and development of land;

(c) to secure a pleasant, efficient and safe working, living and recreational environment for all Victorians and visitors to Victoria

  

Many planners (and most developers) take this to mean that we should wring the maximum amount of dollars out of land that we can, with everything potentially conflicting separated as much as possible. I think this is wrong. We should instead aim to wring the maximum social value out of land that we can. This means planning our communities in a way that encourages community resilience, social justice, diversity, harmony and vibrancy.

One way to achieve this aim is to plan the location of community services and facilities to promote place-making, community development and coordinated delivery of social services. In other words, to develop community hubs. I’m not talking about old-fashioned, 1960s-style community services, where every service had its own building, which was often empty most of the time. Community hubs mix everything in together, so that people can go to the one place for everything they need, effectively from the cradle to the grave. Governments around the world now recognise the importance of well-planned and integrated service hubs in community building for regional, inner urban and fringe locations.

Community hubs challenge the traditional model of service delivery, which funds everything separately and keeps everybody separated. But the rewards of taking that next step are significant.

Some of the key lessons to come out of the Forum are:

• There are resources available to help plan Community Hubs. Lily D’Ambrosio, Minister for Community Development, launched the new guidelines Developing Community Infrastructure, which were developed by the DPCD and the GAA to support organisations to develop high quality, integrated community facilities in Victoria.
• Don’t assume that Community Hubs are just expanded libraries or schools. Cam Rose, CEO of the Western Bulldogs, gave a fascinating account of how Whitten Oval is being transformed into a focus of community development in the West. His belief is that the Club and the Region are inextricably linked, and that the key to long-term sustainability for the Bulldogs is building the capability and enhancing the self-image of the Western Region. 
• Community Hubs should be planned holistically. Denise Francisco from the DPCD spoke about her work on the Footscray Renewal Community Infrastructure Plan. This project started from first principles to determine actual community need, rather than just imposing services based on existing building capacity.
• The spatial dimension is important. Carmel Boyce from AECOM reminded us that most social planning objectives have spatial implications, and that the spatial dimension can either cause social problems (e.g. childhood obesity) or enhance health and social integration (e.g. walkable neighbourhoods). Social equity, community sustainability, accessibility and walkability are all important considerations in planning community Hubs.
• Social investment has economic benefits. Andrea Skraba from SGS Economics and Planning discussed her work in evaluating the economic benefits of social infrastructure. These can include higher property values in neighbouring areas, more efficient land use outcomes, better service delivery efficiency for social service providers (including synergies between providers), economies of scale in operating community infrastructure, increased patronage and the potential to leverage funding from other partners. They also include better access to employment and life opportunities for their visitors, which are the most important benefits of improving the delivery of community services.

 Examples of successful provision of community Hubs were presented, including:

• The Clayton Community Centre – City of Monash

• The Inverloch Community Hub – Bass Coast Shire

• The Hume Global Learning Centre – City of Hume

• International examples reviewed by Rod Duncan of the DPCD.

These case studies showed that Community Hubs can be developed at any scale, and turned to almost any purpose, including community arts, business incubation, employment generation, adult education and social services.

The Forum concluded with a Panel discussion looking at planning Community Hubs from the perspective of a consultant, a developer, the community, DPCD and a social planner. David Brown, the Director Community Infrastructure from Delphin Lend Lease, provided a quote which sums up the purpose of planning for community hubs beautifully:

“If we believe in the benefits that flow from being part of the life of a functioning community, the challenge is simply to find more ways of bringing people back together again.

Investment is the key to the creation of stronger communities and, ultimately, to a stronger nation. But this is not only about dollars.” Hugh Mackay.

Investment in community hubs is investment in stronger communities.

Community Hubs

Today's Age has a good article about community involvement in developing a Community Hub in Callignee in Latrobe.  It's particularly interesting in that the local community were able to negotiate with Counil and the architects to get specific design elements to suit them.
The article is here:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hub-set-to-bring-a-town-together-20100718-10g4m.html