ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE URBANISM

New Model for Post Earthquake Planning for Local Communities in Christchurch

In the February earthquake, 64 commercial centres in Christchurch City suffered damage and disruption. While the Central City is being addressed through its own planning process, a different model is required for suburban centres. Timeframes are shorter, community expectations are heightened, and issues are more urgent.
Two of hardest-hit centres – Sydenham and Lyttelton – serve as demonstrations for the recovery and regeneration of other local centres. This process is being led by Kobus Mentz and his team. Over a short period they consulted with over 500 stakeholders – a rate unprecedented for many New Zealand communities – and prepared draft Plans with supporting implementation actions.
Unlike a normal centre plan approach, these Plans:

• Pinpoint early measures that provide immediate support to vulnerable businesses and people.
• Use empty ground for temporary landscapes.
• Find homes for displaced community activities.
• Embrace unique post-disaster regeneration opportunities.
• Look to strengthen the community’s disaster response in possible future emergencies.

Recently the Urbanismplus team presented back to over 800 people who gave majority approval to the proposed actions. Formal consultation on the draft Master Plans is now underway.

See article: ‘Need-To-Have trumps Nice-To-Have’ as published in Planning Quarterly 2011.

Property Council declares University Hill as ‘Best Master Planned Community’ in Australia

A second major win for this project which was conceived in 2004 by a unique client/council/consultant team led by urban designer Kobus Mentz, now director of Urbanismplus and supported by TTM, Prosperous Places and Urbacity (then Patrick Partners).

University Hill was been declared the 2011 ‘Best Master Planned Community’ in Australia at the Property Council’s national Innovation and Excellent Awards ceremony on 14 May 2011.

The mixed-use development is being delivered by MAB Corporation at Bundoora, City of Whittlesea. It contains over 1,000 new homes and incorporates significant commercial and industrial uses, offering local employment opportunities successfully integrated with residential, retail, recreation and community services and facilities.  The integration of such a large scale of employment within a mixed-use community has resulted in University Hill being repeatedly described as a ‘unique’ development.

This award follows the 2010 ‘Master Planned Development Award for Excellence’ in Victoria award from the Urban Development Institute of Australia.

2011 Award for unique rural towns and settlements strategy

Marlborough District Council and Urbanismplus have received a Nancy Northcroft Planning Practice ‘Highly Commended’ award. The ‘Growing Marlborough’ strategy is an industry-leading growth management approach for non-metropolitan areas. The Marlborough District is composed of many small settlements, each with unique opportunities and limitations. A number of District-wide issues are also evident, particularly around infrastructure and economic development planning.

Growing Marlborough is a unique bottom-up growth strategy, based on detailed investigations of 19 settlements across 6 major multi-disciplinary workshops from 2008 to 2010. Over 1,000 public and stakeholder attendees were directly involved in guiding the issues identified, concepts tested, and outcomes prioritised. The ideal outcomes for each settlement and local networks of settlements were then revisited from a District-wide perspective and process of internal alignment.

Planning crystallises into action at Wollongong

Wollongong’s position as the capital of the Illawarra Region will be substantially strengthened by its new Action Plan for the CBD. The plan lays out future priorities and includes costs, timelines and responsibilities. It pulls together over 60 projects, including business retention, investment attraction, streetscape and public space upgrades, a focus on building quality and traffic improvements.  The plan has the buy-in from major stakeholders, such as business owners, property developers and the local community.

The catalyst of the Action Plan was a series of strategic sessions in late 2010 run by Kobus Mentz and his Urbanismplus team, along with Mike Cullen of Urbacity.

New Town wins esteemed UDIA award

Designed in 2004 by a team led by Kobus Mentz, University Hill has been awarded the 2010 ‘Master Planned Development Award for Excellence’ by the Urban Development Institute of Australia – Victoria (UDIA).

University Hill is a comprehensive mixed-use development at Bundoora, City of Whittlesea. Located next to RMIT University, this project is developed by MAB Corporation. Other team members were TTM, Prosperous Places, and Urbacity (then Patrick Partners).

The focus of development at University Hill was employment creation.  By designing a town centre with retail focused around the public realm, substantial medium density housing provision and a range of high quality residential accommodation options, all elements work together to attract employment creators.

The mixed business and industry precinct, one of nine, will consist of a range of affordable industrial and office spaces and its proximity to RMIT supports the development of technology and knowledge based business opportunities.

UDIA describes University Hill as a “fully integrated mixed-use community” that creates a “unique living environment”.

Substantial GDP gains from a unique socio-economic action plan

Urbanismplus’ action plan pulls together a complex range of existing and new educational, health, employment, housing and social support initiatives for the Tamaki Transformation Programme – the only urban regeneration project of its kind in New Zealand. Economic analysis estimates the Development Plan will grow New Zealand’s GDP by $2.0 billion (1%) and directly support 20,700 jobs over 30 years¹.

The 20 year Plan delivers on central, regional and local government priorities and delivers a strategic sequence of spatial and non spatial initiatives. Innovative foundation period projects include pathways to health sector careers for Maori and Pacific residents, a technology-based learning network for children, and state housing renewal demonstration projects. At the heart of the strategy is a redeveloped people’s park and living precinct. A community service hub serves as a catalyst for private sector participation and regeneration.

The Government has committed to multi-sector and community collaboration to deliver change in Tamaki. The Plan defines stakeholder and agency roles to ensure effective implementation.

¹ Tamaki Development Plan: Economic Value Proposition, October 2010, SGS Economics and Planning Pty. Ltd, SGS

New Zealand’s ‘Everyday Urbanism’ techniques transferable to Vancouver

Significant work is being done in high profile urban areas, such as city centres, waterfronts and new planned settlements.  However, there is little theoretical or practical knowledge being developed to direct place-specific growth in the vast in-between areas where many people live and work. Achieving sustainable urbanism in suburban areas and small settlements, where limited public sector investment is available and market forces are weak, requires well-tested rather than trend-driven responses. In mid 2010  Kobus Mentz delivered a presentation on his “Everyday Urbanism” practices as part of the “Cities Programme” at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. The presentation focused on sharing tools and techniques for delivering small interconnected spatial and non spatial initiatives to across the city and the in-between spaces in the city. 

China / New Zealand International Sustainable Cities Forum

The first anniversary of the signing of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was marked by the International Sustainable Cities Forum, held in Auckland in early 2009.  The Forum invited 50 senior business and government leaders from China to meet with their New Zealand counterparts.  Delegates came together to look to develop commercial and business opportunities within New Zealand, with a specific focus on sustainable development.

The Forum involved a programme of presentations by New Zealand business and development sector leaders, including the Minister of Internal Affairs, and John Banks, Mayor of Auckland City. Kobus Mentz was invited to speak on Urbanismplus’ sustainable urban growth planning practices, presenting demonstration projects from New Zealand, Australia, China, India and the U.K. 

IBM Global Innovation Outlook – Asia

In 2009, IBM ran three international Global Innovation Outlook think-tank events.  The events brought together leaders from the fields of policy, business, research and the third sector to jointly consider issues affecting our world today. Kobus Mentz joined 30 other selected specialists at the Asia / Australasia event to discuss sustainable practices that would address water, healthcare, energy and economic development challenges. The event was set against the backdrop of Asia urbanising at a rate of 100,000 per day, which is equal to the creation of seven New York Cities a year. 

Lucknow Town Centre – Concept Plan Review

In 2008, Urbanism+ worked with Woodhams Miekle Zhan International to conduct an Urban Design Review of the Concept Plan for Lucknow, the capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh, in Northern India. The review highlighted opportunities for improvement of: the movement network – to increase legibility and connections; the open space network – to provide an integrated series of open spaces and clear drainage pathways; the pattern of land use – to provide a balance of employment, living and recreational opportunities. Urbanism+ proposed a series of initiatives that improved the development efficiencies and urban economics, consolidated the open space areas to form a meaningful open space corridor, lined high amenity areas with high density group housing, and supported the movement networks with visual links to ensure that travel is direct and easily understood.

ICTC conference “Intelligent City Wide Networks”, Geelong

The 2009 International Cities and Town Centres Society’s (ICTC) annual conference provided a platform for recent experiences and new ideas to be shared amongst the built environment. Kobus Mentz presented a paper titled “Intelligent City-Wide Networks”. The paper outlined new techniques to enable all disciplines to meaningfully participate in the creation of inclusive transport networks.  The methods presented demonstrated how to balance tensions commonly evident between the quality of place and through movement, arterial routes and land use interface, passenger transport, general traffic, freight vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, and economic, cultural, and environmental issues.

“Hastings Urban Issues”, Hawkes Bay

In order to protect the fertile and highly productive land surrounding Hasting’s CBD, the town has recently tackled the need for intensification of its town centre. In 2009/10 Urbanism+ worked with Hastings District Council to develop a strategy for the future of the CBD and its wider urban areas.  The resulting initiatives included a proposal for a series of open spaces throughout the CBD, methods for capitalising on the movement economy within the area and the development of a robust position for Hastings within the District’s Transport Strategy and Heretaunga Plains Growth Strategy. The project was delivered over a very short period with high staff involvement and community support.

Abu Dhabi Eastern Region Growth Plan Charrette, Al Ain

With a population of approximately 374,000, Al Ain is the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE) second largest city, after the capital Abu Dhabi. In 2009, Larry Beasley, special advisor to the UAE Urban Planning Council, led a design charrette to develop plans and strategies for the growth of communities surrounding Al Ain. Kobus Mentz was invited to join the charrette to lead the design of a new town at Al Hayer. The design is a contemporary interpretation of the middle eastern social logic around ‘fareeqs, barahas and sillas’. It also responded to the extreme heat and water scarcity faced by the region and its aspirations for energy efficiency.

PUSH: Partnership for Urban South Hampshire, England

The ‘Partnership for Urban South Hampshire’ (PUSH), is a collaboration between the eleven local government authorities in South Hampshire, England, who, together with government and local organisations, are working to promote sustainable, economic-led growth and regeneration for their region. In early 2009 Kobus Mentz was invited by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and the UK Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) to contribute to PUSH’s ‘Design Action Plan’, which was developed to guide the growth predicted for the sub-region.

Christchurch Urban Development Strategy used as demonstration model by UK Government

The Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy involved a spatial planning component, completed by Urbanism+ in 2008. It has been used by The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) as a demonstration model to help urban designers in the UK achieve outstanding sub-regional planning and urban design. CABE was set up in 1999 to provide expert independent design advice to architects and urban designers in order to improve the quality of design and development in the UK.  CABE’s role is to help public agencies commission better design – design which is functional and sustainable and which delights people – and to provide guidance and practical resources to urban designers contractors, architects and planners involved in creating towns and cities.