Keeping up with planning
As our cities grow, people in roles across the industry need to navigate an increasingly complicated and constantly moving planning process, says Urbis managing director John Wynne.
The Property Council Academy has teamed up with Urbis, Australia’s largest planning advisory firm, to present a new one-day course, Planning for non-planners.
Planning experts will share their insights to help non-planners understand the system in their state and the implications for urban development.
Wynne, one of Australia’s most experienced planners, says planning is becoming more complex in cities across the world as population growth and urbanisation take hold.
“It seems to people that planning controls and regulations are always shifting and changing – and this is true. Planning must continue to evolve to keep up with rapid pace of change in our cities,” he says.
“Australian cities are experiencing population growth at levels we’ve never seen before, and that is leading to higher density and intensity of development. We’re feeling now what Asia and Europe have felt for many decades.”
Wynne says the “urbanisation megatrend” means cities must be much more vertical than ever before – and this brings with it new layers of planning complexity.
“Planners need to be thinking about how to accommodate future growth while protecting natural resources, and how we create productive places and effective transport networks not just now, but for many decades to come,” he says.
Planning for non-planners has been developed to help people in the industry gain a better understanding of what Wynne calls the “whys, whats and hows of planning”.
“Every state has a different strategic plan and set of regulations, so this course will help attendees in their state make sense of a very complicated, constantly moving process,” he adds.
Government regulations, permit applications and processes, planning scheme amendments and the impact of planning on project feasibility will all be put under the microscope.
“People will come away with a greater appreciation and understanding of the planning frameworks that they need to navigate in their jobs.
“It won’t make them town planners, but it will make them capable of understanding the impacts that planning has, and the role it plays in building our cities,” Wynne concludes.
Planning for non-planners will be held in Melbourne on 31 August and Sydney on 20 September, with Brisbane’s course on 26 August already sold out. Dates in other capital cities will follow.