Compact City Planning Instruments

Glafkos Constantinides

May 2015

EUKN Policy Lab & DTP&H

The issue we discuss has two main aspects (1) Why compact development matters in planning? Which planning objectives need to guide us? What is society gaining

(2) How do we deliver compact developmentWhich instruments ? What planning process ?

What is the big deal with Compact Development?

THE THEORY: A historic objective in planning, almost the reason why planning exists / to achieve outcomes

• Reduce uncertainty• Work within a predictable timeline • Bring needed changes• Deliver positive benefits to society, such as:

• SOCIAL Social cohesion (What the market cannot

offer, lower cost housing, etc. ) • ECONOMIC Economic efficiency and

Infrastructure utilization Integrated solutions

• ENVIRONMENTAL Avoidance of waste, Shorter trips and reduction of car dependency energy

requirement

NEW TOWNS WERE PLANNED TO ORGANIZE AND MANAGE POPULATION OVERSPILFROM LONDON, LIVERPOOL, MANCHESTER AND SCOTLAND

TO DO THE JOB DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS WITH APPROPRIATE POWERS WERE ESTABLISHED

REALITY To achieve the benefits of compactness we need to invest in the quality of planning process • Planning needs to be proactive• Planning needs to have resources• Planning needs to have the necessary legal powers• Planning needs to have legitimacy from society and Government

In other words Society needs to give to planning all the instruments for pursuing

positive actions / compact development Planning needs to be central to public policy on development

Consistent with Democracy and the Rule of Law, planning process needs to have: • Powers to control the location of development and the land market • Powers to restrict / regulate the exercise of development rights • Powers to raise revenues from land development • Powers to assemble land for integrated and organized development • Powers to engage all the stakeholders in development• Powers to enter into PPP

PLANNER’S (ideal) PERSPECTIVE

Planners need legal, financial and technical powers, skills and tools to achieve this

IS THIS ‘COMPACT DEVELOPMENT’ ? IF NOT WHAT IS IT?

Different cities grow in different ways….. For different reasons

• Transport • Income • Access to land • Policies • Social values

THIS IS SPRAWL

Where are the services?How is it accessible?Who pays for the infrastructure?

THIS IS SPRAWL

SOCIAL

ECONOMICENVIRONMENTAL

COMPACT DEVELOPMENT IS DESIRABLE IT LEADS TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

DO WE HAVE THE TOOLS TO ACHIEVE COMPACT DEVELOPMENT?

(1) DO WE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? Preconditions for compact development:

• Powerful planning system • Robust planning tools • Financial resources for actions • Political support • Social commitment to planning

TWO SERIOUS CONCERNS

(2) IS IT ALL POSITIVE?

Cohesion / limited choices of life style Economies / diseconomies Higher densities / congestion / green

space, diversity

1 Mumbai India 14,350,000 484 29,650

10 Shanghai China 10,000,000 746 13,400

21 Cairo Egypt 12,200,000 1,295 9,400

32 Istanbul Turkey 9,000,000 1,166 7,700

40 Athens Greece 3,685,000 684 5,400

41 Ankara Turkey 3,100,000 583 5,300

42 Madrid Spain 4,900,000 945 5,200

43 London UK 8,278,000 1,623 5,100

44 Tel Aviv Israel 2,300,000 453 5,050

47 Moscow Russia 10,500,000 2,150 4,900

48 Barcelona Spain 3,900,000 803 4,850

114 New York USA 17,800,000 8,683 2,050

116 New Orleans USA 1,009,000 512 1,950

117 Copenhagen Denmark 1,525,000 816 1,850

120 Las Vegas USA 1,314,000 741 1,750

124 Antwerp Belgium 915,000 596 1,550

125 Denver USA 1,985,000 1,292 1,550

Source: http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/largest-cities-density-125.html

Rank City / Urban area Country PopulationLand area(in sqKm)

Density(people per

sqKm)

City Population Area km2

Pop / km2 Population to cover

urbanization costs /

KM2

Nicosia 225,000 225 1,000 1,000

Tel Aviv 2,300,000 453 5,400 5,400

London 8,278,000 1,623 5,100 5,100

Barcelona 3,900,000 803 4,850 4,800

URBANIZATION EXPANSION COSTS ARE IMPORTANT

WHO BEARS THE COSTS IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT

Nicosia has a costly urban growth pattern

Compact development is about how cities grow

Two parameters:

• Growth and location

• Growth and how development is organized

NICOSIA URBAN REGION NICOSIA LOCAL PLAN AREA

COMPACT DEVELOPMENT IS NOT ONLY A MATTER OF LOCATION

WHAT MATTERS IS THE ORGANIZATION OF DEVELOPMENT

• Mixed uses• Density • Mobility• Accessibility• Services• Amenity • Open Space• Design quality• Unity AND

diversity

Organized development in an area where the rest of development Is open ended

• PPP / Land for Investment• Intensification of development • TDR / Green Corridor • Land Assembly / Exchange• EU Grant Funds /Planning vision• Betterment / Infrastructure• Accessibility P Transport /

Bicycles • Governance/Implementation Team• Higher priority for intervention

Working with an overall vision

Change from piecemeal

to a positive outcome

Tools for ‘quality’ Planning Process

Spatial instruments Non-spatial instruments Tackling fragmentation:

Land pooling / readjustment / assemblyGovernance:

Upgrading of role of planning

Tackling piecemeal development: Planned Unit DevelopmentDevelopment Companies

Legitimacy / Acceptance: Planning at the centre of government

policy

Tackling financial dependency: Betterment / compensation

Community Infrastructure Levy

Tackling mismatch between spatial and wider policy objectives:

Fiscal Policy / Tax policy

Tackling ownership issues: Transferable Development Rights

Tackling isolation: Framework for working with the private

sector for win-win results

Tackling the need to deliver outcomes: Public Private Partnership (PPP)

Tackling the need to deliver outcomes: Public Private Partnership (PPP)

Tackling dependency on details:More facilitation and strategic control

Tackling the need to ‘cost / benefit’ development: Going for growth with benefits

To sum up• Compact development remains a key objective

• There are challenges in delivering it

• To achieve it we need to empower the Planning Process

• Planning needs closer interaction with wider social and economic policy, Planning at the centre of Government’s policy on development

• What is important is to achieve Organized Development (what does ‘compact development’ mean beyond Organized Development)

• In Cyprus achievements could be greater if Society offered Planning all it needs to work (legal powers, resources, priority and support)