Insights
Attracting jobs to outer urban growth areas
Posted March 17, 2016
Successful suburban employment hubs
When we move from a ‘regional’ level to a specific location, additional lessons can be learnt from successful suburban employment hubs that have developed across the world. Case studies previously investigated by SGS to help develop strategies for places like Tonsley (southern Adelaide) and East Werribee (Southwest Melbourne) have revealed that successful suburban employment hubs have been strategically located within growth corridors, on greenfield sites in single ownership. Outside of these fortuitous endowments, the case studies also revealed the following success factors:
Public transport infrastructure
Public transport played a significant role in consolidating each hub’s position within its corridor rail and/ or bus interchanges linking the precinct with the broader metropolitan network were a key feature.
Coordinated infrastructure commitment and planning
Early commitment to delivering this public transport and other key items of infrastructure in an integrated manner was evident, as was the coordination between government agencies and the private sector.
Planning vision, governance and mechanisms
The visions guiding the suburban employment hubs are very similar, in that they all feature:
- mixed use development forms
- significant residential development either within or directly adjacent to the employment hub themselves
- dense development, usually of a minimum of three storeys, particularly around the public transport nodes
- integrated development in that the services and facilities required by a residential community (e.g. parklands, entertainment, dining, public transport, etc.) are provided on site; and
- the provision of a high amenity, pedestrian-friendly environment.
Importantly, the vision was matched with cooperative planning ‘governance’ arrangements and mechanisms that catered for development flexibility whilst ensuring the vision was maintained.
Government facilities
Government facilities (such as hospitals, universities, government offices and service centres) are common features across the case studies both as key anchor tenants and enabling infrastructure items.
Superior ICT infrastructure
Superior ICT infrastructure features regularly in terms of both the quality and price of telecommunications services to employment and residential sites alike.
Marketing/ investment recruitment campaigns
Each of the hubs has strong branding and marketing campaigns which highlight government commitment to the site, its planning vision and strategic location, amongst other things.
Applying the lessons to outer urban growth areas
Given the context and lessons provided above, a framework for developing and diversifying the economies of Australia’s outer urban growth areas should consider:
- Optimising ‘population-driven’ jobs. Ensuring that outer urban growth areas are ready to accommodate jobs that service population growth (e.g. construction, retail, education, etc.) is essential and is least difficult to achieve.
- Knowing your product/ market to capture ‘footloose’ jobs. Stakeholders need to collectively understand what competitive advantages their growth areas have, and how this needs to be communicated/ targeted towards ‘footloose’ industries. Statistical identification of these jobs is one thing: effectively communicating the right messages to private sector decision-makers is another.
- Truly collaborating. The private sector undoubtedly drives job creation/ industry diversification. Only by truly engaging with the private sector can the public sector truly develop a path for regional economic development. Sometimes this means giving private sector leaders the power to drive development efforts. It also means encouraging growth area businesses to work together, which is not an easy task but is often made easier when bidding for a mutually beneficial opportunity.
- Economic development roles. It is not the public sector’s role to ‘pick winners’. The public sector needs to build the region’s capacity to respond to economic opportunity, by taking a multifaceted approach, but not by risking public funds on commercial ventures. Substantial ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ infrastructure development effort is required to build regional capacity.
- Planning for liveability. Growth area communities need to be attractive places. Too often major investors (public and private) ignore the contributions that their projects can make to urban liveability. Often the cost is not greater, it just takes an outward-looking project philosophy.
And we should not limit ourselves to permanent ‘relocation’ thinking – society benefits from every day a growth area worker stays in the region, particularly if they can do so without compromising agglomeration effects. Working from a shared location like a digital work hub, or part-time teleworking from home or should be actively encouraged.
Finally, it is important to listen to women – if improving labour force participation is one of Australia’s “greatest productivity challenges”, then the outer urban growth areas are the natural place to start, given the concentration of young families, and the child-rearing roles women often play in this context.
Reference: [1]. World Bank, 2009. World Development Report 2009 : Reshaping Economic Geography https://openknowledge.worldban... handle/10986/5991
For further information contact:
Andrew McDougall
Principal & Partner I Executive Director
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