Putting Placemaking Into Practice - Special Report

REPORT NO.2 OCTOBER 2014

special report_ place Placemaking: marketing spin or development essential?

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Putting placemaking into practice brings lasting value… intro to goofhere The idea placemaking has captured the attention of the property industry over recent years. It’s become a fashionable word, but is it more than just another fluffy workshop or some smart marketing spin at the tail-end of a project?

Place and community have been at the heart of the RobertsDay DNA since we first started out over 20 years ago.

Placemaking – as we define it - helps communities build their own unique sense of identity and underpins everything we do.

What we do is embodied in Great Places – our unique, place-led process that positions place as the ultimate brand promise and puts it at the centre of every step, from a project’s conception and delivery through to its long-term identity.

Delivered by our specialist national team of urban designers, architects, town planners and placemakers, it’s helping likeminded clients add market edge with a place-led approach across the country.

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More than that though, what we’ve discovered over 20 years is that the discipline of the Great Places process engenders creativity and a competitive advantage. From the discovery of a unique piece of site history that becomes the bedrock for a project brand, to scouting out the latest crop of small bar and restaurant entrepreneurs to position a new mixed-use apartment project, place gets us thinking well beyond just a design and an approval so that a project can rise to its full potential.

It also generates a set of values that everyone can get behind to inspire community support, create an authentic point of difference, and benchmark a project’s market success.

However, with the rise of placemaking as the latest development trend, we’ve also seen the tendency to create the one-size-fits-all placemaking formula.

The problem with this is that while it may be efficient, the sameness of execution can actually create a pervading sense of placelessness.

In this RobertsDay Special Report we share some of our practical experiences on the many ways focusing on place can add real value to projects in new and established communities. These stories show that there is no single formula for delivering results, and that the right process, with the right focus and team, will unlock your project’s real point of difference.

DEON WHITE MANAGING DIRECTOR

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Prioritising place_ intro to gogreat here places is the true goal of urban planning. Get it right and an Creating all-important sense of community can grow; get it wrong and your project risks becoming bland and uninviting, says RobertsDay’s Murray James.

Placemaking plays an important role in defining the personality of a development and creating its unique sense of identity.

Commercially, placemaking allows a development to capitalise on the distinctiveness of its location. If done well, this enables differentiation and a unique brand awareness that can resonate with the market, bringing economic return through strong sales, real estate values, occupancy rates and growth in jobs and investment.

But the value of placemaking extends far beyond the economic. It allows people to build emotional connections to a place, which in turn, builds strong communities.

So how do you foster that genuine sense of place in a development?

MURRAY JAMES SENIOR URBAN DESIGNER, ROBERTSDAY Murray’s experience includes sustainable community design, master planning and placemaking. He advocates a collaborative approach to design and values the role local stories can play in keeping people connected to place.

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“While a sense of place has a relationship to the physical form, it is largely borne out of people’s interactions in a place and their emotional attachment to it,” says Murray James, Senior Urban Designer at RobertsDay. Architectural cohesiveness and landscaping certainly play a part, but creating opportunities for neighbours to forge bonds over a front fence, in the local park or at the shops, are equally vital elements of placemaking. Building ‘third spaces’ like cafes and community centres, where people can interact, feel connected and put their personal stamp of ‘place’ on a neighbourhood, are also important.

As people attach more and more value on authentic experiences and the character of place, we must ensure our designs feel organic and relevant to a local area, not generic or formulaic. Get it right and your project will flourish with its own unique sense of identity. Get it wrong and your venture may become another offthe-shelf development that can only compete on price alone.

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Investing in place_ the benefits

‘MILLENIALS’

ACTIVE BOOMERS

PREFER LIVING IN A WALKABLE NEIGHBOURHOOD

INVESTING IN PLACE, TWO GENERATION’S VIEW ON THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITIES. AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION, MAY 2014

$1 SPEND ON WALKABLE NEIGHBOURHOODS

5.4 X RETURN ON

INVESTMENT

ATTRACT

20% PREMIUM ON VALUES

INFRASTRUCTURE

THE ECONOMIC CYCLE: A BUSINESS CASE FOR INVESTMENT IN CYCLING IN WA, RAC 2012

METROPOLE PROPERTY STRATEGIST: MICHAEL YARDNE, 2013

SPENT AT AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS

3X

STREET TREES

GREATER RETURN FOR LOCAL ECONOMY

THAN

EVERY

SPENT AT A CHAIN STORE

AMERICAN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ALLIANCE: MULTIPLIER EFFECT, QUOTED IN GOOD FOR BUSINE$$, HEART FOUNDATION, 2013

85%

OF SURVEYED BUSINESSES SAY QUALITY OF STREETSCAPE ATTRACTS

CUSTOMERS & TENANTS ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF GOOD WALKING ENVIRONMENTS, CENTRAL LONDON PARTNERSHIP, 2003

ADD MORE THAN

PROPERTY VALUE LANDSCAPE & URBAN PLANNING, DONOVAN AND BUTRY, 2010

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New places Placemaking for new developments can be challenging because there often is no existing community to engage or underlying identity to entice buyers.

Understanding what future residents might want involves gathering as much information as possible says James: “Placemaking is not about inventing a new reality but building upon existing stories, perceptions and attachments to place. You’ve got to get out there and see what makes an area tick.”

During the design process for Perry Lakes, located in Perth’s inner north-west, the community was very clear from the outset that the redevelopment needed to respect the site’s history and landscape values.

The Perry Lakes site was host to the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and featured a generously treed landscape that sat comfortably within the leafy character of the surrounding suburb of Floreat.

With the participation of neighbouring residents and the wider community, the design was able to weave in those elements that were identified as being most significant. The design response retains the significant tree-scape and recognises the site’s sporting heritage through interpretation of the athletics track, retention of the scoreboard, and reflecting the stadium terracing in the topography.

As well as demonstrating a genuine response to place, understanding and respecting community aspirations for the site led to widespread acceptance of the design and a smooth pathway to final approval.

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At Providence, Ripley Valley in QLD, Oliver Hume Real Estate Group used an online forum which invited people to ‘design their town’. This helped gather information about the aspirations of potential residents.

“It got people talking about the development before it had been built and was a great way to engage future residents in the process of placemaking,” says James.

The strategy had a dual purpose: building informal networks by getting people involved in the project, but at the same time gathering insights into desires and aspirations that could inform what was built.

“It’s a win, win approach,” says James.

Another useful placemaking technique is to draw on an area’s historical architecture or distinctive building materials to create a sense of tradition, cohesion, and place.

The development of Eynesbury, west of Melbourne, reflects this approach. Now home to thousands of people, the area was pastoral land in the latter part of the 19th century.

“There are some beautiful heritage buildings scattered across the site and the development has really embraced its heritage as part of the character and identity of the place,” says James.

The early phase of its development included a strong design code that drew on the character of the heritage buildings. This resulted in a cohesive and visually appealing built form that resonated with both the long-term and new residents of the neighbourhood.

The development also encouraged residents to invest in their street, including a requirement to build a front fence with a gate. The idea was to promote the concept of a country town front yard.

“It helped to create a sense of consistency and uniformity rather than a fruit-salad of landscaping visions.” said James.

That consistency of architectural style and design specification was significant in generating the town’s character and influencing how residents felt about their community - the essence of placemaking.

Existing places Generating or changing a sense of place in existing urban areas can be challenging. It is important to recognise that residents will have an emotional attachment to what exists. Engaging them and other stakeholders as early as possible in the process is vital.

“People need to be empowered to take ownership of the vision for their community. The role of the placemaker is to take them on that journey,” says James.

“The most important thing is to get the process of engagement right and to collaborate and negotiate with all relevant parties, some of whom may have competing interests.”

It involves peeling back the layers of what is important to a community, including understanding what their perceptions of that place are and how they have been formed.

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“There is no single definition of placemaking but adopting a placemaking approach can unlock wideranging benefits and positively influence the final outcome for communities and developers alike,” says James.

“While a sense of place has a relationship to the physical form, it is largely borne out of people’s interactions in a place and their emotional attachment to it.”

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PERRY LAKES REDEVELOPMENT, PERTH

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Designing for Place_ five essential elements 01_ 02_

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Engage early and openly: Engage stakeholders and communities as soon as possible in a collaborative process, particularly if they have competing objectives or priorities.

Address any issues early to minimise future roadblocks. The engagement process should be open and welcoming to everyone who wants to participate. esign for people: Good design gives people the opportunity D to interact with each other in their local communities, the heart of effective placemaking. That means defining a place’s centre and its edges; connecting different parts of neighbourhoods with walk and cycle ways; and creating a range of public places for a variety of people and experiences. Public art, architecture and local landscapes should reflect the local traditions of the place and its people.

Build for social diversity: Plan for a range of housing to suit different demographics and income groups. This allows residents to stay in the community they have grown attached to, such as older couples seeking to downsize or young families looking to upsize, simulating the organic growth of established communities.

Value public spaces: Create opportunities for people to interact and enjoy great experiences in public places. This may be in the area’s streets, parks, community gardens, markets, urban squares or civic buildings. So-called ‘third spaces’, like bars or cafés create a place for residents to come together and build informal community networks.

Cultivate community: Plant the seed for community early on in a project. This may entail the early provision of a café, corner store, community centre or funding for a community-led initiative. It can be a major project drawcard and, with community backing and participation, can evolve into much more.

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Why place matters_ case study, Damien Tangey Placemaking delivers benefits well beyond yield, says Birchgrove Property’s Managing Director, Damien Tangey.

When Birchgrove Property set out to create a large extension to Maiden Gully, a suburb to the east of Bendigo in Victoria, placemaking was at the top of its agenda.

“The key element for us was to create an essence of ‘place’ rather than just achieve the best yield,” says the company’s managing director, Damien Tangey.

A big part of that was incorporating the natural environment, including creating substantial open space and parkland that reflected its location in rural Victoria.

Twenty two per cent of the site was dedicated to open space, well above the five per cent required by regulations. Birchgrove Property also gifted a further 75 hectares of land adjacent to the site, to the community as open space.

“Those wonderful open spaces and linkages across parkland were part of our holistic vision of ‘place’ at Maiden Gully and a central part of how we saw the community developing there,” says Tangey.

Rather than be driven by lot yield alone, it was clear that retention of the site’s natural assets would offer additional benefits and could also support a greater diversity of housing types and depth of product mix.

“We wanted people to live at Maiden Gully over their whole lifecycle and be able to move three or four times within the community; from starting out as a young family to upsizing or downsizing in retirement.”

That meant planning for a whole range of demographics and different housing types, instead of just building the three to four bed homes on 600m2 lots that are the norm on the outskirts of regional centres.

“It was about creating a living environment that stayed relevant over the 10 year development cycle and well beyond.”

Tangey’s vision for Maiden Gully was borne out of an extensive consultation and engagement process, which turned the usual order of planning for a development on its head.

“Traditionally, planning a new development can be quite adversarial.

As the developer, we come up with a concept, table it with the local government and wait for the objections,” said Tangey.

“For our Maiden Gully development, we did exactly the opposite.”

“From those broad discussions we went away and developed a concept design which all the key parties had contributed to,” said Tangey. “It meant all the discussions about potential compromises took place up front as part of the original design process.”

The risk to Birchgrove Property was that it gave others the opportunity to take control of the design process, which could have had financial implications.

“But the reality was that we had engaged with the stakeholders early and set clear expectations on both sides.”

The initial consultation was followed by a community-wide event where locals and potential future residents could air any comments or concerns they had with Birchgrove Property, a team of industry experts, and local council representatives.

“Some people had issues when they walked in the door, but were more than satisfied once they had the chance to talk to us about the project,” says Tangey.

“The key to the end result was the work we’d done on the way through with each of the parties.”

“It showed me very clearly how valuable the process of early engagement is and how misconceptions and rumours in any market are best dealt with by involving the community in this way. It’s now standard practice for us.”

All relevant local government bodies were invited to a three-day planning and design forum in the Bendigo town hall, hosted by RobertsDay.

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Cars, bikes, people and place_ intro to and go here If cars parking dominated twentieth century urban planning then it is pedestrians, cyclists and place that will dominate the twenty-first says RobertsDay’s Stephen Moore.

The suburban sprawl in Australia’s main cities may have crowned the car as king, but evidence overwhelmingly points to the future being about cyclists and pedestrians and their ability to supercharge the ‘place economy’.

“When people leave their cars at home they spend more money on their shopping journey because they tend to linger in places for longer,” says RobertsDay Principal, Stephen Moore.

“It’s largely because they dip into their discretionary income as part of ‘experiencing’ a place, rather than just spending their daily needs income, which they would use if they drove straight to a supermarket, parked and drove home again.”

STEPHEN MOORE PRINCIPAL, ROBERTSDAY Stephen is the lead designer of RobertsDay’s Sydney studio, with experience designing projects throughout Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Asia, including new settlements, town centres and corridor revitalisations.

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“Of course we still have to plan for cars, but, as designers, we are asking how we can level the playing field and make our urban environments more enjoyable for walkers and cyclists too,” he says.

A 2011 report by the Heart Foundation found that each square metre of land dedicated to bike parking was five times more valuable than land dedicated to car parking. The study, based on parking in Lygon Street in Melbourne, showed that each car parking space generated $6 per hour for local businesses, compared with $31 per hour for bicycle parking.

Other evidence from a German study showed that bike-riders shopped more than drivers. The study, conducted in the town of Munster, population 300,000, looked at three supermarkets and self-service grocery stores where a range of products were available, as well as at a department store which sold clothes and boutique items. It concluded that, on average, cyclists shopped 11 times per month in the businesses surveyed, compared with seven times per month for motorists.

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“What is a great place?

Somewhere that excites and engages you, both intellectually and emotionally.”

Similarly, a 2012 study by the New York City Department of Transportation found that retail sales rose when bicycle infrastructure was built. The first protected bicycle lane in the United States on 9th Avenue in Manhattan (between 23rd and 31st Streets) led to an increase of up to 49% in retail sales of locally-based businesses.

A 2013 survey of a RobertsDay and Anderson Hunter Horne project in Sydney’s Bondi Junction also showed that the more vibrant and ‘place-led’ a destination is, the more economic value it can generate.

The Complete Streets project formed part of Waverly Council’s plan to enhance the vibrancy of Bondi Junction and its spaces. One of its goals was to prioritise pedestrians, cyclists and public transport in order to boost the local ‘place economy’.

That included narrowing roads and widening bike lanes and footpaths to make space for pop-up parklets.

“As expected, the proposal to remove the parking space at first provoked concern from vendors, who thought it would result in a decline in retail trade,” said Moore.

“But over a three month period, 60% of businesses surveyed said the pop-ups had a positive impact on their trade as a result of the improvement of the public realm.”

Prioritising good cycle and pedestrian infrastructure away from the main street makes good economic sense too, particularly with regard to house prices.

Moore says it’s no surprise that typically the most valuable neighbourhoods in Australia’s big cities are those that are liveable without a car: “Many of them were built before car ownership was the norm.”

A change in design Re-creating that accessibility and mobility in newer suburbs requires a subtle, but important shift in urban design and planning, says Moore. In Canberra’s West Belconnen project, a new area for 30,000 people, RobertsDay focussed on integrating pedestrian, cycle and public transport networks into the neighbourhood from the start.

“We’re trying to produce a six-star, Green Star community where walking and cycling significantly contribute to the project’s sustainability,” says Moore.

That includes techniques to naturally calm traffic as well as providing protected bike lanes to create safe, comfortable and enjoyable experiences for people who choose not to drive.

“Sometimes bike lanes can feel like mini freeways, with heavy concrete berms, concrete barriers and other bikeengineering techniques,” says Moore.

“We think the priority should be more on creating an ‘outdoor room’ where cycle lanes are part of a street that functions as a shared space from the start.”

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“As designers, we are asking how we can level the playing field and make our urban environments more enjoyable for walkers and cyclists too.”

Thinking like a pedestrian when designing is also a priority when considering modes of transport as part of place. That includes planning streets with human detail to create interest and a sense of place, like the use of public art or creative materials to add detail.

“What we’re understanding as a firm is that, in many cases, softer, often less expensive, place-led choices ultimately bring the most benefit,” says Moore.

“And that a change in the physical character of places will help level the playing field between cars, bikes and people.”

Cars, bikes, people_ lessons from Copenhagen Copenhagen is arguably Europe’s most bike-friendly city, but it didn’t happen by accident, says RobertsDay’s Adrian Cagnana who recently spent eight months living there.

In the mid 1970s, Copenhagen was heavily dependent on cars, much like other European cities at the time.

Strong motoring lobbies pushed for the widening of roads to reduce commuting times and the number of bikes in peak hour stood at less than 5,000 - the lowest ever recorded there.

Meanwhile, the number of vehicles in peak hour topped 20,000.

The oil shock of 1973 changed everything. As petrol prices went up, people opted for more economic modes of transport and the rise of the bike began once more. Thirty years later, cyclists in peak hour officially overtook drivers, bucking a worldwide trend.

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

Car and bicycle intensities on roads near Copenhagen town centre (morning peak hour) Source: Fiets Beraad 0 1970

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1980

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“The change in mindset in the 1970s put cycling back on the agenda and allowed the city authorities to really prioritise the bike and think about it more in terms of its transport potential than recreation,” says Cagnana, who lived and studied in Copenhagen last year.

Today, half of Copenhagen’s 1.2 million residents use a bike every day, with more than a third of people cycling to work and school or university. One thousand kilometres of bike lanes throughout Greater Copenhagen (346 km inside central Copenhagen) make it a model cycling city.

“The network is so extensive that you can go anywhere, making cycling an intuitive way to get around,” says Cagnana.

“People in Cophenhagen choose to ride because it’s the easiest and quickest form of transportation. They don’t worry about peak hour, parking or petrol; they simply go.”

The sheer volume of riders has created a culture of shared roads, says Cagnana.

“There are many dedicated bike lanes but a lot of them are not as explicit as in Australia. While some are separated out from cars when they need to be, in other places the streets are genuinely shared with the cars.”

That’s partly a reflection of road design, which has slowed traffic flow and made drivers more aware of the cyclists around them.

In some cases traffic lights are synced to the bicycles rather than the cars, which slows down the cars and allows riders to hit more green lights than drivers.

In other cases there are green lights that are dedicated to bikes only.

CYCLISTS ON THE STREETS OF COPENHAGEN

“They come on five seconds before the green lights for the cars, allowing the bikes to get moving ahead of the traffic, which puts them on more equal footing with the cars,” says Cagnana.

Most importantly, the city’s conscious efforts to prioritise bikes has left a lasting legacy on its sense of place, says Cagnana.

“Cycling is a part of the culture in Copenhagen and it affects your approach to life. You travel at a comfortable pace and life appears easier and more manageable.”

ADRIAN CAGNANA SENIOR URBAN PLANNER, ROBERTSDAY Adrian has a background in urban planning where his focus is directed towards community-led design approaches. He has travelled widely and worked on a range of project scales and contexts, providing unique insights into implementable, people-centred design responses.

With bike sales outstripping car sales throughout Europe and in Australia, there’s no reason why some of our cities couldn’t follow suit.

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Place-led design_ for transport, cyclists and pedestrians

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01_

Plan public transport so it runs as efficiently as possible. This may include planning bike parking areas near transport hubs so people can ride to the local bus stop.

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Slow traffic to allow cars and bikes and pedestrians to coexist. This may include tighter kerb radii to force cars to slow down at street corners.

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Integrate bike lanes into transport routes where it is safe to do so. Replace large concrete safety barriers with low cost options that allow cycle lanes to be part of the street.

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Provide facilities for cyclists including safe and secure bike parking areas and end-of-trip facilities like showers, lockers and bike storage areas.

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Think like a pedestrian when designing streets by using a variety of materials and architectural designs to make places more interesting and to keep people engaged.

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Take a creative approach to car parking, both its provision and management, to facilitate a positive impact on travel patterns and good urban design outcomes.

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GERMAN

Show Me The Money

SHOPPED

EACH

BIKE-RIDERS

CAR

PARKING

SPACE

generated

compared with

$6/HR $31/HR FOR

LOCAL

BUSINESSES

FOR

BICYCLE

PARKING

Heart Foundation Report: Good for Busine$$

11PER

TIMES MONTH

compared with

7 MOTORISTS TIMES PER MONTH FOR

European Commission

THE FIRST PROTECTED BICYCLE LANE IN THE UNITED STATES ON 9TH AVENUE IN MANHATTAN

LED TO AN

INCREASE OF UP TO

49

IN RETAIL SALES

OF LOCALLY-BASED

% BUSINESSES

ADRIAN CAGNANA SENIOR URBAN DESIGNER, ROBERTSDAY

Adrian has a background in urban planning where his focus is directed towards community-led design approaches. He has travelled widely and worked on a range of project scales and contexts, providing unique insights into implementable, people-centred design responses.

New York City Department of Transportation

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Great centres_ offer experiences beyond retail intro to go The rise ofhere experience-led shopping has changed the way we need to think about retail centres, says RobertsDay’s Andrew Brodie.

Since the global financial crisis there has been a seismic shift in how people approach a visit to their local shops. No longer satisfied with just getting the groceries, shoppers are looking for an experience when they venture out, particularly in cafés, bars, restaurants and public spaces that offer opportunities to socialise.

It’s forced a change in the way we think about what makes a successful shopping centre or high street, with increasing importance being put on the quality of the experience on offer.

“The one-size-fits-all approach is being replaced by an unprecedented focus on the need for high-quality businesses that offer something different to the competition,” says RobertsDay Senior Urban Designer, Andrew Brodie.

“Whether it’s a main street or a hybrid shopping centre that has major anchor tenants and boutique businesses, it must have the right tenant mix and offer an experience that is more than just about buying things.”

“That should include business owners who take pride in what they do and are prepared to push the boundaries of how they present their offering,” says Brodie.

ANDREW BRODIE SENIOR URBAN DESIGNER, ROBERTSDAY Andrew has extensive experience in the place-based design and approval of urban centres, notably Lakelands (WA), Bentley Regeneration Project (WA) and Huntlee (NSW).

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Part of cultivating a shopping experience includes improving the quality of the public realm, with the most successful main streets and centres being built around flexible public spaces that have a variety of mixed-use businesses, non-retail

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uses such as health, education and childcare, and good pedestrian and bicycle access. The sense of ‘place’ that they create encourages people to linger and treat the area as a destination rather than just a transaction.

Four essentials for_ competitive centres

“The longer people linger, the more they spend, with obvious flow on benefits for retailers and developers,” says Brodie.

Over the past decade, retail sales turnover has grown by an average of 34%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. But what is more remarkable is that there has been a 41% growth in expenditure in ‘lifestyle’ related retail, which includes cafés, restaurants and other food services.

“A unique shopfront or a vendor’s deep expertise in a service or product can be a big drawcard, particularly with people increasingly prepared to pay more for great experiences.”

It makes the opportunity to capitalise on main street and hybrid centres that allow for 24/7 trading greater than ever. But the quality and diversity of what’s on offer is the key as customers are increasingly discerning about the type and quality of experience they are prepared to pay for.

“It’s hidden in the basement of a beautifully restored heritage building, somewhere that people might not ordinarily stumble upon,” he says.

He says shopping centres and strips are a genuine ‘third place’, away from the predictability of home and work: “Socially they are places where people can experience things they might not ordinarily encounter in their day-to-day lives. They also have the ability to cater for the many, not just the few.”

“It has the potential to change shopping strips and centres from being primarily commercial hubs into places where people can gather to build the bonds of community – an important part of placemaking “ says Brodie.

01. Quality and diversity of businesses

A fine-grained mix of retailers whose shopfronts constantly engage potential customers is a must: shops need to be able to entice customers in rather than have them walk straight past on their way to an ‘anchor tenant’.

Brodie cites Bobeche, a small bar in central Perth as a good example.

“Once inside it’s like a step back in time to 1920s France, but the quality of food and drink on offer, the décor, music and service makes it a unique and enjoyable experience, which keeps people coming back for more.”

02. Quality of walking experience

50%

40%

39%

30%

Growth in Australian Retail Turnover (April 2004 - April 2014)

26%

41% average growth in retail sales turnover

32%

28%

34%

20%

11%

10%

0%

growth in cafes, restaurants & takeaway food turnover

Food Retailing

Household Goods Retailing

Clothing, Footwear & Personal Goods Trading

Source: Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2014

Department Stores

41% Other Retailing

Cafes, Restaurants & Takeaway Food Services

The quality of a person’s walking experience to and within a shopping centre or high street is also fundamental to its success.

“Ultimately, that boils down to how inviting a place feels,” says Brodie.

“Getting the basics right, like shelter from the rain and sun, is important but so is attention to perceived levels of safety and comfort, like how easy it is to cross the street.”

This can be a big challenge since many main streets have historically evolved along major transport arteries and don’t always lend themselves to alfresco experiences.

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“We need to replace the typical consumer mindset of ‘shop and go’ with ‘shop, eat, drink and maybe shop some more’.”

Wide footpaths and benches along a strip will improve shoppers’ walking experience, says Brodie: “Satisfying basic needs like rest are important, especially for the ageing population, but we also want to give people a chance to sit and watch the world go by.”

Ensuring shop entries are on the same level as footpaths is a small but significant way to improve patronage and customers’ walking experience.

“The key message is to encourage people to browse and socialise instead of just walking from their car to the supermarket and back. Achieving multi-purpose trips is the ultimate end-game, which has significant benefits environmentally, socially and commercially,” says Brodie.

03. Opportunities to spend more time on a shopping trip Creating a mixed-use environment around a public space is an effective way of encouraging people to linger within a centre or shopping strip, whether it’s a town square, shared space, a small park or a laneway.

Spaces that act as retreats from the shopping area (particularly traffic-filled ones) allow different types of activities to take place and encourage people to stay longer and, ideally, spend more.

The central green on Crown Street, Surry Hills in Sydney is a good example. Known as Shannon Reserve, it meets basic community needs but also hosts regular markets and other events. Framed by the award-winning Surry Hills Library and a landmark pub, it has created a real destination, which other businesses have been able to leverage from.

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PAINTING LAUGAVEGUR, REYKJAVIK

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Better Places_ better businesses The Beaufort Street Network has set the standard in collaborative placemaking, says WA’s City of Vincent Place Manager, David Doy. Five years ago a group of local residents and business owners in Perth’s Beaufort Street, which connects central Perth with its northern suburbs, got together to make their neighbourhood a better place.

“Great places don’t just happen. They need to be created by people for people,” according to the Beaufort Street Network.

The Network decided to become an active participant in the future of the Town Centre rather than entrust the local government to deliver the transformational change people wanted.

The group had a vision to transform the street’s traditional mix of commercial, retail and residential buildings into an “amazing place where people could relax, shop, meet friends, live, work and play.”

The Network set out to encourage small, creative, community-driven projects that generated positive changes in incremental stages. That included a vision to create a dynamic street culture that offered an eclectic mix of music, fashion, art and food in a traditional high street environment.

“It is a unique movement in WA, because it has come from the community, not local government,” says David Doy, who is a former chair of the Beaufort Street Network and now Place Manager at the City of Vincent (Beaufort Street’s local government).

“Sometimes Master Plans aren’t particularly relevant to local businesses, landowners or residents and for this reason they become difficult to implement.”

Its vision is to create a “vibrant, diverse and interesting place for people”, with five guiding principles:

”What the Beaufort Street Network is doing is the complete opposite: rather than the Council implementing something from the top-down, the Beaufort Street Network has promoted and undertaken incremental, organic change, from the bottom up.”

2. P romote a greener, safer and more comfortable street.

In its first year the group held a street festival, which the City of Vincent initially opposed. It included street performances by musicians and artists and attracted 40,000 people. Local cafés and restaurants set up outdoor bars and eateries, with substantial profits flowing into their businesses.

It is little wonder that one of the Network’s key slogans became: “Better Places = Better Businesses”.

1. Create a great place for people of all ages.

3. P rovide a range of interesting experiences on the street.

4. B uild momentum through innovative quick wins.

5. W ork together to create a better Beaufort Street.

The plan identifies short, medium and long-term actions to improve the street and is based on feedback from local businesses, residents and visitors. The City of Vincent is now fully behind this bottom-up approach to delivering great places and is advancing the preparation and implementation of Action Plans for each of Vincent’s town centres.

Last year the street festival drew 100,000 people. It is now Western Australia’s largest street festival.

“It has galvanized the support of the local business community,” says Doy. Supported by RobertsDay, the Network recently launched the Better Beaufort Action Plan, the first document of its kind in Western Australia.

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01_introduction / 02_prioritising place / 03_cars, bikes, people and place / 04_great centres / 05_accelerating authen “What’s important is that it’s a flexible space which can be used for a range of purposes, day and night. For example, the children’s playground offers something for young families and the range of bars and restaurants bring in diners,” says Brodie.

“That flexibility allows the public space to become a stage for the community to express itself, which is a key element of placemaking.”

The Bentley Regeneration Project in Perth – currently in development – is another good example of a centre focused on a flexible space. Instead of just a strip centre clustered along a linear transport route, this smaller scale centre is ideally suited to having a public space focus.

“The square will be designed as a ‘people first’, shared space, with distinctive retained trees, diverse activities and architecture of the highest quality, especially at ground level,” says Brodie.

04. Extending the life of the centre Increasingly, developers are seeing the advantages of centres designed for trading during the day and at night.

“Catering for day and night time uses expands the effective trading hours and turnover period of a centre,” says Brodie.

“Now many main streets and hybrid centres have transformed themselves to include night-time lifestyle activities as part of their destination profile.”

Rouse Hill in Sydney’s north west is a good example of this, having successfully fused its traditional undercover shopping tenants with a variety of mixed-use shopfronts that offer a ‘main street’ feel.

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CROWN STREET, SURRY HILLS, SYDNEY

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nticity / 06_lean urbanism / 07_process “Hybrids can offer the best of both worlds in that they include anchor tenants in an undercover location, but their semi-enclosed walkways have a lot of detail and can create an open market-like feel with a mix of finegrained shopfronts,” says Brodie.

Hybrid centres also cater well for different demographics. The internal shopping area appeals to the ageing demographic by offering convenience, security and comfort. The traders in the more market-like area give a sense of diversity and destination.

“The real appeal of this type of centre for developers is that they cater for a wide demographic, as well as effectively doubling the life of their project; the shopping centre trades mainly during the day, but the ‘main street’ has substantial trade at night, with cafés, bars and restaurants,” says Brodie.

“RobertsDay is involved in a number of hybrid centre projects including Ellenbrook, Lakelands and Huntlee.

They provide a great opportunity to learn from the performance of existing hybrid centres as we continue to see an increasing number of main street and shopping centre retrofits.”

Gamechanger Rising aspirations are changing demand on shopping strips says Lease Equity’s Managing Director, Jim Tsagalis.

A decade ago the idea that big international brands like Jamie Oliver, Top Shop or Zara could dominate Australian retail and shopping trends seemed far-fetched. Today it’s a reality that is changing shopping habits.

“The internet has been the biggest structural game changer in retail,” says Jim Tsagalis, Managing Director of commercial property specialists, Lease Equity.

“It has made the shopping world a smaller place; we all see what’s hot in New York or London and we aspire to have it in our own lives.”

The availability of big international brands at affordable prices – largely a product of global giants’ ability to generate massive volumes and to control supply chains – has raised consumers’ shopping aspirations, according to Tsagalis.

The result: customers are no longer willing to settle for inferior quality or products.

“For the big supermarkets, that means they need to be doing deals with the likes of Jamie Oliver or Heston Blumenthal,” he says.

Smaller fashion outlets will struggle to keep up with a Zara or Top Shop and some local suppliers will get knocked out of the market, according to Tsagalis:

“But others may try to become local hero outlets that don’t compete head to head with the big players.”

He says developers must embrace the change and seek out strong local drawcards for their projects, where getting the right mix of tenants is vital.

Boutique or artisan outlets – whether food or fashion - can offer a sense of aspiration and ‘place’ in a project, without taking on the international brands head-to-head. He says those outlets may not always add up financially on a stand-alone basis, but if included in an overall mix, they can be a big tick in the aspiration box of shoppers.

“Sometimes a developer wants a shop so much, he or she might be prepared to drop the rent by 50% and pay for the shop’s fit-out, as an inducement to a specialist retailer,” says Tsagalis. “It’s not always appropriate to consider them on a stand-alone profit and loss calculation basis.”

“I’ve worked on several projects where we’ve put in artisan outlets because we think they will attract buyers to the adjoining residential complex and potentially increase property values.”

The bottom line: meeting shoppers’ aspirations – part of creating a sense of ‘place’ - can lead to better business and greater profits.

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Accelerating place_ through community engagement intro to go There’s no here substitute for community consultation when trying to accelerate a development’s sense of authenticity, says RobertsDay’s Angela Koepp.

Residents at greenfield sites may want a new house, but they don’t want to feel like they are the first person ever to have lived in an area. Accelerating a development’s sense of establishment requires careful planning and extensive consultation.

“The most important thing is to draw inspiration from how people want to live in an area,” says RobertsDay Senior Urban Designer, Angela Koepp.

“Before we put pen to paper or even conceive what somewhere will be like, we place a high premium on listening, learning and consulting as widely as possible.”

At a new development adjacent to ForsterTuncurry on NSW’s Mid North Coast, more than 2000 dwellings are planned on one of the last remaining stretches of undeveloped coastline in the state.

One of the tools we use at the beginning of all place design is our Place Audit.

ANGELA KOEPP SENIOR URBAN DESIGNER, ROBERTSDAY Angela is a Senior Urban Designer with experience in Australia, the United States, Dubai and Asia. Angela has co-ordinated, designed and contributed to a wide range of new neighbourhoods, urban infill projects, town centres and town centre regeneration projects.

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“In Forster-Tuncurry, this involved immersing ourselves in the area for three days to identify what mattered to local people.”

“We rented bikes, took the local shuttle bus to the bowling club and talked to as many local residents as possible about what was important to them,” said Koepp.

It turned up some surprising results.

“We met a man on the golf course who told us we should go and look at the view of Mount Talawahl from the 15th hole.”

Further conversations with local indigenous groups confirmed the mountain’s cultural significance to the Worimi and Biripai people of the area, an important factor, given the site is subject to native title.

“What is a great place? It is built on authentic foundations; it naturally and continuously evolves and ultimately fosters a sense of belonging.”

“This natural feature brings all local communities together and, as a result, we designed the northern neighbourhood of the new development to celebrate the views of the mountain,” said Koepp.

“It’s the things like this that you discover in the upfront process that allow you to embed genuine authenticity in a place.”

The new development also incorporates a cultural heritage trail that will link mountain and ocean views, bushland conservation, an indigenous cultural centre and the village centre. A dedicated Heritage Park along the trail, including signs and artwork, will honour the significance of local Aboriginal heritage sites.

“During our time in Forster-Tuncurry we also realised the high value locals placed on their iconic tree-lined avenue, which is filled with Norfolk Island Pines,” says Koepp.

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AVENUE OF NORFOLK PINES, FORSTER-TUNCURRY

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“As an industry, we have a responsibility to our clients to make sure we are implementing authentic and relevant local outcomes.”

As a result, the trees were extended into the new site, so they acted as a link between old and new areas.

“Our design means the trees will link to the village centre which will become a significant junction celebrating the views to Mount Talawahl, the tree-lined avenue, and ocean frontage. The golf course clubhouse will be relocated into the village centre and a mobile surf club is being considered to bring further activity into the centre.”

“A local community park will be delivered in the early stages, together with a multi-purpose sales centre that may include community infrastructure.

This will create a hub for community from the outset and will form part of the cultural heritage trail,” say Koepp.

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“As an industry, we have a responsibility to our clients to make sure we are implementing authentic and relevant local outcomes like this and not following a prescriptive formula,” says Koepp.

Providing a framework that lets communities grow organically and develop their own sense of identity is also important. This might include leaving blank canvasses in a development that allow local people to make their own decisions about how they want to use certain spaces.

“You can plan as much as you like, but ultimately, the best thing you can do is provide flexibility so places can grow organically and people can start to put their own stamp on how and where they live,” says Koepp.

The use of short-term or temporary planning actions to test urban environments and policy change (known as ‘tactical urbanism’), such as pop-up shops or market stalls, is another effective way of accelerating maturity in developments.

Interventions under the ‘tactical urbanism’ banner can offer cheap, short-term flexibility without the cost and delay of building something permanent. While it is not a substitute for permanent policy change, it offers the dual benefit of allowing communities and local governments to try ideas before committing to them.

It can work equally well at greenfield sites or in established communities where you want to effect change.

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ARTIST’S IMPRESSION OF WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING RELOCATED GOLF CLUBHOUSE, FORSTER-TUNCURRY

The Coffs Harbour City Centre Regeneration Project is a good example of this. Alcohol bans in the city centre have meant very little is open after 4pm, creating a virtual ghost town in the evenings.

Better use of some spaces and places was also identified as part of a broader strategic framework within Coffs Harbour where the community and business owners could define how specific areas were used.

“A trial of pop-up bars in the city centre plaza has been a way of testing whether alcohol restrictions can be safely and effectively lifted. It is a way of giving confidence back to the Council and allowing them and the community to road-test an idea before it becomes permanent,” says Koepp.

As part of this, bicycle lanes were singled out as a way of improving access into the city and of freeing up parking spaces for shoppers, with obvious economic benefits. The only hitch was that they would be very expensive and take a long time to build.

“We hope the trial will eventually bring permanent economic benefits to the city.”

“Instead, we came up with this urban laboratory idea where planter boxes and pavement paint could be used in certain areas to create separated cycle ways,” said Koepp.

If better routes were identified, the paint and boxes could easily be moved.

“It gave power back to the community to determine what it wanted,” says Koepp.

The bike lanes contribute to an overall green travel plan that will reduce the amount of money spent on parking infrastructure, saving up to $5 million of Council funds. This money can be redirected into civic infrastructure and cultural programmes with wide-reaching benefits for the local community, economy and tourism.

“Tactical urbansim succeeds when it creates change now and delivers community benefits into the future,” Koepp says.

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“You can plan as much as you like, but ultimately, the best thing you can do is provide flexibility.”

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ARTIST’S IMPRESSION OF FUTURE MARKET AND CULTURAL CENTRE, COFFS HARBOUR

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Organic growth Communities take ownership of projects that are allowed to grow organically, says Coffs Harbour businesswoman, Kim Towner.

Seven years ago Kim Towner started a Sunday market on the beach in Coffs Harbour, on NSW’s North Coast. Her ambition was to showcase local produce.

“At first I had a vision that the market could shorten the (food) pathway from farm to plate and promote local growers,” she says.

“But it took on a life of its own and became a real community meeting point.”

From humble beginnings, more than 70 stallholders now exhibit their wares each Sunday, including Towner, who runs a coffee, fruit and smoothies stall at the market.

Stallholders must comply with the guidelines she drew up that prioritise local businesses: “If someone says they want to sell incense and it can’t be sourced locally, then they are allowed to operate a stall. But if someone is making that product in town, no one else can sell it at the market.”

Voluntary groups like Lifesaving NSW and businesses like Westpac sometimes take a stall. They are not allowed to tout for business, but can engage people who approach them. Towner even allows local politicians 20 minutes on a soapbox if there’s an election in the offing.

“The market has evolved over time in a way that has felt quite intuitive,” she says.

“I don’t know how much that has been about me trying to guide it or about the natural process of the community getting involved.”

“I think it works because everyone shares in it,” she says.

Next, Towner wants the markets to become a learning space, including yoga and hoola-hooping classes.

“I think it really has the potential to become a skill-sharing place and I want to encourage that,” she says.

As it grew, the market became a meeting place for not-for-profit groups to gather and discuss what they were doing, as well as to raise their community profile.

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Place activation_community and health The exciting thing about placemaking is that once the seed for community has been planted, bigger things often grow. That was our experience at Greater Ascot, Townsville, where a number of place activation strategies, combined with deliberate urban design interventions, facilitated community bonds and a healthy lifestyle, says RobertsDay’s Stephen Moore.

Townsville’s largest developer, Parkside, engaged RobertsDay to help their business transition from suburban developer to town founder on the Greater Ascot project, which will be home to around 7,000 residents over the next decade.

Through a Planning Design Forum led by RobertsDay, which involved the community and other stakeholders, Greater Ascot was conceived as a series of walkable neighbourhoods with a focus on healthy living.

“With a belief that design influences behavior, it was agreed that the project design should encourage a sense of community,” says Moore.

The design included schools and shops that were easy for people to walk to; verandahs on the fronts of houses instead of garages; a mix of housing for all generations; back lanes where kids could play close to home; and a generous network of parks and trails.

Complementing the project design were strategies to support community and place, including: • a community garden and associated events such as a community harvest, herb garden planting day and scarecrow competition • annual Greater Ascot Fun Run and running club • outdoor screening of major events, like the State of Origin • formatoin of the Greater Ascot Art Club and Poker Club • a community library with free Wi-Fi Some of these strategies have had unplanned beneifts which have brought added value to the community.

“A fantastic example of this was the lime trees planted in the community garden.

As these trees began to fruit the ‘Corona Club’ was born,” says Moore.

“The club now enjoys a steady supply of fresh limes that residents ‘pick, squeeze and drink’ at the end of a hard, hot week in Queensland’s far north.”

“Over time and with the benefit of maturity, places like Greater Ascot will just get better and better.”

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COMMUNITY SCARECROW COMPETITION, GREATER ASCOT, TOWNSVILLE

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Lean Urbanism_ cutting red tape to make ideas possible Lean Urbanism intro to go here challenges authorities to cut ‘red tape’ and enables ideas to flourish, giving rise to authentic and effective urban renewal, says RobertsDay’s Nicole Dennis.

Lean Urbanism is an emerging global movement that calls for reduced regulation to help facilitate solutions in urban planning, community building and development. Its guiding principle is the removal of red tape that can stop projects and great ideas before they get started.

According to RobertsDay Senior Urban Planner, Nicole Dennis, the movement offers practical solutions for delivering quality outcomes, new ideas and innovation.

“By cutting red tape, we can facilitate positive change in urban areas,” says Dennis. “It’s something that in many cases the local governments want as much as the community.”

Nicole cites US-based architect and urban planner, Andrés Duany, who says the movement is about restoring common sense to the processes of development, across seven different platforms: 1. Lean Building (building regulation and controls) NICOLE DENNIS SENIOR URBAN PLANNER, ROBERTSDAY Nicole operates from RobertsDay’s Sydney studio and has worked on a range of professional and community projects that seek to improve social connectivity and attachment to place.

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2. Lean Development (building controls, financing structures, more affordable building types).

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“What is a great place? Great places are made by people investing their time, sharing experiences and being given the ability to express what makes them who they are.”

GARAGE SALE, SURRY HILLS, SYDNEY

3. Lean Business (retail as well as commercial spaces) 4. Lean Green (environmental standards) 5. Lean Regulation (local government and legislation) 6. Lean Infrastructure (transport, community, utility services) 7. L ean Education (expanded role of architect/designer as entrepreneur and leader of the development process) Duany says Lean Urbanism can occupy the “emerging seam” between ’tactical urbanism’ and the policy-focused agenda of ‘new urbanism’.

He cites the American city of Detroit as a key example of how Lean Urbanism can help a city flourish.

The collapse of Detroit’s car industry turned its centre into a ghost town. Local governments could no longer afford to focus on crime, let alone economic development, Duany recently wrote in Fortune Magazine.

Bankrupt but desperate to promote regeneration, the City cut red tape, creating the first ‘Pink Zone’, where a significant amount of bureaucracy and regulation was removed, reducing overheads and lowering set-up costs.

It allowed entrepreneurs to start up businesses in a low risk environment.

Duany coined them the “risk oblivious”, people who were prepared to ignore poor infrastructure and crime in return for potential long-term benefits.

“There is a liberating adoption of the Nike mentality going on (there): Just do it!” Duany said.

As a result, Detroit is on track to become one of the hippest destinations in America and is being touted as the new Brooklyn, one of New York’s trendiest boroughs.

In Australia RobertsDay’s senior urban planner, Nicole Dennis says there is much to be learned from Lean Urbanism’s approach.

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“A lot of the planning regulations are about ‘box-ticking’; if you don’t comply, you don’t get approved.”

CAMPUS MARTIUS PARK IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN DETROIT

As elsewhere, excessive ‘red tape’ in Australia creates major headaches for developers and planners, often causing lengthy delays and increasing costs.

“Over-complicated and heavy-handed regulation can and should be simplified where possible to create the conditions that attract people, entrepreneurs, and flow-on new business,” she says.

“Of course there is value to regulation, particularly with respect to health and safety, but urban planners can play a key role in facilitating a more meritbased, common sense approach to development,” says Dennis.

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“A lot of the planning regulations are about ‘box-ticking’; if you don’t comply, you don’t get approved. A better alternative is to think outside the square and find solutions to individual problems, rather than be forced into a one-size-fits-all approach,” says Dennis.

“It is as much an art as a science but it underpins successful placemaking.”

She cites car parking as an area subject to extensive regulation that doesn’t always result in positive or even intended outcomes.

“On many RobertsDay projects we are now looking to remove minimum parking standards and to have strategies to provide shared parking across a city or town centre rather than on a site-by-site basis,” says Dennis.

“This allows more efficient use of parking and reduces the large costs of building car bays that are usually passed on to tenants and consumers.”

Lean Urbanism works best when it is part of a collaborative process, involving local stakeholders in discussions and decisions, right from the start, says Dennis.

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RobertsDay is currently working with Penrith Council and Penrith Business Alliance to draw up a future vision for the Penrith City Centre, in Sydney’s far west.

Residents say they want jobs closer to home; better infrastructure and services; clean, safe public spaces; and a vibrant city centre. The project, which includes an economic master plan, and a placeshaping framework and activation plan, aims to stimulate the local economy and create a lively city centre that is a strong draw-card for locals and visitors.

One of the ideas that was suggested was mobile cafes or restaurants that could operate from vans. It would help potential vendors avoid the expense and regulatory imposition of fitting out commercial kitchens, delivering local eating places and kick-starting the desired night time economy in a fast, cost effective way.

“Part of that is informing and empowering communities to push for what they want and to really take ownership of the process.”

“Small, incremental gains like this can be vital in promoting change. It’s also important that we share what we’ve learned about Lean Urbanism to maximise good outcomes,” says Dennis.

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Our process It can be hard to describe what makes a ‘Great Place’, but we all know it when we experience it.

We also know that it is the work of many hands and flourishes the most when it embraces unique local attributes, including culture, traditions, architecture and landscape.

What we bring to the task of shaping great places is a process that has been fine-tuned over 20 years in the field. It’s a process built on the wisdom of industry greats and imbued with our ideas and passion for placemaking.

It’s a process that is designed to deliver. Put simply, there are six steps:

01_

understand_ client’s needs and project possibilities.

02_ 03_

discover_ the essence of place and the aspirations of its people.

envision_ the place and the partnerships to deliver it.

04_

design_ a place in sync with the vision that can be commercially delivered.

05_

convert_ designs into fast approvals.

06_

deliver_ the vision for a great quality of life.

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Our projects get approved. They get built.

They get acclaim. They’re on the ground.

They’re lived in, commercially viable, vibrant, and loved.

They’re not just places: they’re great places.

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We’re passionate about place. Let’s talk about yours. Connect with us via phone, email or social media. level one 130 royal street east perth wa australia 6004 t+61 8 9218 8700 suite two chessell street south melbourne vic australia 3205 t+61 3 9645 0788 level four 17 randle street surry hills nsw australia 2010 t+61 2 8202 8000 twitter.com/robertsday1 linkedin.com/company/robertsday

And to read great places magazines and more special reports like this one, go to robertsday.com.au