Glen Searle is Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney and in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland. He was previously Director of the Planning Programs at the University of Queensland and the University of Technology Sydney, and Deputy Manager, Policy in the NSW Department of Planning. He was Chief Editor of Urban Policy and Research journal from 2005 to 2014. His research focuses on the political economy of metropolitan strategic planning, the regulation of property rights in urban development, and post-industrial metropolitan economic geography. He is editor of Compulsory Property Acquisition for Urban Densification (Routledge, 2018), co-editor of The Economic Geography of the IT Industry in the Asia Pacific Region (Routledge, 2013), and co-editor of Global Planning Innovations for Urban Sustainability (Routledge, 2019).
ABSTRACT Planning should deliver urban infrastructures that nurture places and people. However, t... more ABSTRACT Planning should deliver urban infrastructures that nurture places and people. However, the misalignment between strategic plans and delivered projects reveals critical governance gaps, with little clarity surrounding for whom and what ends infrastructures serve. This positioning piece proposes an infrastructure governance research agenda focused on the integration of planning, funding, and social legitimacy of projects, and the reality of multiple ongoing crises. Most importantly, the proposed research agenda calls for a First Nation voice at the heart of infrastructure decision-making as part of the planning profession’s contribution to the Treaty process that Australia desperately needs to move forward.
Infrastructure governance has emerged as a subject of critical interest in the current ‘infrastru... more Infrastructure governance has emerged as a subject of critical interest in the current ‘infrastructure turn’ whereby fragmented governance approaches sit in tension with complex demands for infrastructure transformations within contexts of multiple intersecting crises. To understand the state of the literature and inform ongoing debates, a systematic review method is used to interrogate a large body of infrastructure governance literature across sectoral boundaries. This review identifies a range of literature gaps prevailing in the areas of infrastructure governance on unceded First Nations land, the societal end goals of infrastructure, and understandings and applications of integrated governance.
This project examines international models of metropolitan and regional planning, focusing on gov... more This project examines international models of metropolitan and regional planning, focusing on governance, spatial organisation, and connectivity, to identify drivers of economic and social outcomes. It identifies lessons for Australian practice through a review of capital city and regional planning frameworks, and interviews with planners across three levels of government.
Economic reform in China has resulted in rapid urbanisation over the past three decades, changing... more Economic reform in China has resulted in rapid urbanisation over the past three decades, changing the urban and rural landscape dramatically. A large amount of farmland was developed, leading to conflict between construction demand and farmland protection. In response, the “Link Policy” was proposed in 2005 that seeks to concurrently preserve farmland while providing for urban expansion through land exchange. The effectiveness of the Link Policy has not been systematically investigated. The purpose of this study is to analyse and evaluate outcomes of the Link Policy objectives from both a participant and investigator’s interpretive perspective. Ezhou, the first experimental city to implement the Link Policy in Hubei Province in central China, was selected as a case study area. Eight different communities in Ezhou were visited and 160 semi-structured interviews were conducted with resettled rural residents in March 2016. A combination of interviews and investigator field observations were used to evaluate the Link Policy objectives. The results show that participants recognize and support improving rural living conditions and coordinating urban-rural development, but the Link Policy failed to achieve the objectives of preserving farmland, protecting farmers’ land use rights and interests, and facilitating agricultural production. Participants perceived concentrated resettlement communities to be more efficient in land use compared to more expansive rural settlements, but vacant apartments for commercial use in resettlement areas account for a large proportion of land suggesting inefficiency in the land exchanges. We suggest policy changes to achieve more successful implementation of the Link Policy.
ABSTRACT Planning should deliver urban infrastructures that nurture places and people. However, t... more ABSTRACT Planning should deliver urban infrastructures that nurture places and people. However, the misalignment between strategic plans and delivered projects reveals critical governance gaps, with little clarity surrounding for whom and what ends infrastructures serve. This positioning piece proposes an infrastructure governance research agenda focused on the integration of planning, funding, and social legitimacy of projects, and the reality of multiple ongoing crises. Most importantly, the proposed research agenda calls for a First Nation voice at the heart of infrastructure decision-making as part of the planning profession’s contribution to the Treaty process that Australia desperately needs to move forward.
Infrastructure governance has emerged as a subject of critical interest in the current ‘infrastru... more Infrastructure governance has emerged as a subject of critical interest in the current ‘infrastructure turn’ whereby fragmented governance approaches sit in tension with complex demands for infrastructure transformations within contexts of multiple intersecting crises. To understand the state of the literature and inform ongoing debates, a systematic review method is used to interrogate a large body of infrastructure governance literature across sectoral boundaries. This review identifies a range of literature gaps prevailing in the areas of infrastructure governance on unceded First Nations land, the societal end goals of infrastructure, and understandings and applications of integrated governance.
This project examines international models of metropolitan and regional planning, focusing on gov... more This project examines international models of metropolitan and regional planning, focusing on governance, spatial organisation, and connectivity, to identify drivers of economic and social outcomes. It identifies lessons for Australian practice through a review of capital city and regional planning frameworks, and interviews with planners across three levels of government.
Economic reform in China has resulted in rapid urbanisation over the past three decades, changing... more Economic reform in China has resulted in rapid urbanisation over the past three decades, changing the urban and rural landscape dramatically. A large amount of farmland was developed, leading to conflict between construction demand and farmland protection. In response, the “Link Policy” was proposed in 2005 that seeks to concurrently preserve farmland while providing for urban expansion through land exchange. The effectiveness of the Link Policy has not been systematically investigated. The purpose of this study is to analyse and evaluate outcomes of the Link Policy objectives from both a participant and investigator’s interpretive perspective. Ezhou, the first experimental city to implement the Link Policy in Hubei Province in central China, was selected as a case study area. Eight different communities in Ezhou were visited and 160 semi-structured interviews were conducted with resettled rural residents in March 2016. A combination of interviews and investigator field observations were used to evaluate the Link Policy objectives. The results show that participants recognize and support improving rural living conditions and coordinating urban-rural development, but the Link Policy failed to achieve the objectives of preserving farmland, protecting farmers’ land use rights and interests, and facilitating agricultural production. Participants perceived concentrated resettlement communities to be more efficient in land use compared to more expansive rural settlements, but vacant apartments for commercial use in resettlement areas account for a large proportion of land suggesting inefficiency in the land exchanges. We suggest policy changes to achieve more successful implementation of the Link Policy.
The contemporary remaking of inner city Pyrmont-Ultimo in Sydney is analysed in terms of the visi... more The contemporary remaking of inner city Pyrmont-Ultimo in Sydney is analysed in terms of the visions of planners, developers, politicians and residents. Developers and government agencies selectively remembered the blue-collar history of this place in their place marketing efforts. These 'memories' were sanitised to make them more appealing to contemporary lifestyle-oriented residential markets. The need to sanitise and repackage particular urban places can be regarded, following Bourdieu, as a strategy of the field of planners and developers, as they struggle to gain ascendency in the game of land and property development. Their 'feel for the game', it is argued, is reflective of a 'planning habitus '.
Australian cities exhibit a quality of life arguably among the best in the world, but rapidly exp... more Australian cities exhibit a quality of life arguably among the best in the world, but rapidly expanding populations may soon threaten this status. The burgeoning conurbation of South East Queensland (SEQ) is an example. Recent growth management policies and plans (e.g. South East Queensland Regional Plan and local authority growth management strategies) have sought to curtail urban sprawl through urban footprints, growth management boundaries, urban consolidation, and other measures. The ‘density imperative’ presented by these collective urban policies affects the sourcing, provision and management of open space in inner-city locales in SEQ which may soon run out of land for parks and urban greenspace. This paper presents results from recent research into the environmental equity dimensions of providing urban greenspace in SEQ. Critiquing the long-entrenched parks-standards approach, the paper offers a ‘needs-based’ alternative, and considers its utility for SEQ and other fast-growing Australian urban areas. Questioning orthodox planning perspectives about who lives in higher density areas, we argue that local and state governments should look towards a variety of new types of green and open space to meet the needs of existing and future residents living in denser built environments.
Development of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) precincts in the Australian
context has been h... more Development of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) precincts in the Australian
context has been hindered by several obstacles. The main challenges to be addressed are land amalgamation issues around train stations and the lack of governance arrangements to facilitate the delivery of TODs. This article identifies the main factors contributing to the effective delivery of three Australian TODs. The article is based on the analysis of case studies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Based on semi-directed interviews with urban stakeholders (planners at the council level and state level, and developers) for each case study and on the analysis of official planning
documents, we analyse the governance arrangements, the planning frameworks and the financial mechanisms that have facilitated the delivery of the case study TODs. We also survey stakeholders to assess the general TOD delivery process and outcomes on different criteria, to better inform TOD policymaking. We find that large sites in single ownership and special state government measures to facilitate development approvals have been critical factors in TOD success.
As the world becomes more and more urbanised, it is urgent to propose solutions
to solve current ... more As the world becomes more and more urbanised, it is urgent to propose solutions to solve current sustainability challenges for the three arenas of sustainability: social sustainability, environmental sustainability and urban economic sustainability. This edited volume focuses on the politics of sustainability by examining the sociopolitical, economic and institutional context of urban sustainability innovations and how this shapes the trade-offs made between the three arenas of sustainability in the implementation of innovative solutions. As the book analyses the procedural side of sustainability it offers a new perspective on the implementation of sustainability that will be useful and attractive to both planning professionals and academics. The analysis of sustainable solutions to current challenges is centred on the concept of innovation. Innovative solutions are part of a sustainability transition process. This process is characterised by contextual factors that are cityspecific. But this process, in a globalised world, can also be influenced by external factors (such as urban policies or planning models applied in other contexts) and/ or the networks in which a city might be involved that facilitate the circulation of planning solutions from one context to another. The book’s structure is based on the recognition that planning solutions for sustainability cross three arenas: the social arena, the environmental arena and the urban economic arena. Finally, the book analyses to what extent planning innovations can be transferred from one context to another: we thus reference the transferability of innovations.
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Papers by Glen Searle
context has been hindered by several obstacles. The main challenges to be addressed are land amalgamation issues around train stations and the lack of governance arrangements to facilitate the delivery of TODs. This article identifies the main factors contributing to the effective delivery of three Australian TODs. The article is based on the analysis of case studies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Based on semi-directed interviews with urban stakeholders (planners at the council level and state level, and developers) for each case study and on the analysis of official planning
documents, we analyse the governance arrangements, the planning frameworks and the financial mechanisms that have facilitated the delivery of the case study TODs. We also survey stakeholders to assess the general TOD delivery process and outcomes on different criteria, to better inform TOD policymaking. We find that large sites in single ownership and special state government measures to facilitate development approvals have been critical factors in TOD success.
to solve current sustainability challenges for the three arenas of sustainability: social
sustainability, environmental sustainability and urban economic sustainability.
This edited volume focuses on the politics of sustainability by examining the sociopolitical,
economic and institutional context of urban sustainability innovations
and how this shapes the trade-offs made between the three arenas of sustainability
in the implementation of innovative solutions. As the book analyses the procedural
side of sustainability it offers a new perspective on the implementation of
sustainability that will be useful and attractive to both planning professionals and
academics. The analysis of sustainable solutions to current challenges is centred
on the concept of innovation. Innovative solutions are part of a sustainability
transition process. This process is characterised by contextual factors that are cityspecific.
But this process, in a globalised world, can also be influenced by external
factors (such as urban policies or planning models applied in other contexts) and/
or the networks in which a city might be involved that facilitate the circulation
of planning solutions from one context to another. The book’s structure is based
on the recognition that planning solutions for sustainability cross three arenas: the
social arena, the environmental arena and the urban economic arena. Finally, the
book analyses to what extent planning innovations can be transferred from one
context to another: we thus reference the transferability of innovations.