OECD territorial reviews. The metropolitan region of Melbourne, Australia.

367 Pages·2003·2.299 MB·English

by  OECD

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OECD Territorial Reviews
OECD
The Metropolitan Region of Melbourne, Australia
O Territorial Reviews
Melbourne, Australia's second largest city, most important container port, and E
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leading cultural and educational centre, is poised for a major phase in its growth. D
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This report describes the following challenges to be faced: e
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• Lift the productivity of firms rit The Metropolitan
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• Improve the capacity for local firms to grow r
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• Enhance the attractiveness of the city for investment and knowledge-based l R Region of Melbourne,
development e
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• Manage constraints in transport and logistics, sectors in which Melbourne has ie Australia
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unique advantages
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• Accommodate the housing needs of thousands of newcomers and still
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improve the quality of the environment h
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• Improve the co-operation among local municipalities and state government in
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order to deliver these strategic objectives.
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This book is available to subscribers to the following SourceOECD theme:
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Territorial Economy s
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ISBN 92-64-10159-4
04 2003 07 1 P
-:HSTCQE=VUVZ^X:
January 2000
OECD Territorial Reviews
Metropolitan Region
of Melbourne,
Australia
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960,
and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed:
– to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a
rising standard of living in member countries, while maintaining financial
stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy;
– to contribute to sound economic expansion in member as well as non-member
countries in the process of economic development; and
– to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory
basis in accordance with international obligations.
The original member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada,
Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United
Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became members
subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan
(28thApril1964), Finland (28thJanuary 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand
(29thMay1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21stDecember1995),
Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22ndNovember1996), Korea (12th December 1996)
and the Slovak Republic (14th December2000). The Commission of the European
Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention).
© OECD 2003
Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained through
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3
FOREWORD -

Foreword
Melbourne, Australia’s principal port, manufacturing city, and
educational and cultural centre, is one of the first metropolitan regions in
OECD to participate in a territorial policy review. This exercise came at a
fortunate time, when the strength of the economic recovery underway in
Australia provides an opportunity for reflection on the elements for a more
sustainable future. Melbourne is not taking its future for granted. To guide
development, the review considers how the environment for innovation and
the growth of small firms can be improved, how infrastructure can support
clusters and networks, how transport, housing and land use can be
co-ordinated better in the city centre, in older and newer suburbs and on the
urban fringe, and what a metropolitan strategy implies for better
co-operation between state and local authorities. It is in this broad approach
that Melbourne offers lessons for others.
Although Melbourne is the major metropolitan centre of the State of
Victoria, its economy is inter-dependent with several regional centres,
medium-size cities within approximately 100 kilometer radius. Challenges
which the Victorian authorities recognise include: the redevelopment of the
central business district of Melbourne, which can support higher
productivity; providing for the expansion of the port, transport and logistics
infrastructure, and 24-hour use of the Melbourne airport; improving public
transport to reduce car dependency; and upgrading rail service to improve
connections between Melbourne and the other cities around it. This requires
actions and investments to be carried out in several places simultaneously, in
co-operation with local authorities, and such a way that the public at large
understands how the region as a whole is changing.
Concern about competitiveness and integration into the global economy
is shared among metropolitan areas around the world. These are not local
issues alone: with 80% of the Australian population living in cities, the
prospects of the Australian economy are shaped in part by how well those
cities perform. As a city relatively remote from the concentrations of activity
in Asia, Europe and North America, Melbourne’s comparative advantages
include its high quality of life and quality public services. From this
OECD TERRITORIAL REVIEWS: METROPOLITAN REGION OF MELBOURNE – 04 2003 07 1 P1/ISBN 92-64-10159-4 – OECD 2003
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- FOREWORD

perspective, liveability is an asset to be carefully managed. Critical choices
made now about medium-term infrastructure investments, land use, housing,
education and research will have an influence for years to come, which is
why the State of Victoria drafted and adopted in 2002 a metropolitan
strategy which has been shaped in part by the analysis of this metropolitan
review.
The Melbourne review was supported by the Department of
Infrastructure of the State of Victoria. Professor Lyndsay Neilson, Secretary
of the Department, was instrumental in the review process. The support and
assistance of John Collins, Director of Strategic Planning, and of
Geoff Anson and Cathy Wilkinson, with responsibility for the metropolitan
strategy, assured the co-operation with the Secretariat. This report was
drafted under the supervision of Josef Konvitz, Head of Division, by
Lindsay McFarlane and Anita Wölfl, Administrators in the Division for
Territorial Reviews and Sustainable Development, Directorate for Public
Governance and Territorial Development and with assistance on
environmental issues by Charles-Henri Di Maria. Doris Grimm prepared the
review for publication. Mr. Takayuki Hara, Delegate of Japan to the
Territorial Development Policy Committee, was a peer reviewer; Greg Clark
of the London Development Authority, Rosemary Scanlon, former chief
economist of the Port of New York Authority and currently at the New York
University, and Vincent Goodstadt, Structure Plan Manager, The Glasgow
and Clyde Valley Joint Structure Plan Committee, contributed as experts;
Kenneth Gibb of the University of Glasgow provided analysis on housing
issues. The review is published under the authority of the Secretary-General.
OECD TERRITORIAL REVIEWS: METROPOLITAN REGION OF MELBOURNE – 04 2003 07 1 P1/ISBN 92-64-10159-4 – OECD 2003
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TABLE OF CONTENTS -

Table of Contents
Assessment and Recommendations….……………………………………7
Évaluation et recommandations………………………………….……...19
Chapter 1. Metropolitan City Regions…………………………………...35
Chapter 2. Introduction…………………………………………………...53
Chapter 3. Melbourne in the Australian and International Context…..65
Chapter 4. Competitiveness of Metropolitan Melbourne……………....95
Chapter 5. Housing, Labour Markets and Social Cohesion in
Metropolitan Melbourne………………………………………………..209
Chapter 6. Health and Environment in Metropolitan Melbourne…....269
Chapter 7. Governance and Public Finance in Metropolitan
Melbourne…………………………………………………………….....309
Chapter 8. Comparative Case Studies………………………………….351
Bibliography……………………………………………………………..359
OECD TERRITORIAL REVIEWS: METROPOLITAN REGION OF MELBOURNE – 04 2003 07 1 P1/ISBN 92-64-10159-4 – OECD 2003

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ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS -

Assessment and Recommendations
Melbourne has made a successful
recovery in the 1990s based on its
assets…
Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, its principal manufacturing
centre, its largest container port and leading base for research and higher
education, has considerable assets on which to build a sustainable future. It
deservedly enjoys world-wide recognition for a high quality of life, reflected
in its neighbourhoods, natural amenities and the quality of urban design.
After a sharp recession in the early 1990s, Melbourne’s economy has
recovered. The State of Victoria, moreover, has a strong fiscal position;
unemployment has fallen from 11.6% in 1992 to 6.7% in 2002; and the State
has a positive inter-state and overseas migration balance. But the factors of
growth also raise questions about the future: how best to accommodate an
expected additional 620 000 dwellings in the metropolitan area by 2030,
how to cope with traffic congestion and expand the region’s transportation
and logistical infrastructure, and how to reduce disparities within the region.
Melbourne has room to grow but it must use its space wisely, and find
solutions that deliver economic, social and environmentally acceptable
outcomes. Taking sustainability as its paradigm, the State Department of
Infrastructure has elaborated a Strategy to help guide development, in draft
form at the time of this territorial review.
… but this is not the time for
complacency
To give Melbourne what a 21st century city-region needs, the State must
give ongoing attention to the economic, social and environmental impact of
planned and potential patterns of development in planning and managing
transport and ICT-infrastructure. It should stimulate the potential for small
enterprises to grow, in order to further increase exports; invest in basic
research and education to further exploit the potentials for innovation and
high-tech production; and capture the talents of a large, sophisticated design
community. The State also needs to address social, economic and spatial
disparities in housing, health and human capital; diversify people’s options
for transport, jobs and housing and strengthen ties between Melbourne and
OECD TERRITORIAL REVIEWS: METROPOLITAN REGION OF MELBOURNE – 04 2003 07 1 P1/ISBN 92-64-10159-4 – OECD 2003
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- ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

regional centres. It needs to protect environmental quality, including
managing the important assets of Port Philip Bay and the green wedges of
the metropolitan area. And it needs to enhance the varied capacity for
strategic planning across local municipalities in regards to strategic issues
and planning.
The policy agenda in Melbourne
illustrates the paradigm shift in
territorial policy.
Globalisation means that cities such as Melbourne are becoming a part of
international networks of production, research, education, finance, and trade
which only partly serve domestic markets. The benchmarks for urban
competitiveness and liveability therefore are set internationally. Territorial
development policies which take account of the economic, social and
environmental dimensions of metropolitan organisation complement
national macro-economic and structural policies to enhance growth. They
should correct weaknesses and market failures, develop local assets and
improve policy coherence. The recent paradigm shift in policy is
accompanied by institutional partnerships among different levels of
government and by growing attention to public-private partnerships.
Transportation is a strategic sector
critical for sustainable growth…
Transportation infrastructure can help assure balanced economic
development across the region; and the transportation, distribution and
logistics services industries are themselves an important aspect of
Melbourne’s competitiveness. The port industry in Melbourne is a unique
and complex business operating, but also impacting simultaneously, on
inland, coastal and marine environments. The port economy is characterised
by the great range, diversity and volume of traffic, and linkages with firms
throughout Victoria and beyond. Inter-modal integration and development
of access roads and rail links should be a priority. Consideration should be
given to developing “inland ports”, central places where freight could be
handled via rail, and which can be sited in areas where there is already some
indication for localisation of industries. Inland-ports could also alleviate
pressure in the central urban area and would be compatible with efforts to
improve the movement of road freight around the city. The airport, which in
contrast to Sydney has no curfew, constitutes a competitive advantage with
potential for substantial growth to keep pace with strong increases in
passenger and cargo traffic.
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ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS -

… and can be improved with
appropriate economic and planning
instruments.
An increased supply of infrastructure itself is not sufficient for long-term
effective transportation management. A multi-nodal approach, favouring the
development of mixed-use areas with many transport options, could help
guide investment in ways that can increase public transport usage, which is
low in Melbourne: the top 90 “trip attractors” generate 42 % of all daily
work trips, with 16.5 % of those trips by public transport. Improvements to
rail links with regional cities in Victoria could give people more options
about where to work and to live, creating a larger functional labour market
while preserving the essential characteristics of a polycentric, networked
region. But all the proposed policies and strategies may not work if the
incentives are not right. Road pricing for example could deliver further
opportunities for efficient transport management. What is necessary is to
assure the quality and efficient management of transportation, ensuring the
freedom of people to travel without creating negative externalities. Changes
in travel behaviour associated with the objective of increasing the proportion
of people using public transport, walking, biking, etc., will only happen if
the alternatives to the private car are made attractive, and are linked to
changes in land use and the provision of affordable housing. Infrastructure
also lends itself to public-private partnerships. It is clear that not all
infrastructure projects are feasible with such a solution; public provision
might even create some first-mover advantage. One main advantage of road
pricing, especially in some form of public-private partnership, is that it
would free up public resources that might be used more efficiently for other
services, such as health and education.
Market reforms to boost use of ICT will
stimulate innovation and lift
productivity.
Complementarity between infrastructure, production and innovation is
especially relevant for the information and telecommunications
infrastructure (ICT). Melbourne has a broad net of ICT-infrastructure.
However, there are indications of restricted access to, as well as under-
utilisation of, the existing ICT-net – a phenomenon that might be due to the
dominant position in both the ownership of the net as well as the
downstream services held by the main ICT supplier in Australia. While
Australia has already an impressive record in using ICT, introducing more
competition and further promoting internet-based commercial opportunities
OECD TERRITORIAL REVIEWS: METROPOLITAN REGION OF MELBOURNE – 04 2003 07 1 P1/ISBN 92-64-10159-4 – OECD 2003