Urban and Regional Planning in Australia

Question: Discuss about the Urban and Regional Planning in Australia. Answer: Introduction Urban and regional planning refers to the political and technical process that is concerned with how the land is development and used, planning permission, use and protection of the environment, the welfare of the general public and the overall design of the urban environment that entails, water, infrastructure, sanitation and urban public relation, transport and communication and security. Urban planning therefore, entails the general activities and endeavors taken to develop the urban regions. it can as well be considered as the city planning as an urban design (Hall Peter, 2012, p. 94). The process looks to have an order through developers who do need assessments in the urban and regional basis so as the suggestions towards development could be improved. The urban and regional planners are the technicians who are entrusted in this task. They are expected to portray good technical skills about the overall land use and planning, high level of communication skills, economics and also law. It is for the reason that, planning of a large city or for a certain geographical region, one need all the skills that will encompass the government issues, civic issues, economic and finance branches and also humanistic, legal and public relation scope. The items that are developed by this planning could entail developing and rejuvenating the lost glory of the region and the city in particular as well as erecting new infrastructure and systems of running the city (Freestone CSIRO Publishing, 2010, p.61). In Australia, regional planning can make a great difference to its cities and regions. Cities like Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne have previously recorded a bit of insignificant development. Within the last 10 years, that is, from 2000 to 2007, the cities have had little development as compared to the period between 1996-2007. From this observation, urban and regional planning might be the cause to this crippled development as it has been poorly done in Australian regions and cities. However, there is a promising outcome from the difference which is expected to be made in regional and urban planning in the Australian state (Rauscher Momtaz, 2015, p.158). Urban planning and influence to development in Australia Urban and regional planning has great contribution to the development of States and for this case, Australian state. The cities might experience change if they are well planned. Failure to have a planned cities and regions means that the results will be as well be poor in terms of development, health, justice and public services as well (Broadbent, 2013, p.243) Possible changes that would happen if Australia had a good Urban and regional planning. Efficient service delivery is one of the positive change that would happen if the urban and regional planners acted upon this idea. The government is in a position to offer its services with ease as the public services like the administrative centers would be strategized in the developed cities. However, there are numerous advantages that would result to some a good plan (Stevenson Central Queensland University, 1998, p.9). A good plan under this context will create spaces for the society settlement and business development in Australia. Taking the case of Sydney, which is among the planned region with an improvement of about 12% since the year 2000 to date, there is a significant rise in efficiency of the service delivery from different governmental and nongovernmental institutions which are set and strategized in the urban cities and the regions of Sidney (Huebner, 2009, p.131). Maximizing the land for settlement and the land for agriculture is another significant and positive change that would result from urban and regional planning. Agriculture is an important and crucial department that needs a lot of attention in the whole of Australia. To many states, in Australia, Agriculture is a major agricultural producer and exporter with over 325,300 employed in Agriculture, forestry and fishing as of February 2015. If the planners laid good strategies on the land policies and urban as well as city planning, there will be providence of land for agriculture and therefore the people will have reserved farms for pure agriculture. For this reason, the gradual agriculture would be boosted in the country economy. The high rainfall zones of Tasmania for example and the narrow coastal zone together with the south Australia where there are good livestock production especially on the Goyders line. The ongoing agricultural projects, would be boosted as soon as the urban and regional planning would be officiated (Masser, 1972, p.255). The sanitary and city cleanliness would be improved and a drastic deviation in public health would be achieved. There should be a change as it is realized that when people are set to stay in a set place, there is an ease to maintain the cleanliness of the cities. The reason is because the government will be in a position to set good strategies to dispose the wastes un the state and therefore maintain the sanitary positions of the cities. A tidy environment will facilitate health of the citizen. Urban and regional planning however would lead to a change of carelessness of disposing the trash and waste materials as one of the plan in this field is to make sure that the waste materials are not disposed anyhow but to a specific place and with appropriate caution (Smyth, Reddel, Jones, 2005, p.107) Urban and regional planning is also inevitable in our cities and regions as transport and communication sector would be developed. The planning of the cities means that there is a good roads and railway networks that will run from rural centers to different regions in the Australian republic. When there is good transport and communication means, there is a recorded change in development of the cities and regions. For instance, Australia is an agriculture state that need to transport the products from the farms to the cities. The process would work best in the urban and regions of Australia. Meaning that the functionality will be efficient (van Gool, Stuart-Street Tille, 2016, p.255). When we consider the aspects that the urban and regional planners work on, it is evident that they are in charge of infrastructure, land, environment and services that are offered in the towns. When the plans are good in Australia, for example as it is in the Queensland and Western Australia that the states have invested well on planning for their road networks and railway lines as well as the whole of transport matters, there is a promising development in these states. The reason behind the road and infrastructure development in these two states is that, the states have begun and went further in urban and regional planning (Davidson Wimberley, 2016, p.209). They have done this for the last decade whereby the land policies in regional planning has been given the priority in the whole of Australia. The regions have been seen to improve greatly as the agriculture systems have signified this stand. The states are providing enough food for their people and even some of these agricultura l goods are exported in other countries. This is a sign of how the cities and the Australian regions can develop if the plans are laid in place for the urban and regional centers. Natural Resources and Ecosystems Facilitation by Regional and Urban Planning Following the rise of air, water and the overall environmental pollution within few years. The Australian regions and cities are not exceptional as they have also been faced by the same problem. The regions have been facing severe consequences of this pollution have shown out vividly. In the Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and the Western Australia are the parts in the Australia that has been undergoing through this challenge. The pollution is traced by poor sanitation and disposal of the city wastes and industrial run-outs in the distinctive areas. In the regions of Australia, there is also the challenge of global warming as the Carbon monoxide has increased as it in the whole globe. For the same reason, the problem can be traced from the Urban and regional planning in the Australian cities and regions. One of the reason is that, there is a problem in settlement schemes and the industrial centers in some states like the Tasmania state (Rauscher Momtaz, 2015, p.158). The problem created in such a situation is that, the factories and the companies operate in the areas that are very close to living or the settlement schemes and no control of their wastes. Urban and regional planning can be a move towards curbing this problem. This is because, when there is proper planning, the wastes disposal in all firms have direct sewage lines that are well fixed and prevented to endangered the life of human being who might be harmed over the same (Dufty-Jones Connell, 2016, p.126). The issue of health is as well a step that would be met when there is proper urban and regional planning. This is because, health is said to be wealth. When the urban places are not well planned. That is, in terms of infrastructure and systems, there is no smooth running of services. The networks to the health centers are not developed for the fear of policy change and likely hood of occurrence of outbreaks of diseases in the areas which are maybe so rural and remote. Regional planning would work efficiently in the Australian cities and regions (Llauss, Beilin Buxton, 2014, p.18). Urban planning and labor force participation in Australia There is also an underlying claim on the labor force participation and the urban planning. It refers to the participation rate and the measure of proportionality of people who are either employed or are finding jobs opportunities in comparison to the age of the working population. There is a general relationship between these two aspects in that, the higher the labor force in a particular town, region or city, the higher the potential of that region to develop economically. For this reason, urban planning plays a great role in this. Designs of workplaces, both for the government and for the non-governmental organizations, means that there is a higher possibility to have a bigger work force in that region. This population will be dependent on that city and therefore, what they will do to that region, in terms of good purchase and supplies will be directed towards developing hat region. The vice versa is also correct. When a region is poorly planned, there is no development in the econ omy as the people will not like to work in a low hygienic places or poor serviced regions or cities (In Stiftel In Watson, 2016, p.40). The proposition gives an adequate suggestion to Australia, its region and urban centers that there are all reasonable stands for carrying out the regional and urban planning for their regions and cities. It therefore means that there will be emergency of industries in a well-planned urban or a region. Having these firms around the region will increase the work force participation and therefore it is very important. For the year 2008 to December 2016, Australian republic has recorded a rise of workforce and decline of many trade and business firms as well as unemployment in the region. The workforce is big and there are no enough spaces for accommodating all these workers. This has come as a challenge as the nation is unable to absorb all of them in the working positions. According to the current research of the causes of unemployment in the region, regional and urban planning has contributed in this problem. Higher workforce also, improves equity and social inclusion (Christensen Le vinson, 2003, p.155). There is increased social cohesion tolerance and also reduced crime rates. These are attracted by good planning and thus Australia would be a better place if regional and urban planning were taken seriously. However, it can be solved by all means of urban planning. For instance, western Australia is well planned than other states of Australia. The results are that its cities and regions are well improved that other states (Knox McCarthy, 2012, p.328). Urban Planning and the Congestions There is as well the case of having congestion in Australian urban centers and mostly in big cities and regions. There has been a massive population growth for the Australians for the last one decade. Urban planning can help out in curbing this problem. There is a growing need for the planning as the populations need to looked after and be evaluated for the future plans. The existing infrastructure should be in a position to be improved so that the remedy over this population can be got. The Urban and regional planning encompasses the infrastructure of the regions and cities. When the infrastructure is rare, poor and unplanned, there will be a lot of spaces lost and some of it would be used to settle the problem (MacCallum, 2016, p.72). The existing congestion in these cities could be settled as well by good planning I the Australian regions and cities. Zoning would be a good move for the Australian cities and regions. Zoning involves the authority in designating specific areas and specifying varieties of outrights and conditional uses of land. It indicates the size of each sector known as the Zone. Australia urban centers and regions can change a lot if the local authority can act to have good and well defined zones. These Zones can be divided and specified each with its a specific strength. Areas of these land are divided in such a way that there are various uses if land permitted (Chadwick, 2013, p.79). This is mainly done in regional planning. Some areas are specifically meant to be set for agriculture, some areas for settlement and some for industries and administrations. It is a step to ensure that there is no wasted land. For instance, in Australian cities, its advisable to make sure that the areas set for settlement are somehow different from those set for agriculture (Thompson Maginn, 2012, p.204) The issue of the sanitary and service rendering by the government and companies are mostly situated around the settlement schemes. The step can only be achieved if there is proper city plans and regional plans. The Australian cities and region would therefore grow in economics as well in social developments and make a step forward through this plan. Practice is the solution to the issue of land divisions and specification as well (Chadwick, 2013, p.34). Participatory Planning Australia can indulge in Participatory planning as an urban planning paradigm that would emphasize on involving the whole community in the strategies of management endeavors of urban planning and also the community planning levels. The reason for this is that, when the diverse people are involved in such an activity, there is a high level of skills that would all be incorporated in the planning. In the community, there are very many people who are involved in the planning processes. Each individual is specialized in his or her own sect. When participatory planning takes place in Australia, where there are diversification of skills and workforce, the planning would inculcate an overall development to the cities and regions around the cities and regions (In Stiftel In Watson, 2016, p.44) The community based processes of urban and regional planning are often meant to show that the people are considered as part of the community and its development as well as creating participatory planning, helps in that it aims at harmonizing the diverse views among its participants and it assist to help in preventing conflicts between the opposing parties. In addition to this, Australia has many marginalized society groups which are less perceived in the regional development (Brunner, 2015, p.67). Having such a participatory planning would insure the position of participation in such groups. Conclusion In conclusion, the Urban and regional planning can lead to a positive deviation to the cities and regions in our land Australia. The proposition is supported by the factors around making a conducive environment for human existence and support for the ecosystem. According to The International Association for China Planning, In Pan, In Cao, (2015), the city would cease to develop if there are no good plans to help its growth. Urban and regional planning is one of the plans that when omitted, the results to the growth and development of the cities and regions would be worse and unsatisfying. When the local authorities engage the public into a constructive development of the cities and regions, the development is inevitable. The infrastructure, the land, the welfare of the general public are the highest motives that guides the urban and regional planners. The different states of Australia would make a difference if all of them engaged in a collective responsibility of region and urban p lanning. 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