Developer groups push for Australian cities to become more like Asia

When it comes city building, Sydney could learn a thing or two from Asia.

At least that’s the conclusion that a panel of developers and industry figures came to at an event hosted by the Urban Taskforce in Sydney on Thursday.

In particular the evolution of highly-affluent neighbourhoods in Singapore and Shanghai could serve as a road map for housing Sydney’s growing population, said Urban Taskforce chief executive Chris Johnson.

The panel largely rejected the calls made by former NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes for Sydney to follow Barcelona’s medium-density approach as opposed to the high-density “Shanghai route”.

Instead they argued for more mixed-use high-density blocks, improved council processes and the need to overcome our fear of Chinese investment.

More mixed-used developments, more efficient approvals

One of the panellists, Guotao Hu of Chinese developer Country Garden, explained that his company specialised in building integrated developments with healthcare, education and aged care facilities all included.

Another panellist, SBM Director Laraine Sperling, said Chinese developers were being held back from providing these services by councils.

“City of Sydney, in particular, needs to open their doors” she said. “Sydney planning laws are archaic and need to be examined.”

Ms Sperling said she knew of cases where it’s taken over two years to get a project through approval. If we want to enhance the opportunities that overseas investment could offer we need to speed up the DA approval process, she said.

Bringing nature into the city

Singapore has done an “amazing amount” to integrate nature into its developments, Mr Johnson said.

This is something Sydney should be adopting to make our high-density living more attractive, he added. 

Mr Hu says it’s something his company is embracing – including having a company headquarters covered in greenery.

Developments in Singapore, such as Skyville@Dawson, provide residents with a rooftop park and multiple, shared community gardens within the complex. 

Better public spaces, better public transport

Mr Johnson said that as our living spaces shrink, we’ll need to shift towards a model of sharing public space.

“Many people in China live in an apartment building, and then go to the park to do tai chi, to do all sorts of things”, he said. “The community sees that public domain as part of their environment.”

The key is to make the public areas well designed – to balance that slightly smaller living style with a greater communal shared space.

Mr Johnson said Asian cities had also jumped far ahead of Australian cities in terms of public transport and metro systems, but praised the government’s move “towards getting a metro for Sydney as well”.

Ms Sperling said she had previously reached out to rail specialists in China and Hong Kong to see how they could potentially contribute to a Public Private Partnership model to help make Sydney’s transport system larger and more effective.

“One of the key questions is how we are going to pay for that, or who is going to pay for that,” she said.

This sentiment has been echoed by experts not present on the day.

University of Sydney Professor of Chinese Business and Management Hans Hendrischke – who recently returned from Shanghai – also remarked on the effectiveness of Shanghai’s public transport system. 

“The way in which you can link to the periphery of the city – if you want to go out in any direction, you’ll have train after train,” he said. “It’s ultra-convenient, quite unlike Sydney.”

Professor Hendrischke had also admired the public bike rentals available, which are soon coming to Sydney. “They’re everywhere, people use them. You can just pick them up on your mobile phone.”

Overcoming a fear of Chinese investment

Ms Sperling said Australians found the prospect of Chinese investment confronting.

There is a strong desire to collaborate from the Chinese side, she said

“But from the Australian side – there’s some tall poppy syndrome. We’re afraid, we’re intimidated.”

David Chin, the managing director of networking group Basis Point, puts it down to China’s rapid rise.

“China has gotten rich very quickly, and that’s caused major changes in the global, political and economic world order,” he said.

Mr Johnson said there are “incredible opportunities” to take advantage of Chinese investment. 

“We still, in Sydney, have a problem with housing supply,” he noted.

“What we need is investment to get more homes built, so we should be embracing it.”

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