Planning System Needs to Look at the 'Big Picture'

6 May 2008 - 1:00pm

Officials in Melbourne, Australia, are so frustrated with the city's lackluster planning process that they are pushing for the creation of a new planning authority -- one they hope will look at the "big picture".

"Two separate government inquiries are about to call for a new metropolitan planning body, which would involve both the State Government and local councils ceding some planning control."

"The findings are a response to a widening view in property, planning and architectural circles that both the Government and councils struggle to take a metropolitan-wide view of planning when under pressure from either big developers or powerful resident interests."

Source: The Age, May 5, 2008
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But what can planners do to support the kind of connections between people I just described? One idea is promoting mixed-use places where there are simply more opportunities for people to run into each other and connect.