Preamble

The concept of managed urbanisation incorporating Expanding Nodular Development (END) is presented in a Concept Paper which is divided into four major sections.

Full paper available upon request.

The four major sections in this study, are :-

SECTION 1 – Introduction and Overview

This section discusses the various social, economic and environmental factors leading up to a required change in modes of urbanisation.

SECTION 2 – A New Mode

In this section, the basic END concept is introduced. Modern demographic trends, liveability of cities, characteristics of END cities and social factors affecting population movements are discussed.

SECTION 3 – Water, Storm Water and Waste Water

Here water usage, water quality standards, storm water collection and recycling, waste water treatment with special emphasis on biological treatment and nutrient recovery, irrigation water and employment opportunities associated with irrigation and manufacturing industries are discussed.

SECTION 4 – Energy

In this section, patterns of energy use, energy sources, energy networks, future reserves, electrical generation technologies, thermal energy distribution and green house gas emissions are discussed.

A summary of the Concept Paper is given below. For detailed information on the contents of each section, contact Frank Reale below.

END – SUMMARY

This Paper was prompted by the increasingly obvious adverse effects of the ‘Urban Sprawl’ mode of urban expansion of Australian capital cities. Population of the nation is increasing steadily with a fertility rate of about 1.8 babies per woman, and a net overseas migration of about 180,000 persons per year. With over 64% of the nation’s population concentrated into the capital cities, there is a magnification effect for them, as demonstrated by Melbourne which is increasing at the rate of 2%,while Victoria as a whole is increasing at 1.8%. At this rate the actual increase for Melbourne is an alarming 82,000 per year, which is approaching the population of Ballarat. These high rates of population increase are problematic, and if not addressed now, could impose severe restrictions to the nation’s future economy and unfavourably affect the wellbeing of its citizens. Some of the areas adversely impacted by the urban sprawl are as follows.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF URBAN SPRAWL

Infrastructure and housing costs.

As cities expand infrastructure such as transport systems, water services, energy services and waste services must keep up with the expansion. Because population densities are low, the cost of providing this infrastructure per unit dwelling is high, and this affects housing costs. It has been estimated that building on the fringe of Melbourne adds about $30,000 to the cost of a house compared to one in a middle suburb. Infrastructure such as roads must become larger and more costly to cater for increased loads, and resources such as water must be brought in from afar meet the demands of the higher populations. An example is the transport systems which required an estimated $38 billion expenditure to make them workable to approximately 2015. The desalination plant at Wonthaggi will cost about $6 billion to provide an adequate water supply system until 2026.The lamentable aspect of these expenditures is that they are recurring. After 2015, more money must to be found, perhaps $40 billion to keep the transport system workable for another 10 years,and after 2026 possibly another desalination plant at a cost of $7 billion will have to be built.

Environmental and energy costs

As population sizes increase, more water is needed to supply metropolitan needs and also for crop irrigation. This can be provided from natural watercourses or from desalination plants. If from watercourses, this reduces their flow and places stress on the natural environment. It is unlikely that desalinated water would be used for irrigation because of high energy costs, but even if used only for potable water, energy costs are significant as are green house gas (GHG) emissions.

The treatment of waste water in conventional development requires large mechanical plant expensive in both capital and energy costs. Most of the nutrients contained in it are discarded to ocean outfalls, and lost to the community. Solid wastes are largely consigned to landfills where they produce GHG emissions, as well as odours and pests, and present potential underground water contamination and fire hazards.

The existing urban system is profligate in terms of energy usage, rapidly consuming the nation’s reserves of gas and oil. Approximately 33% of all non-transport energy consumed in Australia is electrical. Yet to generate this energy, because of the low efficiency of conversion of about 33%, more primary energy is consumed than for all other non-transport usage. This is a clearly inefficient use of resource, yet it is accepted because the general mode of urbanisation is not conducive to accepting reject heat from power generation. Associated with this high energy consumption is the production of GHG emissions, which Australia is unconditionally committed to reduce to 5% below 2000 levels by 2020 after having ratifyied the Kyoto Protocol. In spite of the commitment, the reality is that the 2011 emissions were 9% above 2000 levels and rising at a rate which will take 2020 emissions to 24% above 2000 levels. It seems clear that the Kyoto commitment cannot be met unless drastic changes are made.

Congestion Costs

Mean travel times to work for Melbourne and Sydney are around one hour, and for outer suburbs around one and a half hours. This produces stress and adversely affects health and well being. Elderly and very young people and those suffering from respiratory disorders are more at risk. Stress affects the emotions, and therefore performance at work, absenteeism and lateness. It also affects moods and relationships at the workplace and outside it. In addition, there are high costs involved in lost time and energy in the transport of people and goods and in pollution abatement. It is estimated that by 2020 these costs plus associated health costs, will amount to about $9.3 billion/year for Sydney, and $7.5 billion/year for Melbourne. These costs are very significant and will affect the competitiveness of Australian cities in the international market.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE URBAN SPRAWL

This Paper proposes a system of managed decentralised urban development to remedy the negative effects of the existing urban sprawl model. It is termed ‘Expanding Nodular Development’ (END),and it is shown that this can provide a sustainable and economical path or blueprint for development to 2061 and beyond, to a time when renewable energy resources can meet substantially all non-transport requirements. The END model requires a gradual halt to the opening of new development land in capital cities, and instead open land in compact satellite cities which surround the capital. The new cities would be close to the capital, but remain separate entities and be self sustaining with their own industries and commerce to support them. The basic philosophy behind the concept is to provide people with jobs at their place of residence, i.e. ‘to live where they work’ so that there is little need to commute.

The END cities would originate at existing small ‘seed’ communities such as small towns, to provide initial infrastructure and labour, and would gradually grow to a predetermined size within a maturation period of about 15-20 years. Initially there could be three to seven cities for Victoria, in this first wave of expansion, all between about 30 and 100 km from Melbourne. After about 10 years a second wave of cities would be started, these being about 100 to 150 km from Melbourne. The process is continued with third and fourth waves at ever increasing distances from the capital city until a stable State population is reached.It is important to plan the END cities to an approximate maximum size, so that infrastructure such as roads, public transport, water, waste and energy systems can be planned to that size. Infrastructure can be expanded as the city grows, but should not need replacing or upgrading. In this way infrastructure costs are minimised and are not recurring, in contrast with the urban sprawl model. It is proposed that the minimum size for END cities be 100,000 in order to provide adequate business, labour, educational, health and cultural opportunities for a modern community. It is suggested that a maximum size be about 700,000, based on the concept of ‘liveability’ and on practical planning considerations. Discussion and tabular data in the Paper are generally in terms of cities of 100,000,but this should be considered a basic module, with cities being between 100,000 and 700,000. To minimise cost of land, housing and infrastructure including energy distribution, it is proposed that END cities be compact with overall densities of about 2,700 people/sq.km. This is lower than that of the inner suburb of the City of Port Philip, which has a density of about 4,700/sq.km.

The END model addresses all important issues facing urbanisation in Australia. These are discussed briefly in the following.

END MODEL CORRECTION TO THE URBAN SPRAWL AND CONVENTIONAL URBANISATION

Potable, non-potable, and irrigation water

Water is saved by recycling waste water for non-potable use, and by collecting storm water runoff. Recycling water so that it constitutes about 70% of the total supply, ensures that potable water drawn from nearby natural watercourses or piped in from a distance is conserved as much as possible. Recycled water is supplied to consumers through a second pipe. This is a significant expense when dealing with low density urban sprawl, but is reasonable in a compact urban area,especially a new one when all services can be laid together. All waste water is treated in biological treatment ponds, and excess is discharged to central pondage, where it is collected together with storm water runoff. Water from the central pond, or ponds, is used for irrigation of crops, and also for the cooling of power station generators which supply electrical and thermal energy for the city.For an area with an annual rainfall of 600 mm/year, and allowing for evaporation and the release of as much water into the watercourse as was taken from it as potable water, there would be sufficient water, on average, to irrigate about 3.5 times the land (based on average Australian use of irrigation water) that would be required to produce the city’s own consumption of open field type crops. Thus on average there would be considerable excess produce which could be processed and exported.Hence, the END model would be largely self sufficient in water in contrast with the urban sprawl model which requires most of its water to be piped in from a distance, or produced in a desalination plant at great environmental cost. In general the END model produces enough irrigation water to more than satisfy its own requirements for crop irrigation, thus conserving water to maintain healthy river basins such as the Murray Darling which are becoming highly stressed.

Waste water treatment

Most large urban areas treat waste water using mechanical means which are expensive both in capital and operating costs. The water produced by these is generally Class C which must be further processed to produce Class A, the quality required for recycling. In addition there is no nutrient reclaim from these plants which thus waste valuable resources of phosphorus and nitrogen. It is proposed that biological methods using duckweed pondage replace mechanical plants. These ponds are inexpensive to build, can produce water to almost potable standard if required, and they recover most of the nutrients in the water to be used as animal fodder or fish food in aquaculture. The water produced must still be disinfected to produce Class A effluent and meet health standards, but degree of disinfection is light.

Solid Wastes disposal

Modern cities produce vast quantities of waste and this is increasing at a rate of about 4% per annum per person. Some is being recycled, some is composted but most of it goes to landfill where underground aquifer contamination and fire hazards are produced as well as GHG emissions, unpleasant odours and vermin. Yet much of the waste that goes to landfills contains a valuable resource, energy. Harvestable energy is contained in all biomass including green wastes and sewerage sludge, in plastics and in tyres, in fact in all hydrocarbons. In the process of pyrolysis hydrocarbons are heated up to high temperatures, thermally decomposed, and reacted with steam to produce a burnable gas called syngas. This gas can be burned in a boiler or a gas turbine to produce electricity. In this way solid wastes can be disposed of in an environmentally acceptable way and at the same time useful energy can be harvested to help offset the operating costs of the plant At present in most states government levies on garbage are too low to make pyrolysis a viable alternative to landfill. Consideration should be given to raise levies to about $100 per tonne as is done in many European countries. Syngas can make a valuable contribution to Victoria’s gas reserves, and when used in conjunction with the utilization of waste heat from power generation (co-generation) can extend natural gas reserves by about 16 years beyond the time when conventional practice exhaust them.

Efficient utilization of primary energy and GHG reduction using co-generation

The overall efficiency of electric power generation is about 33%, after making allowance for electrical transmission losses. Thus about two thirds of all primary energy used in power generation is wasted to atmosphere through cooling towers and cooling ponds. If this rejected heat could be utilized, energy usage could be reduced significantly, and consequently GHG emissions. It is shown that in the typical Australian industrial/commercial/residential mix, there is sufficient demand for reject heat that the efficiency of utilization can be doubled to around 70% through this process of reject heat recovery termed co-generation. As mentioned earlier, more primary energy is consumed to produce electricity as is consumed by all other non-transport uses even though electrical energy consumption is only half of non-electrical, i.e. one third of the total. It can be shown, taking into account conventional heating efficiencies of about 70%, that if electrical efficiency is doubled (by distributing as much thermal energy as electrical energy) through co-generation there is an overall reduction of primary energy use of about 25%. This is a very large reduction, and requires no special technology. The only requirement is that thermal loads be located fairly close, within about 5 km of the power station. If the load mix were such as to utilize about 90% of the thermal output of the power station, overall primary energy use could be reduced by about a staggering 70%. With the use of green houses and aquaculture for food production, and the agglomeration of energy intensive industries such as chemical and food processing close to the power stations, thermal energy utilization could be increased to this level in END cities; their compact layout permits thermal distribution without excessive capital costs. Co-generation applied on a large scale as envisaged with END cities is the single most effective way of making large reductions to societal energy use, and GHG emissions, both in the order of 70%. The concept of END cities, compact and designed at inception makes this possible. It is probably the only way for Australia to realize its emission targets under Kyoto.

Gas reserves and gas distribution network

With the growing concern with GHG emissions, it is likely that most electrical power generation will be natural gas driven. This, together with increasing demands placed by an increasing population places increasing strains on gas reserves and the pipework system needed to deliver them. It is estimated that with the phasing out of coal fired power stations and increasing reliance is placed on gas, existing, probable and contingent gas reserves of Victorian basins will be depleted around 2045. With the END model, this time will be extended by about 16 years to around 2060, which is considerable, but more importantly, the model ensures maximum efficiency of utilization, so facilitating full use of renewable energy resources, possibly through a hydrogen economy.

The existing gas supply system with the urban sprawl model will be about 14% under capacity by 2021, and about 60% by 2061. Even with maximum reasonable augmentation of the system it will be about 16% under capacity by 2041 and about 45% by 2061. On the other hand with the END model,the existing system will be adequate right through to 2061 with only minor augmentation, thus saving high capital augmentation costs.

Congestion

As mentioned above, costs of congestion and allied health costs will amount to about $9.3 billion/year for Sydney and $7.5 billion /year for Melbourne under the existing urban sprawl model by 2020. With the END model these costs will be largely eliminated. Smaller cities with road and public transport systems planned to cater for a maximum size of the cities, together with reduced air pollution due to the efficient burning and utilization of energy, and reduced stress levels will ensure this.

Amenity

END cities will be designed within modern design guidelines. They will have attractive residential and commercial buildings with large open spaces, and lakes and ponds for recreation. Walking and cycling tracks will be an integral part of their design. They will essentially be ‘green’ cities, with special emphasis on environment, and blending into the local natural systems.

Jobs and the economy

The underlying premise of the END model is that people live where they work. Hence it is important to create jobs which will support large communities. One of the ‘kickstarter’ industries for END cities is the horticulture industry. In Victoria large deficits in horticultural products are predicted by 2030. END cities with abundant supplies of low cost energy would be ideal for the establishment of green houses which can be heated with this energy. The potential for heating can provide green house capacity much greater than the cities would need for their own consumption, thus enabling the supply deficit to be overhauled and food made available for export. Much of the produce would be processed, and again the availability of abundant low cost energy facilitates this. The abundance of irrigation water brought about by storm water collection and waste water recycling would allow general agriculture and animal husbandry such as piggeries and poultry to prosper. The recycling of nutrients from waste water to animal fodder through biological treatment is a further resource which can be exploited for industries such as poultry and pig farming to assist in establishing and growing them. Low cost energy also helps establish aquaculture to provide high quality protein for local and export markets.

Low cost energy and abundant water facilitate the establishment of industries generally, especially those which are energy intensive such as milk and dairy products, textiles, general food processing, and the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. All of the above industries are excellent candidates for the generation of jobs, and once a small number of businesses are established in a ‘seed’ community, a small established town, more would follow. The multiplier effect of primary jobs in agriculture and manufacturing would quickly generate more jobs as retailing, health, financial, building and educational services are needed.

An essential requirement for the establishment of an END city is an energy source. Hence it would be necessary for power authorities to build the first module of a power supply and thermal distribution system in conformance with power and energy forecasts. Investment in power generation must be made somewhere in the States in any case in order to secure future energy supplies – they would simply be made in accordance with the END model program as established by State planning authorities.

Because the END city concept is efficient in the use of resources and greatly reduces waste both in resources such as water, energy, and nutrients, and money such as in infrastructure, health, and congestion costs, the overall economy must be positively impacted by their establishment. Goods and services costs would decrease and Australian competitiveness in international markets would be bolstered, enabling an increase in exports which further energises the economy.

Housing

The cost of housing is greatly dependant on the cost of services such as roads, water, sewerage, and energy. Through compact design the END model minimises all of these, with savings in the order of $30,000 per home. By 2026 only about 30% of all households will be couples with children, but about 25% will be lone person households. The remaining 45% will be single parent or couples with no children households. Reflecting these figures, around 70% of households would live in medium density housing and high density apartments, and 30% in low density housing of 15 dwellings/ha. Land area for medium and high density dwellings, per dwelling, works out to be less than 40% of that for low density dwellings. Thus cost of land should be at least halved, contributing a further reduction of about $90,000 per dwelling. Total savings for medium and high density dwellings, assuming that construction costs remain the same are thus about $120,000 per dwelling. This amounts to 23% of the median price of houses for Melbourne in 2010, which is a significant saving. With innovative ways of constructing medium and high density housing, such as factory build modular construction, savings should be even greater.

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

The END model offers a blueprint for future sustainable urban development in Australia. It allows population growth without imposing on the environment, conserves energy resources well into the foreseeable future, and paves the way for full use of renewable energy. Forming the backbone of a distributed system for power and water, it offers security of supply for both. With its high efficiency it will enhance economic growth, and make Australia more competitive on the world economic stage. Australia is blessed with much land, plenty of sunshine and a mild climate over large portions of it. However much of the continent is dry, and water resources are stretched. The END model offers a way to overcome this limitation, so that Australia can produce food in abundance, in a world which is becoming increasingly desperate for it. With foresight and good management, Australia can become a bread bowl for the world, and increase its prosperity at the same time. The driving force for change in Australia’s patterns of urbanisation is population pressure. The natural birth rate of 1.8 children per woman is fairly high by OECD standards, and net overseas migration is likely to increase with world unrest. We now live in a global community and are no longer an island fortress. It is unlikely that population pressures will ease in the future, and we must plan for them.