I have reviewed the 2019 Audit and the 2018 Infrastructure Australia publication "Future Cities" and am concerned that it appears that Infrastructure Australia's planning and recommendations are based on the continuation of the present "urban sprawl" model of urbanisation, with our capital cities becoming ever larger, capital cost of infrastructure becoming ever greater, operational costs to the community ever increasing, and livability becoming ever less attractive as congestion, already at painful levels, is not improved, even with the massive capital costs predicted.

My contention that our main capital cities are too large and becoming larger every year with no solution in sight, has lead me to a concept of urbanisation which, if adopted would limit their growth and at the same time enable the regions to develop. I have termed the concept Expanding Nodular development, or END, and its central idea is to divert the population growth of the major cities into satellite cities surrounding them in a wave pattern with the capital at the centre. The waves would be about 100 km apart to facilitate connectivity with the capital and between the cities themselves.

They would be designed for a minimum population of 100,000 and maximum of about 1 million, in order to be self sustaining economically and culturally, but not so large as to experience the problems of high infrastructure costs and congestion as cities like Sydney and Melbourne are experiencing now. The main driver for the establishment of these cities would have to be industry, and I propose intensive agriculture initially on which secondary industry such as food processing can be based, this being followed by chemical, pharmaceutical and manufacturing industry later. The availability of renewable energy, with which Australia is abundantly blessed, would facilitate the latter type of industry, through the generation of hydrogen which is a basic feedstock for the chemical and fertiliser industries. Also hydrogen is probably the way transport will be fuelled in the future – cars, trucks and buses. So there is enormous potential.

The creation of industry will provide a great source of jobs, especially among the younger generation whose present unemployment rate is unacceptably high. In a planned environment with low infrastructure costs, housing affordability will be significantly improved, and so provide another attraction for people to migrate to END cities. Planning of END cities will also mitigate against congestion, which is a major concern for cities at present. The use of rain water harvesting and water recycling will enable END cities to function without stressing water reserves, and at the same time would preserve our rivers and streams and not damage the environment. In fact END cities would be environmentally benign not only through water conservation, but also because of efficient thermal energy use through large scale cogeneration and utilisation of renewables, both of which will drastically reduce emissions.

All of these benefits can be obtained through good planning and design. No technological breakthroughs are required. The main ingredient to their establishment is political will, something which is probably largely inhibited by short electoral cycles. For this reason a bipartisan approach is needed for big ideas such as this. The END concept provides a blueprint for the sustainable accommodation of the growing population, something which is not attainable with the existing lassez faire urban sprawl mode of urbanisation. A fundamental change is required. Strategic planning is needed to break out of the irrational course the nation is now on. Whilst the thought of establishing the new cities may seem daunting, the thought of inaction is frightening. Time is of the essence with the nation's population exploding - by 2060 Melbourne will have a population of some 11 million if the present path of urbanisation is followed. At the same time regional development would continue to languish, as it has since federation.

With a holistic approach to the END concept, which includes detailed planning, governance methology, establishment of export markets and the incorporation of new ideas such as hydrogen generation from renewables, rainwater harvesting, water recycling and the Internet of Things for better control of infrastructure, leading for example to early and practical introduction of driver less vehicles, END cities would become economic powerhouses. I have ideas on these matters, but the resources for carrying them to practical fruition can only be obtained through government action using organisations such as Infrastructure Australia in conjunction with DFAT, Planning Institute of Australia, Engineers Australia and other organisations in fields such economics and law.

I have approached the Planning Institute of Australia and Engineers Australia and both are supportive of the concept. I believe that it is necessary for Infrastructure Australia to advocate to the Australian Government the urgent necessity to adopt strategic planning as outlined above.

I have attached a summary and some articles I have written to expand on the above. Please go to my website for more articles, Concept Paper Summary and diagrams and drawings. Link to my webpage Managed Urbanisation is https://bit.ly/2yp8LLG

Your comments would be welcome.

Submission tags:

Urbanisation, strategic planning, congestion, environment, hydrogen, energy, water recycling, water harvesting, housing affordability, employment.

Attachment 01 - Big ideas are needed - IEA.pdf (Ref Articles)

Attachment 02 - Band-aid solutions will not end transport woes.pdf (Ref Articles)

Attachment 03 - Cities, Industry and Renewables.pdf (Ref Articles)

Attachment 04 - CONGESTION, JOBS AND URBANISATION.pdf (Ref Articles)

Attachment 05 - Energy Networks Australia Contribution.pdf (Ref Submissions)