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AUSTRALIA is one of the world’s most urbanised countries with about 85% of its inhabitants living in urban areas. About 64% of the people are concentrated in the larger cities where low density housing has lead to congested roads, inadequate and/or economically unsustainable public transport and lengthening travel times for commuters. Here Dr Emma Rooksby examines whether decentralisation could help solve the problem.
Decentralisation: Who benefits from a big move?
ONE way to reduce pressure on major cities could be for governments to deliberately decentralise government services either to suburban areas, regional towns, or even to build entirely new towns. But would it work? To find out, Queensland’s Urban Development Research Institute (UDIA Queensland) investigated whether moving core government services away from Brisbane’s CBD would help solve Brisbane’s congestion problems - and perhaps offer solutions for other State capitals as well.
Dr Steve Ward who led the investigation has now published the findings in "The Decentralisation of Core Government Services," a report that examines the "relocation of State Government employees/services out of primary Metropolitan CBD areas to Metropolitan suburbs, non-state capital cities and towns, or regional areas."
Dr Ward says if decentralisation is done well, then in the long term it can save governments large amounts of money. For example he says the NSW Government Office Accommodation Reform found that moving government services away from Sydney’s CBD saved around $570 million in rental costs between 1996 and 2003.
Dr Ward says decentralisation may also improve quality of life by reducing traffic congestion and commuting time. It can certainly reduce the Government’s carbon footprint if the new decentralised facilities are environmentally sustainable.
Other benefits cited in his report include higher regional economic growth, and improved perceptions about regional areas, both from within and from outside. One example is the relocation of the Victorian State Revenue Office from Melbourne to Ballarat. That move created more than 200 new jobs and is projected to bring an additional $16 million into Ballarat each year.
The report identifies three major drivers for decentralisation in Queensland:
- Operational costs (such as real estate rental costs and labour costs, both of which are higher in Brisbane compared with regional towns);
- The spread of advanced information and communication technology (e.g. broadband, video-conferencing); and
- Sustainability issues (such as traffic congestion, population pressure, quality of life).
An overview of recent decentralisation initiatives across Australia has also allowed Dr Ward to identify some of the key issues that must be addressed as part of a decentralisation.
Foremost among these is the need for a sound business case. Without a net economic benefit to the State as a whole, Dr Ward argues, decentralisation initiatives risk being seen as "post code politics" that benefit one town at the expense of another. In that case, they are less likely to gain popular support.
The report cites several cases, including the development of the new town of Monarto in South Australia under the Whitlam Government’s ‘New Cities Programme’ in the 1970s, where policy pressures led to decentralisation efforts that were not grounded in business realities, and failed to achieve their objectives.
Government real estate policy is another key area that can determine the success or otherwise of decentralisation initiatives, he says.
Early strategic government investment in real estate is essential if significant cost
savings are to be made. The report cites the case of the NSW Government’s announcement of its plan to decentralise services to Parramatta before securing land or buildings in the city.
Developers moved quickly to buy up much of the available land, and this resulted in greatly increased land costs for the Government.
Dr Ward also cites a number of aspects of the relocation process as important:
- Effective planning and project management are vital to a successful relocation;
- The new location must possess sufficient infrastructure to support the expected increase in population;
- The workforce must be convinced that the move will be beneficial, as otherwise they may not be willing to move;
- Incentive-based models are more successful in motivating employees to relocate;
- The demographics of the workforce can influence how ready they are to relocate, with a younger, unmarried demographic generally happier to relocate;
- The move must be carefully timed, and coordinated with any major building or infrastructure upgrades necessary before relocation occurs; and
- The impact of the move on race relations should be carefully considered, as regional areas may be less culturally diverse than the cities from which relocation takes place.
Finally Dr Ward emphasises that "government support and leadership is paramount to the success of decentralisation." He says effective Australian initiatives to decentralise government services, such as NSW’s Government Office Accommodation Reform Program, have all had strong and ongoing government support.
On a more sobering note, a publication on traffic and congestion costs from the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics notes that "there are typically costs associated with urban decentralisation", that is, decentralisation within the boundaries of existing cities. These costs result from the fact that "the prices for a wide variety of urban goods and services will partially reflect the difficulty of delivering such goods and services over a widespread, densely trafficked network."
