Resources

The National Urban Policy supports our highest priorities, from equitable access to jobs, homes and services, to climate resilience and lowering emissions.

It includes a shared vision for sustainable urban growth, as agreed by National Planning Ministers. It also outlines our priorities as we work with partner governments on issues that impact our urban areas to be more:

• liveable and equitable 
• productive and innovative
• sustainable and resilient.

It provides a framework and goals that support all cities, large and small—from our central business districts to suburban and peri-urban realms and everything in between.

The National Urban Policy was developed with input from stakeholders including other Commonwealth agencies, state, territory and local governments, industry, urban policy experts and First Nations stakeholders.

The Urban Policy Forum, chaired by Emeritus Professor Barbara Norman, played an integral role in developing the National Urban Policy. These experts in urban development were central to delivering the Government’s revitalised approach to urban policy, highlighting the urgent challenges facing our cities and suburbs.

This work builds on our strong investment in cities and suburbs, including the Thriving Suburbs Program, urban and regional Precincts and Partnerships Programs and the Housing Support Program. 

South Australia has set a target to increase urban green cover by 20 per cent by 2045, in an
effort to maintain community liveability, enhance biodiversity and secure the future of our State
in the face of a changing climate and increasing urban density.

The 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide describes our plan for how Adelaide should grow to become more liveable, competitive and sustainable. It will guide the long-term growth of the city and its surrounds over the next 30 years.

The State Planning Policies set out a framework for land use that aims to improve the liveability, sustainability and prosperity of the state.

They provide the state-wide vision for South Australia’s planning and design system.

State Planning Policy 1: Integrated Planning
State Planning Policy 2: Design Quality
State Planning Policy 3: Adaptive Reuse
State Planning Policy 4: Biodiversity
State Planning Policy 5: Climate Change
State Planning Policy 6: Housing Supply and Diversity
State Planning Policy 7: Cultural Heritage
State Planning Policy 8: Primary Industry
State Planning Policy 9: Employment Lands
State Planning Policy 10: Mineral and Energy Resources
State Planning Policy 11: Strategic Transport Infrastructure
State Planning Policy 12: Energy
State Planning Policy 13: Coastal Environment
State Planning Policy 14: Water Security and Quality
State Planning Policy 15: Natural Hazards
State Planning Policy 16: Emissions and Hazardous Activities

We encourage the application of inter-modal hierarchical prioritisation (I’M-HiP) to active transport infrastructure, such as footpaths, shared paths, and bicycle paths where these intersect with minor roads.

This document provides interim guidance for designing safe active streets in WA, focusing on creating routes where vehicle speeds are reduced to 30 km/h to ensure safe and comfortable shared use. It will be updated based on findings from the Safe Active Streets Pilot Program Evaluation.

Supporting inclusive access and safe, vibrant communities through street design.

Department of Transport WA has been working with Western Australian local governments to develop, trial and evaluate ‘safe active streets’ which use local area traffic management treatments to encourage more people to walk, wheel and ride in their communities.

Foundational research designed to support shared space design concepts and applications in NSW, delivered by Transport for NSW in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney.

On this page:

• Universal design
• Grades and surface treatments
• Kerb ramps
• Tactile Ground Surface Indicators (TGSIs)
• Audio tactile facilities
• Legislation and guidance

On this page

• Footpaths in road reservations
• Shared paths
• Walking tracks and trails
• Pedestrian bridges

On this page:

• Benefits of street trees
• Types of shade
• Shade in streetscapes
• Shade in public facilities
• Urban forests and canopy cover
• Climate and local environmental factors
• Minimum canopy clearance heights
• Shade and public transport
• Awnings

On this page:

• Managing street furniture
• Wayfinding signage
• Lighting

On this page:

• Planning for walking in new developments (greenfield)
• Urban design and the built environment
• Movement and place
• Tactical urbanism
• Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

Including:

• Why Walking Matters
• Pedestrian Characteristics
• Planning for Walking
• Walking Data
• Audits and measuring walkable environments
• Urban planning and urban design
• Supporting facilities
• Shade and street trees
• Construction and maintenance
• Paths for walking
• Road crossings
• Speed management and integrated treatments
• Universal access
• Promotion, encouragement and behaviour change

Getting to and from public transport is integral to every public transport journey. 

All passengers must make their way to a public transport stop to board public transport, then make their way from where they disembark to their final destination. Often referred to as the ‘first and last mile’, the actual length of these trips can range from less than 100m to many kilometres. 

First and last mile connections are critical to a viable and enjoyable public transport journey experience.

Key issues relating to the quality and ease of access to and from a public transport stop include:

• The distance between the origin/ destination and the public transport station or stop. This largely determines whether passengers choose to walk or cycle, or use a car, motorbike, or bus to access public transport.
• The level of comfort and universal access along the connecting route. Even short distances can be perceived as unattractive or inaccessible if they involve long or convoluted road crossings, extensive exposure to inclement weather or lack of appropriate infrastructure.
• The availability and attractiveness of options including taxi/ rideshare or feeder bus services, as well as facilities for Kiss and Ride or Park and Ride.
• A person’s level of perceived or actual safety and security accessing public transport. 

It is important that those involved in public transport planning consider the whole of the passengers' journey. When planning for public transport journeys, the following questions should be considered:

• How will people get to and from their public transport services?
• Is the whole journey accessible for all people?
• Is the whole journey safe?
• Is the whole journey attractive, convenient, relatively seamless, and intuitive?
• Is the whole journey affordable?

This research investigated the applicability of accessibility planning in New Zealand as a tool for assessing and improving personal access to essential services for all New Zealanders.

It canvassed international accessibility planning practices in England, the Netherlands and Southern California to understand the various drivers for its introduction and the different approaches taken in its implementation.

All three case studies share the goal of improving individuals’ access to activity centres and recognise that accessibility planning is best undertaken at the local level with some form of central government guidance and monitoring.

The English comprehensive accessibility planning framework has been adapted to New Zealand’s existing social services and local government legislative and institutional environment and the recently legislated changes to the government land transport sector.

The resulting recommended framework employed a collaborative approach to assess and improve people’s accessibility to employment, food shopping, health, education and social services across New Zealand.

All levels of government would participate in the assessment of accessibility, development of priorities, indicators and action plans and monitor progress against outcomes, within government frameworks.

Transport actions developed by regional accessibility partnerships to address regional problems would feed directly into their regional land transport programmes for prioritisation for funding.

Future Transport Strategy 2056 sets the 40-year vision and framework for customer mobility in NSW. As part of this vision, the Strategy recognises the importance of shaping our future transport spaces to ensure balance between movement and place.

To support the development of successful places, the Movement & Place Framework promotes the urban design principles that allow local communities to come together in places with vehicle movement, thereby supporting social and economic growth.

The purpose of this research is to use the Movement & Place Framework and Safe System approach to develop a series of evidence-based design principles and guidelines for balancing vehicle movement and place-making, to enhance the development of safe and successful places.

Using virtual reality (VR) and pedestrian tracking technology, the project aims to better understand relationships between pedestrian-oriented urban design elemental variables and safe system treatments to improve the human experience and safety of pedestrians.

Outcomes from this research will facilitate the implementation and evaluation of successful places in collaboration with local councils to determine the real-life impact of different place-making and safety variables.

Movement and Place is a cross-government framework for planning, designing and managing our transport networks to maximise benefits for the people and places they serve.

Research has repeatedly shown that the more people walking or riding a bike, the safer it is for everyone. Reducing the number of cars and speed limits in built-up areas reduces the risk of death or injury to our most vulnerable road users. Growth in cycling is best achieved through separated cycle lanes and reduced speed limits.

This research provides a number of mathematical formulas for predicting the quality of the walking environment from the perspective of the user using operational and physical variables. The formulas were derived by combining the perception data gathered from participants in the community street reviews with measurements of the walking environment.

The two main areas that were researched to enable the derivation of formulas were:

• when walking along the road (path length)
• when crossing the road (road crossing).

This research describes the process for obtaining the data and deriving the formulas, and recommends the formulas most suitable for practitioner use.

Creating a healthier future by putting people and place at the heart of our streets.

Part of Urban Mobility & Liveable Cities Series. Presented by Lorelei Schmitt, Principal Multimodal Advisor, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and George Lyons

Part of Urban Mobility and Liveable Cities Series. Featuring Claire Pascoe (Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency), Hamish Mackie (Mackie Research) and Lemauga Lydia Sosense, Chair Mangere Otahuhu Local Board.

The guidelines seek to improve the understanding of what good urban design means in a transport project. The guidelines are intended for consultants, contractors, project managers, stakeholders and the community who participate in the planning, design, construction and maintenance of our transport networks. They are also intended for other Transport Agency staff whose work and actions affect urban design outcomes.

The Pedestrian planning and design guide is New Zealand's comprehensive official guide to planning and design for walking. It sets out ways to improve New Zealand’s walking environment

The draft Handbook for tactical urbanism has been developed as a tool to help councils and communities deliver tactical urbanism projects to a high standard, using a collaborative best-practice approach.

A supplement to the Handbook for tactical urbanism provides draft guidance on compliant application of using road artwork effectively and safely in New Zealand.

Cycling network guidance – planning and design (CNG) framework aims to promote a consistent, best-practice approach to cycling network and route planning throughout New Zealand.

The action plan establishes local action to build on the work of the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health, the work of clinicians and nongovernment bodies, and on the many ACT programs already in place under our Healthy Weight Initiative. It will take the healthy weight agenda beyond the Health portfolio and improve coordination across government.