The Federal Government has announced the formation of a new National Urban Policy, providing $181.4 million designed to ‘progress a range of practical measures which will promote more productive, sustainable and liveable cities.’

 

Our Cities, Our Future - a National Urban Policy Framework outlines the Federal Government’s objectives for the nation’s 18 major cities, which it identifies as the ‘engine rooms of growth, innovation and opportunity’.

 

To progress implementation of the Framework, the 2011-12 Budget puts in place an Action Plan for Our Cities with an initial down-payment of $181.4 million over four years for:

  • A Sustainable Australia - Liveable Cities and Urban Renewal Program - $20 million - to leverage additional resources from state and territory governments as well as local councils for innovative solutions to poor urban design, high levels of car dependency, traffic congestion, a lack of open space and rising carbon emissions.
  • A Sustainable Australia - National Smart Managed Motorways Trial to be developed by Infrastructure Australia and involving the retrofitting of smart technology to improve traffic flows along motorways and outer city roads, with $61.4 million available to co-fund projects with those states and territories which sign the national transport reforms.

 

 

The final Framework provides a long term blueprint to:

  • Better connect infrastructure with work and opportunity in our cities so we can reduce people's dependency on the car.
  • Develop high quality public transport and infrastructure systems to ease congestion and improve quality of life.
  • Reduce the carbon footprint of our cities and adapt them to the consequences of climate change.
  • Improve urban planning and design to better reflect our increasingly diverse lifestyles.

 

The Budget also provides $100 million for a new program, the Sustainable Australia - Suburban Jobs initiative aimed at establishing employment precincts within suburban and outer urban areas.