PLACE ACTIVATION BULLETIN published by Rodney Jensen and Associates © 2013
Place Activation and Design
Place Activation
Features
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Proactive in approach;
Place-focused;
Outcomes prioritised;
Integration of economic, social and physical
dimensions;
 Non-prescriptive or
legalistic;
 Community participation in place initiatives;
 Governance improvements including place
management and Business Improvement Districts (“BIDs”).
Editorial
There could not be a
better time for Australian
planning authorities to get
behind smarter ways of
stimulating the economy
of local precincts in the
cities. Despite the hype
about how well our national economy is faring in
contrast with other western economies all our
mainland cities other than
Perth are experiencing
(Continued on page 2)
Place Activation
In metropolitan Sydney and
regional centres, there are
many places which are economically depressed and lacking vitality. Typically these
have relatively high levels of
unemployment, particularly in
the youth sector, many shops
and businesses lie boarded up,
main streets are unattractive
and public places have signs of
vandalism and anti-social behaviour. Such places have inadequate services, cultural
facilities and social infrastructure.
Such deeply entrenched urban
problems are not responsive
to conventional land use planning and urban design. A more
holistic approach spanning
economic social and environmental considerations is required to regenerate marginal
places and stimulate their economies. We term this approach
“Place Activation”.
Our Place Activation strategies
focus on marginal places with a
general objective of achieving
positive improvement in the
various factors which contribute
to place vitality and quality of
life. To achieve such outcomes
we set a series of place-linked
indicators, sometimes known as
“key result areas” or “KRAs”. A
hypothetical example might be
“To achieve an increase in
letting rates to 80% of retail and
commercial space within a defined place area within 3 years”.
However, in practice the KRAs
must be developed having regard to a full on-ground analysis
of the opportunities, problems
and issues connected with specific places.
Inside the Melbourne based “Hub” the new centre for SMEs and start-ups.
Our primary goal for a particular place is to devise an
agreed set of KRAs and
achieve improvements in
each of them within a particular period of time. The KRAs
will be developed in consultation with client local councils
and community, using integrated strategies devised by
our multi-disciplinary team.
Incubators and start-ups
Rodney Jensen writes:
Interesting ways of overcoming work from home limitations and sourcing economic
offices for start-up businesses
in the innovation and creative
industrial sectors have been
trialled in many overseas locations and some Australian
cities. Newcastle, Sydney and
Melbourne have experimented with so-called "incubators"
in the central business districts of each of these cities.
They are located in marginally
economic shop fronts (as in
Newcastle CBD), and open
plan offices, sharing commu-
nication and other office services in Sydney and Melbourne.
The Newcastle project was
initiated by Marcus Westbury
in 2008 with an announcement in Facebook, addressing
Newcastle’s economic woes.
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PLACE ACTIVATION BULLETIN published by Rodney Jensen and Associates © 2013
From page 1...
(Continued from page 1)
Whether incubators
prove to be a short
term ‘fad’ based on
mixed results from
other global cities, or
the magic bullet which
will overcome blighted
and economically
depressed areas will
undoubtedly have
much to do with local
context and broader
economic forces.
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severe problems in terms of
housing supply, retail industry competing with ecommerce and the global
impact of competition generally making it difficult for
Australian businesses to
compete against much lower employment and manufacturing costs and overheads offshore.
There are many overseas
examples to suggest that
new proactive approaches
are clearly warranted. The
new UK Conservative/
Liberal Coalition has revisited enterprise zones and
devolved greater responsibility to local authorities for
example. Similarly, the
power of economic clusters
is yet to be trialled to any
extent in Australia.
The purpose of this newsletter is to present some
examples of new paradigms
in planning and infrastructure as ways of lifting the
vitality of urban places. We
plan to inform you of new
initiatives and success stories from time to time.
(Continued from page 1)
Westbury was particularly
interested in the parallels
between Newcastle and
Glasgow including an abundance of unlettable poorly
maintained shopfronts.
Overwhelming favourable
response to the Facebook
initiative led to the establishment of “Renew Newcastle” a non-profit organisation designed to license
vacant shop fronts from
property owners short term.
This has led Streets such as
Darby Street and Beaumont
Street to have been enlivened by new visitors, a fresh
mix of cafes, womens’ clothing, and a creative, lively
atmosphere.
An incubator in Melbourne
known as “the Hub” has
been established close to
Southern Cross railway station in a heritage building.
The Hub according to a the
office manager goes beyond
simply providing space for
new enterprising business
but puts considerable emphasis on new work
patterns and networking.
As of mid 2012, some recent
start-ups have already become success stories. Users
of the Hub generally seem
to be in the sub-40 age
group and the open plan
layout provides very limited
scope for privacy – but that
appears to be exactly what
this generation of new business entrepreneurs is looking for.
In the so called central
“Sydney Oxford Street Activation” a series of offices
and shops, located in Oxford
Street (to the south east of
the CBD edge) are being
leased short term while the
buildings owned by the City
Council are undergoing capital works and upgrades.
Target businesses include
new and not-for-profit organisations working in the
creative and cultural sectors. The success of this
initiative will be measured
by a number of KRAs including pedestrian counts, em-
ployment surveys and broader
surveys of economic, cultural
and social impacts according
to a spokesperson for the City.
The main conclusions that I
have derived from this brief
review are that incubators will
suit some but by no means all
sectors of the creative, cultural and innovation sectors.
Since they are premised on
short term tenancy they must
be regarded only as a stepping
-stone for individual businesses. But enforced short term
tenancy could be seen as an
advantage and an incentive to
growth/sustainability.
Equally important will be the
wider benefits and effects on
surrounding areas and the
need to safeguard against
negative externalities such as
the impact of gentrification on
the creatives and innovators
themselves.
Whether incubators prove to
be a short term ‘fad’ based on
mixed results from other global cities, or the magic bullet
which will overcome blighted
and economically depressed
areas will undoubtedly have
much to do with local context
and broader economic forces.
However, from the case studies described in this review,
there would seem to be clear
merit in developing such programs.
PLACE ACTIVATION BULLETIN published by Rodney Jensen and Associates © 2013
Examples of new Place Activation approaches
Link air-rights development and Transport Oriented Development (“TOD”)
KEY RESULT AREAS
 Improved economic development yield in existing transport nodes
via air rights development and optimised use
mix;
 Improved linkages to
transport nodes focussing on sustainability,
safety and public health,
including promotion of
greater access to public
transport, parking at
nodes, safe/convenient
footpaths and bikeways;
 Improved traffic management, private vehicle
de-prioritisation and
traffic calming;
 Centre and transport
node activation including
more after hours and
weekend attractions and
activity, improved
meeting points and public facilities;

integration of cultural facilities with
conventional land
uses, proactive support for more lively
ground level shop
fronts;
 Broader mix of uses
including housing
industry and business.
Chatswood air-space redevelopment
New local government focus on place management and place-based planning
KEY RESULT AREAS
 Local government focus
on place outcomes rather than process-based
programs generated
within separate professional based silos with
limited lateral integration or coordination of
activity;
 Establishment of discrete places within local
government territory as
the basis for achieving
place-asssociated outcomes linked to local
physical and cultural
characteristics;
 Greater selfdetermination and management within and by
residents and business
owners within places,
entailing real purposeful
community participation;
 the establishment of
Business Improvement
Districts (“BIDs”) in particular settings having a
sustainable funding base
sourced from local government revenues;
Devolve local
government
management to
Business
Improvement Districts
(“BIDs” )
Promote innovation and creativity in identifiable local creative spatial clusters
KEY RESULT AREAS
 Local Government Areas
mapped and analysed in
terms of creative and
innovative industry sectors and relevant demographic profile;
 Identified spatial activity
clusters enhanced by
economic support, marketing and branding;
Page 3
 Start up businesses assisted with low cost incubator space including
office and studio space;
 Improvements in the
level of creative and
entrepreneurial activity
and spillover benefits
into surrounding territory;
 Logical linkages between
identified spatial clusters
and facilities including
transport facilities;
 Public domain and
streetscape landscaping
and embellishment consistent with creative
environment and cultural traditions.
Crown Street Surry Hills precinct
PLACE ACTIVATION BULLETIN published by Rodney Jensen and Associates © 2013
RODNEY JENSEN AND ASSOCIATES
PO BOX 357
ST LEONARDS NSW 1590
AUSTRALIA
Phone: +61(0) 418 600 799
A/H:
+612 (0) 2 9439 5954
E-mail: rjcjensen@gmail.com
Over the last 20 + years, Rodney Jensen and Associates Pty Ltd have undertaken a
comprehensive range of planning and development projects, research and studies,
and now specialise in urban design, heritage, and local government planning.
The Principal Dr Rodney Jensen, besides private practice, has worked for Commonwealth, State and Local Government in senior management roles, including a contract appointment as Executive Manager Planning and Development for Liverpool
City Council.
He is a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia and a member of the Urban Design Chapter. He has been a member of IHAPs at Liverpool, Fairfield and Warringah
Councils and the recipient of numerous merit awards from PIA. A full resume can
be provided on request.
Contact: Dr Rodney Jensen 0418 600 799
Our call-in associated consultant group includes:
Kevin Alker – Kevin Alker Property Solutions adding value to property - manages a diverse
range of projects, including market assessments, financial feasibilities, value management, due diligence and all aspects of delivery, disposal and evaluation on major projects.
John Montgomery—Urban Cultures Ltd. has specialised over many years in the creative industries, economic development, arts
strategy and place-making: the economy, culture and design of cities.
Paul Rappoport– Director of Rappoport Heritage— providing a full range of heritage planning, landscape and urban design for enhanced place-based cultural heritage and interpretation initiatives.
Robert Senior—Principal Certain Planning –
economic planning for place based industry
and innovation, air-rights development and
infrastructure in urban centres; specialist in
transport orientated development.
Darrell McLean– Director of Place Design
Group—providing sustainability-based urban
design and landscape services, focussing on
place activation within the public realm.
Jan Lindrum - MD of Lindrum Enterprises P/L,
Partner Film City and Director Gateway Wollongong P/L - providing services related to
public art and event conceptualisation, marketing, property development, working with
the Indigenous Community and urban centre
revitalisation.
Bronwen Castor - Principal Bronwen Castor
& Associates —with over 30 years experience
focussing on community consultation, social
impact assessments and robust, researchbased analysis of complex social and political
issues.
The creative precinct of Crows Nest Sydney