Next Generation Planning

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A handbook for

planners, designers and developers

in South East Queensland

Affordable Living

Smart Growth

Form-based codes

SEQ Place Model

Planning

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Next Generation Planning.

A handbook for planners, designers and developers in South East Queensland

First published 2011 by the Council of Mayors (SEQ), www.seqmayors.qld.gov.au.

ISBN 978-0-9870751-0-9

The Council of Mayors (SEQ) and the Queensland Government support and encourage the dissemination and exchange of information. However, copyright protects this publication. The Council of Mayors (SEQ) and the State of Queensland have no objection to this material being reproduced, made available online or electronically but only if they are recognised as the owners of the copyright.

Copyright inquiries about this publication should be directed to the Council of Mayors (SEQ) via email info@ seqmayors.qld.gov.au or in writing to PO Box 12995 GEORGE STREET QLD 4003.

Disclaimer:

Whilst the Council of Mayors (SEQ) and the Queensland Government (the ‘Owners’) believe this

information will be of assistance to you, it is provided on the basis that you are responsible for making your own assessment of the topics discussed. The Owners expressly disclaim all liability for errors or omissions of any kind whatsoever or for any loss (direct or indirect), damage or other consequence arising from your reliance on the material.

The material is provided on the understanding that the Owners are not, through the issuance of this information, engaging in rendering to you any legal or other professional service. Recipients are

encouraged to seek independent advice if they have any concerns about the material.

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Forewords

Council of Mayors (SEQ)

South East Queensland is a region renowned for liveability, our tin and timber houses, leafy streets and subtropical neighbourhoods. We are blessed with pristine natural landscapes, world class beaches and rural settings.

Vibrant urban areas are part of our surroundings as our region grows, changes, diversiﬁes and prospers.

Good planning is needed to preserve what is best about living in SEQ while building the communities of the future.

The Next Generation Planning handbook provides a planning toolkit to address these challenges. It is about improving affordability while ensuring liveability.

It is about bringing more choice and better housing designs to SEQ. These guidelines are not statutory but provide ideas for people to choose what may apply to their own situation. Next Generation Planning will help planners to strengthen the regions identity in future development, especially new residential communities and renewal areas.

Good planning today is essential to create the liveable communities of tomorrow.

Councillor Campbell Newman

The Right Honourable, the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, and the Council of Mayors (SEQ) Chairman

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State Government

Population and economic growth over recent years has brought many beneﬁts as well as new challenges for South East Queensland. Managing growth while maintaining our regional character and enviable lifestyles is the reason that the Queensland Government, working with local governments, prepared the South East Queensland Regional Plan 2009-2031. It is also the reason why the Queensland Growth Management Summit was held in March 2010, and why a new dedicated agency - Growth Management Queensland - was established to provide leadership in growth management. I am pleased that Next Generation Planning continues this collaboration between local and State governments. By studying some of SEQ’s best housing, streets and neighbourhoods, the designs, strategies and references in Next Generation Planning will provide invaluable guidance when developing new planning schemes.

The Next Generation Planning handbook forms another key step in the delivery of a comprehensive suite of planning tools for Queensland, delivered as part of Qplan; Queensland’s planning, development and building system.

Qplan incorporates all aspects of planning, from state planning policies and regional planning, right through to the local government planning schemes and building codes that inﬂuence the streetscapes in our neighbourhoods. Qplan includes a series of statutory tools to underpin Queensland’s planning framework, as well as non statutory guidelines such as the Next Generation Planning handbook.

Next Generation Planning builds upon the SEQ Regional Plan and provides the detailed guidance necessary to ensure that our growth is smart growth, and to make certain that our lifestyles and housing remain affordable for the next generation of South East Queenslanders.

The Honourable Paul Lucas MP

Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Local Government and Special Minister of State

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Federal Government

Access to affordable and liveable housing is a key to building sustainable communities and a sustainable Australia. The National Housing Supply Council estimates the shortfall of housing supply nationally to rise to 308,000 dwellings by 2014. This pressure is particularly acute in places like South East Queensland that have experienced signiﬁcant population growth.

Improvements in land use and planning can make a considerable contribution to housing supply and affordability. I am pleased to be able to work with my colleagues in the state and local governments on this important project that will assist in accelerating housing and planning reform in South East Queensland. If fully adopted across the region, the measures in the Next Generation Planning Handbook can streamline the assessment process for residential development by reducing assessment complexity - thereby reducing delays and costs.

One of the great challenges for local governments across Australia is how to deliver developments that are supported by the community and efﬁcient for industry. The handbook illustrates how planning can be done in a way that integrates the social, economic and environmental needs of the community. Funding for this project was provided through the Australian’s Government’s $450 million Housing Affordability Fund.

The fund provides grants to local governments and state and territory agencies to reduce housing related infrastructure and planning costs, and to pass these savings on to home purchasers. It is an important component in the Australian Government’s $20 billion commitment to understanding and addressing issues affecting housing affordability. I am pleased to support this handbook through the Australian Government’s Housing Affordability Fund and applaud the work of the Council of Mayors (South East Queensland) and the Queensland Government who have worked in partnership to produce it.

The Hon Tony Burke MP

Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

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About this handbook

Next Generation Planning is about new ways of planning for the suburbs, towns and cities of South East Queensland (SEQ). This handbook identiﬁes four Next Generation Planning concepts:

- Affordable Living

- Smart Growth

- Form-based Codes

- SEQ Place Model.

At their core, these concepts are about making places great for people, and ensuring they can afford to live there.

The key products in this handbook are strategic and statutory planning tools, in the form of the SEQ Place Model and supporting neighbourhood, street and lot and building scale planning techniques; including planning scheme modules designed to promote easy delivery of a range of housing.

The inspiration for this handbook came from the great places of SEQ, studied in detail in its preparation. It deliberately focuses on the key variables which really make a difference. Where other good work has already been undertaken on urban development standards in Queensland, it cross references to them. The Next Generation Planning handbook is a joint project of the Council of Mayors (SEQ) Next Generation Planning initiative under the Australian Government’s Housing Affordability Fund (HAF) and the Queensland Government’s Growth Management Queensland, based on the Smart Growth directions in the South East Queensland Regional Plan 2009 – 2031 (SEQ Regional Plan).

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The need for a

consistent approach

Inconsistencies in planning scheme

requirements can cause delays and contribute to the costs for housing. Sometimes, housing products common in one area are not permitted in another. Even apparently innocuous matters can have major implications for house builders - ﬂoor plans can require redesign for small variations in widths and setbacks.

South East Queensland varies from coastal to rural hinterland to capital city, but local variation does not need to be at the expense of common sense. The size of a door, width of a room, or the size of a garage do not vary across the region.

Focussing on residential development, this handbook promotes a consistent

approach to planning and gives detailed examples and appropriate criteria to allow Councils to explore such an approach for themselves.

Consistency in criteria such as lot frontages, street widths and building setbacks does not mean standard local character. Features such as the topography of a place, building materials, tree species and architectural style can be more effective in creating local character.

For common development like housing, lengthy application processes add cost, but often have little effect on outcomes. This handbook advocates the use of Form-based codes which strictly regulate key outcomes of new development, while at the same time providing a greater certainty for all involved about the appearance of buildings allowing quicker, more cost effective development assessment.

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Affordable Living

Affordability of housing is a challenge in most high growth regions and SEQ is no exception. In 2009, the Council of Mayors (SEQ) secured HAF funding for its Next Generation Planning project, designed to address housing affordability.

Affordable living is about more than just the cost of housing. It brings to account a range of factors, including the size, type and cost of housing we choose, how we move around and the resources we use.

Many factors can inﬂuence housing

affordability – the type of housing; the climate; construction costs; land and infrastructure costs; approval processes; the cost of borrowing money; and the overall supply and demand for housing.

But there are many other important inﬂuences on the affordability of living in SEQ, such as access to transportation options, access to employment, services and education, and the consumption of energy and other natural resources.

Many households in SEQ need two cars and travel long distances to work and services. Their house may be ‘affordable’, but the time and money involved in this travel can cause ﬁnancial stress. Many local areas also don’t offer variety in housing choices to meet household needs as their housing requriements and lifestyle change over time. This handbook focuses on Affordable Living. It puts forward consistent Next Generation Planning tools designed to contribute to Affordable Living through better strategic and local planning. It also promotes consistent planning scheme provisions to reduce cost through more certainty and more efﬁcient development assessment processes.

Smart Growth in SEQ

In the second half of the 20th century, much of the western world catered for growth of its cities by expanding outwards along major roads. In SEQ, the result of this approach was large, dispersed tracts of detached housing, or ‘urban sprawl’. As a result, many parts of the region are now heavily car dependent and characterised by long commutes and signiﬁcant lag times in providing important community infrastructure.

For many people, the Australian dream of owning a home is achievable only at the fringe of cities. The reality of the dream often means signiﬁcant travel time and cost for residents to access their daily needs. The sustainability of this approach has come into sharp focus more recently, particularly with the challenges of climate change, energy dependence, demographic change, public health and infrastructure funding.

New ways of planning have emerged to address these challenges, including the smart growth movement in North America. In Queensland, the SEQ Regional Plan embraces smart growth principles such as:

- a more compact urban form

- the need to create quality housing for

people of all income levels

- a focus on designing walkable

neighbourhoods

- creating distinctive, attractive communities

based on a mixture of land uses

- providing for a variety of transportation

choices and reduced car dependency

- protecting the region’s natural landscapes

- targeting new development to accessible

inﬁll locations

- prioritising use of existing infrastrcture.

This handbook is also an outcome of the SEQ Regional Plan program intent to prepare a Model Code for Smart Growth to help achieve these goals.

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SEQ Place Model

Form-based codes

A code is a set of ‘rules’ used in planning schemes and other regulating documents to govern development. They are an important component of the Queensland planning framework, and deal with aspects like building height, setbacks, car parking rates, street widths and open space provisions. Form-based codes are a new type of code. They place an increased emphasis on the physical form of buildings and infrastructure, and use graphics to clearly illustrate the required form of new development, such as new buildings, streets or parks.

This emphasis on form provides more certainty to planners and communities about what new development will look like and how it will function. In turn, this certainty can allow assessment regimes to be streamlined, as the impacts of development are known from the start. For this arrangement to work, form- based codes tend to be more prescriptive in nature.

The planning scheme modules in this handbook promote a more Form-based approach to codes; designed to create consistency and certainty, to simplify and deregulate housing approval processes, and to promote affordable living and great places.

The research underpinning this handbook suggests that settlements in SEQ can be understood as a series of place types, each with common characteristics, similar land use mixes and intensities of development. The SEQ Place Model identiﬁes eight place types in SEQ from the study of well known locations around the region. Each place type is recognisable by its function, special qualities, intensity, character and housing forms. These include natural areas, rural areas, rural towns, next generation suburban and urban neighbourhoods, mixed use activity centres and CBDs. While the SEQ Place Model is a useful framework, it is not suggested that all place types will be found in all local governments in SEQ.

The SEQ Place Model is designed to promote a more compact urban form, including increased availability and diversity of housing for people of all income levels, walkable neighbourhoods, attractive mixed use communities, access to transportation choices, reduced car dependency, and protecting our natural landscapes.

The SEQ Place Model is designed as a way of planning strategically about a local government area and is a useful communication tool in describing the elements that make up each place. It provides a practical and useful tool to plan strategically for a range of connected communities based on Smart Growth and Affordable Living principles.

The SEQ Place Model is described in more detail in Part A of this handbook. The role of the SEQ Place Model in the strategic planning frameworks of SEQ planning schemes is described further in Part B.

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Creating this handbook

This handbook is based on research of best practice and emerging approaches used nationally and internationally; and uses an empirical approach to the analysis of a wide range of places and housing in the SEQ region. The places in SEQ examined during the preparation of this handbook were selected based on the quality of the urban environment; the community’s aspirations to live, work and visit these locations; and affordable living characteristics – the ‘best of the best’ urban environments that SEQ has to offer. Land suitability was not a key factor in selecting these places as it was considered that land constraints such as bushﬁre, ﬂood, landslide and cultural heritage had previously been taken into account. This handbook respects the wide range of useful work already done and avoids duplication. Instead, it focuses on SEQ as a distinct region and uses empirical evidence based on SEQ’s natural and built environment to inform the range of Next Generation Planning themes.

This work establishes a sound basis for the themes of the guidance including:

- diversity of housing types and lot dimensions

- walkable neighbourhoods as the appropriate urban structure tool for quality neighbourhoods

- use of grid street pattern and rear lanes - modest average dwelling sizes, allowing

increased vegetation in back yards - consistent street designs

- simplicity and clarity is important – it is more useful to focus on the key variables rather than to regulate everything - a level of prescription assists in achieving

desired outcomes

- a modular approach, involving a package of issue based code modules

- reduced levels of assessment for development due to increased certainty and efﬁciency of the development process (which can affect affordability).

How to use this handbook

This handbook identiﬁes new planning tools reﬂecting four key Next Generation Planning themes of Affordable Living, Smart Growth, Form-based codes and the SEQ Place Model. It provides a practical resource for planners, designers and developers to implement these tools in planning schemes and when designing or assessing development. It is also designed to equip those people involved in creating new communities in SEQ, with a more consistent approach which in turn saves time and money for all involved. The handbook is intended to be used as a guide. It is expected that the SEQ Place Model and neighbourhood scale planning guidelines and modules will require adaption depending on local circumstances. Although not exhaustive, the street and housing typologies in Part B summarise good innovations to allow for their ready integration into SEQ Council planning schemes. There will be other innovations in housing, and this handbook does not mean to exclude these. The handbook has a particular focus on the Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4) and Urban Neighbourhoods (P5) in the SEQ Place Model, as these are most relevant to promoting Affordable Living outcomes (and there is already a lot of great work being done for other place types, including local area plans for Centres of Activity (P6) and CBDs (P7). Part A of this handbook provides detailed guidelines on aspects of the four Next Generation Planning themes. Part B provides modular planning scheme provisions designed to allow implemention of these concepts into SEQ Council planning schemes. Further adaption of these modules will be needed to satisfy planning scheme requirements. Finally, this handbook is structured by scale, which is illustrated in the diagram on page 6. The diagram indicates the relationship between scale, the Next Generation Planning concepts and their application to different chapters of a planning scheme.

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Thinking about planning at different scales helps put planning scheme provisions in context, and ensures the right issues are addressed at the right time. The planning concepts in this handbook have relevance to different scales of planning, and to different parts of a Queensland Planning Provisions planning scheme. The diagram above illustrates these relationships.

NGP Guidance Inf or ms Planning Sc heme MY NEIGHBOURHOOD LOCAL PLANNING MY STREET MY HOME SITE PLANNING MY TOWN DISTRICT PLANNING OUR COUNCIL

SUB REGIONAL PLANNING OUR REGION REGIONAL PLANNING OUR STATE STATEWIDE PLANNING Neighbourhood str uct ure, w alkable neighbourhoods

SEQ place model

Complete streets Housing c hoice f or af fordable living Le vels of assessment Zoning Local plans Str uct ure plans f or declared master plan areas Strategic frame w ork

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The guidelines

PART A

This part of the handbook provides guidelines for governments and industry about planning and

delivering affordable and sustainable communities. They are arranged in a simple format – one issue at a time. The guidelines are informed by the research undertaken in the preparation of this handbook and include relevant examples.

The guidelines are ordered by scale as follows:

1.0 Sub-regional and district scale 2.0 Neighbourhood (local) scale 3.0 Street scale

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The key sub-regional and district scale concept is the SEQ Place Model – a strategic planning tool that can also be a powerful communication tool to understand planning for an area.

Sub-regional and district scale

1.0

This part of the guidelines covers: 1.1 The SEQ Place Model

1.2 Natural Places (P1) 1.3 Rural Places (P2) 1.4 Rural Townships (P3) 1.5 Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4) 1.6 Urban Neighbourhoods (P5) 1.7 Centres of Activity (P6) 1.8 CBDs (P7)

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The SEQ Place Model

The research underpinning this handbook suggests strongly that settlements in SEQ can be understood as a series of places, which have common characteristics, similar land use mixes and intensities of development. These range from natural areas, rural areas, rural towns, areas with predominantly suburban housing and more urban areas of signiﬁcantly differing densities, through to mixed use activity centres and CBDs.

This handbook illustrates these place types together in the SEQ Place Model. It identiﬁes a progression of much loved natural and human habitats in SEQ, recognisable by their function, special qualities, intensity, character and housing forms associated with each place type.

This SEQ Place Model is a handy way of thinking about, and planning for, a local government area, or a large scale planning project such as a major new greenﬁeld community.

The model has potential application to urban growth areas and existing suburbs at the discretion of local governments. The model can help organise different parts of a local government area towards achieving similar strategic planning outcomes, and inform the distribution, balance and role of each place. The SEQ Place Model drawing (above) provides a snapshot of the main characteristics. Each place type is further described in sections 1.2 to 1.9.

Natural Places (P1)

Rural Places (P2) Next Generation Suburba

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Part B of the handbook explains how the SEQ Place Model can be used in a planning scheme to:

- describe a menu of quality place types found across a local government area - explain the recipe for creating each place

type, such as the housing mix, scale and urban form that is characteristic of each place type

- provide the ingredients in the form of code provisions, zones and levels of assessment

Note: The SEQ Place Model shows a series of common, useful place types. Intensity of development is indicated, as is residential and non-residential uses and public transport. The form and intensity of place types are expected to overlap. The SEQ Place Model is an illustrative concept and does not show the non-linear corridors and special use places of cities, nor does it indicate a quantum for any place type. Further, depending on the strategic context of each local government area not all place types may be applicable.

an Neighbourhoods (P4) Centres Of Activity (P6)

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Areas essentially untouched by human habitation

Natural Places (P1)

Natural Places are areas dominated by the natural environment. They perform essential functions as green space, ecological and regional landscape areas which are vital to protecting our ecological assets and biodiversity, provide access to natural experiences and a landscape setting for their surroundings, including many towns and cities. Typical examples include national parks and similar publicly owned, relatively undisturbed areas. Some privately owned land will have the same attributes.

In the SEQ Regional Plan, Natural Places are usually found in the Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area, although natural features like rivers, beaches and bushland in urban areas can also be Natural Places.

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The broad rural parts of the region

Rural Places (P2)

Rural Places are mostly used for rural production, from less intense activities like cattle grazing, to more intensive cropping and animal husbandry. Some are used for forestry and carbon sequestration. Non-production functions such as small scale tourism and rural industries are also present.

These places are important for their rural production and contribute to the landscape setting of the region. Housing is mostly single dwellings on farm properties for those who live and usually work on the land. Some of these places are used for rural living, where people live on large lots but don’t use them for any substantial rural production.

While rural living is an element of rural places, this is secondary to rural production in smarter communities. Rural Places are predominantly in the Regional Landscape and Rural

Production Area of the SEQ Regional Plan, but are also found in the Urban Footprint (e.g. rural in nature but identiﬁed for urban development in the future) and Rural Living Area.

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Small settlements surrounded by rural places

Rural Townships (P3)

Rural Townships centre on a mixed use, low scale main street, usually with traditional awnings over the footpath. The mix of uses is often eclectic, with shops, halls, churches, schools, industry, a park and housing jumbled together, bound together by the character of the street and the buildings.

Rural Townships are characterised by a range of housing, predominantly detached on lots larger than found in suburban and urban neighbourhoods. Other types of housing in Rural Townships, such as duplexes and aged care facilities, cater for people in these areas as their housing needs change. Rural Townships have a range of local community facilities and services but rely on larger centres for higher order uses such as employment, hospitals, education and cultural facilities, universities and theatres, as well as major shopping centres.

They are, and should continue to be, based on a traditional grid street pattern, which give them a robust structure which is easy to navigate. Rural Townships with public transport, like railway towns, can have potential for further urban development. Urban expansion of these places would extend existing grid pattern to reﬂect the traditional character of the place.

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Characterised by walkability between a range of housing and a central focus

Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4)

Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods

(P4) offer housing choice, from detached houses and duplexes to row houses, shop-top housing and even live/work buildings. While detached houses are most common, many detached houses are on smaller lots. Attached housing in these neighbourhoods are often on lots with particular attributes, like corners, lots with rear lane access and locations close to open space, centres or public transport. Non-residential uses in P4 neighbourhoods meet the day-to-day needs of residents. Housing in these places is within easy walking and cycling distance to a wider range of facilities including shops, schools, parks and public transport. Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4) are generally low in scale and comprise well landscaped environments. These neighbourhoods provide 15–30 dwellings per hectare, as envisaged by the SEQ Regional Plan for signiﬁcant greenﬁeld areas.

P4 streets are characterised by street trees providing shade and character, and shared use by cars, bikes and pedestrians. They are usually grid-based, making it easy to ﬁnd your way around.

P4 neighbourhoods are mostly located close to Urban Neighbourhoods (P5) and Centres of Activity (P6) where residents can readily access higher order services and facilities. They are always in the Urban Footprint in the SEQ Regional Plan. P4 neighbourhoods are different from many existing suburban areas common throughout SEQ and can be distinguished by their walkability, housing choice and access to public transport, jobs and services. Greenﬁeld and existing areas identiﬁed by local governments for urban renewal are most likely to exhibit characteristics that make them suitable for P4 neighbourhoods. It is not expected or intended that all existing suburban areas will transition into P4 neighbourhoods.

North Ipswich exempliﬁes the next generation suburban neighbourhood

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Higher density, walkable, mixed use neighbourhoods

Urban Neighbourhoods (P5)

Urban Neighbourhoods may be older

suburbs closer to centres or parts of new communities that are planned to achieve this outcome from day one. They have good public transport access and have been developed or redeveloped over time at higher densities and with a greater mix of housing and uses than Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4).

Detached houses are found in these areas, but usually in small pockets and with a more urban setting. These neighbourhoods take different forms, from areas where medium density or low to medium scale buildings are dominant to higher density places with high rise buildings. Urban Neighbourhoods provide greater than 30 dwellings per hectare, and sometimes as many as 100 dwellings per hectare. They are often transit oriented. Higher density Urban Neighbourhoods usually have a number of Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4) nearby.

Urban Neighbourhoods are characterised by mixed use, providing ready access to a range of shopping, community and other local services and places of employment such as small to medium scale ofﬁces. Housing not in a mixed use setting is within easy walking and cycling distance to these other uses and public transport.

Urban Neighbourhoods have a sense of enclosure at the street level provided by small building setbacks, with the built form character usually dominant. Their streets are characterised by street trees, which provide shade and character, footpaths for walking and roadways shared by cars and bikes. They are usually grid based and connected in a way that make it easy to ﬁnd your way around.

Urban Neighbourhoods are always in the Urban Footprint in the SEQ Regional Plan and usually near Centres of Activity (P6), CBDs (P7) and Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4).

Urban renewal areas of Bulimba exempliﬁes Urban Neighbourhoods

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Concentrations of non-residential activities at the focus of transport networks

Centres of Activity (P6)

These centres have concentrations of non-residential activities like shopping but are also centres for employment, higher education and entertainment. They come in various scales, from local to district and regional, and are more varied in character than suburban and urban neighbourhoods. They are a focus of transport networks, and a hub for public transport and local pedestrian and cycling systems.

Centres of Activity also contain housing, usually apartments. They provide residents in and around the centres with ready access to the range of uses and employment they offer. They have a strong sense of enclosure at the street level, with little or no building setback to the street. The man made part of its character is dominant, but punctuated by squares and urban parks.

Vibrancy ﬂows from their mix of uses, particularly at the street level. They are important meeting places and focal points for their communities. Their streets are lined with mature trees, which provide shade and character, footpaths for walking trips and roadways shared by cars and bikes. They are usually grid-based and connected in a way that make it easy to ﬁnd your way around.

Regionally signiﬁcant Centres of Activity are identiﬁed in the SEQ Regional Plan. Many more local, district and neighbourhood centres exist across the region.

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CBDs (P7)

The centre and heart of a city

CBDs are the centres of cities. They are the biggest centres, with the widest range and greatest intensity of activity in the city. They are also the heart of a city, and usually the place that most people think of when it is mentioned. They are laid out in a grid, and at the centre of transport networks, for public transport, cycling and pedestrians. They are urban environments. Buildings dominate the streets, although the streets are important elements of their character. Their large scale and intensity provides a vibrancy unlike any other part of the city. They are the key focal point for their communities, as places to work, do business, for entertainment or just to enjoy. They are meeting places, with squares and urban parks. CBDs are important to the economy of the city, both as centres of production and consumption.

Their streets are lined with street trees, have hard footpaths for walking trips, and roadways shared use by cars and bikes.

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Limited use, often large places that do not ﬁt into other place types

Speciﬁc Use Places (P8)

These places are restricted to a small number of locations where a large single use or focus does not ﬁt into other place types, and takes a quite different form to those other place types. In these places, housing usually has a very minor role, if at all.

Particular examples include places such as industry areas, ports, prisons and large sport and recreation facilities including stadiums. They are recognised as a different place, because their scale and nature mean they have a quite different form that does not integrate with the other place types in the SEQ Place Model.

The purpose of this place type is to recognise these particular places, rather than to

encourage the continued use of single purpose zonings for places such as large shopping centres, which have the ability to be integrated into other place types.

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Neighbourhood (local) scale

2.0

The creation of walkable mixed use neighbourhoods, in contrast to sprawling, single use residential development, is fundamental to the more sustainable urban form which Next Generation Planning aims to achieve. This means each neighbourhood contains a mix of uses and housing types, organised with a street network, block size, and structure which is appropriate to its place type and maximises its walkability to its key focal points including public transport.

This part of the Guidelines covers: 2.1 Walkability 2.2 Neighbourhood structure 2.3 Block size 2.4 Street network 2.5 Subtropical design 2.6 Housing choice

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A key attribute of Next Generation Planning

Walkability

The climate of SEQ is ideal for walking most times of the year. Walkability is a fundamentally important part of neighbourhood design.

Walking is encouraged and enhanced when there is something to walk to (destinations such as shops, jobs, public transport stops, community facilities, parks, open spaces or just neighbours), something to walk on (a footpath) and an easily understood direct route to get there.

Streets need to have appropriate shelter from the sun with street trees or awnings, and be overlooked by development with casual surveillance to improve safety. High fencing adjoining streets, parks and public spaces should be avoided as these create unattractive environments with little opportunity for passive surveillance.

Appropriate street network design makes walking easy with direct routes and memorable vistas, which might include distinctive buildings, parks, open spaces and distinct landmarks.

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Neighbourhood design is fundamental to sustainable, walkable urban form

Neighbourhood structure

Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4) and Urban Neighbourhoods (P5) are designed for walkability using a five minute walking catchment (400 m) around a focal point or centre. This central focus is also a key part of neighbourhoods and can involve a mix of local shops and offices, and/or some community uses, such as library or primary school, and local parks. The mix of non-residential uses depends on the context. For many suburban locations, a small park and bus stop might be all that is expected, while many Urban Neighbourhoods (P5) demonstrate a wider range of amenities. Most parts of the neighbourhood are within a five minute walk of this central focus.

Note that in transit orientated development precincts, walking catchments of ﬁve, 10 or 15 minutes may be an appropriate structuring tool (Queensland Government, 2010e).

All housing is part of a neighbourhood and all neighbourhoods provide a variety of housing types, with the range and balance of this housing reﬂecting their place type in the SEQ Place Model (see 2.6).

The centre of the neighbourhood is located close to or adjacent to an existing (or planned) public transport routes, on the local through street network in accessible and visible locations. This street network connects to nearby centres and larger neighbourhood and town centres. These routes are also efﬁcient public transport routes for buses, light or heavy rail.

Neighbourhood design respects natural landform and systems, including drainage. This means minimising cut and ﬁll when designing streets and lots and integrating with the existing landscape.

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A basic tool of place building

Block size and structure

Block sizes are scaled to create a mix of lots that can accommodate development and housing of varying scales and intensities. Block sizes encourage walkability, but are not so small as to create more streets than needed as this impacts on affordability. Typical blocks are 2-3 times longer than their width; with lengths (in P3, P4, P5 places) between 160-200m and widths around 50-80m. This allows ﬂexibility for a range of lot sizes to provide for a variety of housing which will vary according to place type.

Centres of Activity (P6) and CBDs (P7) require a wider range of block dimensions to suit centre design. Streets surrounding blocks can be of differing functions, scales and trafﬁc volumes, which allows each street to have different forms of development. Blocks closer to centres have higher intensity development with land use and built form transitions across rear boundaries.

Rear lanes are a feature of block size and structure. Blocks that front onto busier through streets that cannot have direct driveway access can have higher density development using rear lanes for vehicle access, with the housing still addressing the primary street frontage. These lanes can be used in appropriate locations, for example, opposite parks or centres, to create high quality streetscapes and to provide pedestrian safety and amenity through a consistent street rhythm not disturbed by driveways and car parking. Lanes also provide opportunities for different housing forms that aid affordability, such as row housing and ‘Fonzie ﬂats’. The ends and corners of blocks allow for more diverse and denser housing types as these sites have more street frontage and more opportunities for pedestrian and vehicle access. Streets along end blocks can be the busier ones that lead to centres. This also assists walkability and legibility.

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Build modiﬁed grids ﬁt for purpose, use laneways for walkability and amenity

Street Network

This study indicates street networks work best when they are interconnected, usually grid based, and respond to the existing regional street pattern and geometry, topography of the site, waterway corridors, signiﬁcant vegetation and desired open spaces. Streets orientated close to north/south or east/west enable appropriate climate orientation of lots and buildings.

Streets are different, each with a function and scale to suit movement requirements and to accommodate different scales and forms of development. Busier streets can accommodate a greater variety and density of development.

The street network should provide direct and easily understood choices of routes to walk, cycle and drive to centres, public transport and other community destinations in the locality.

Fine grained street networks encourage active forms of transport, walking and cycling. Streets closer to centres are generally closer together to create a ﬁner grain of smaller block sizes.

A detailed method for designing a street network is outlined in Complete Streets: Guidelines for urban street design (Institute for Public Works Engineering Australia, 2010).

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A deﬁning characteristic of SEQ

Subtropical design

Subtropical Design

in South East Queensland

A Handbook for Planners,

Developers and Decision Makers

Sympathetic design for climate creates a more sustainable built form and lifestyles that require less energy use, and provides for more affordable living.

South East Queensland has a subtropical climate which has become a deﬁning characteristic of design in the region, responding to the lifestyles of its inhabitants, while acknowledging the history and traditions of the place.

Subtropical design places importance on topographical features and natural drainage processes in determining the optimal pattern of development. In also includes design features such as good shelter and shade, indoor/outdoor living relationships, lightweight construction, prominent roof forms and overhangs, hoods on windows and design for sun and breezes with good orientation.

For more information, refer to Subtropical Design in South East Queensland – A Handbook for Planners, Developers, and Decision-makers, (Queensland University of Technology, 2010a).

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Housing choice contributes to Affordable Living

Housing choice

Households in SEQ are becoming more diverse and generally smaller. More than half comprise only one or two people, while families with children remain a major group. Average household size has decreased from ﬁve in the early 1900s to 2.6 in 2006, and predicted to be 2.4 by 2031(Queensland Government, 2010g). This creates an increasing need for varying housing types and sizes. At the same time, our houses have been getting larger, so that Australia has amongst the largest average dwelling sizes in the world

(ABS, 2005). This disparity has exacerbated the affordability challenge. Smaller housing options in the marketplace can address this issue, and industry, government and consumer changes are needed to allow this to happen. There is a direct connection between providing a choice of housing and affordable housing. Variety in housing types attract a variety of household types with different incomes, social and cultural backgrounds and household sizes.

Providing a range of housing types in more places means that affordable living can be achieved more generally, rather than concentrated in a few places. It also means people can relocate in their existing community as their housing needs change.

In later sections, this handbook identifies a range of housing types for SEQ including detached houses, secondary dwellings (such as granny and fonzie flats), small multiple dwellings (3-5 dwelling units), row houses, live/work dwellings, low rise, medium and high rise apartments. The diagram on the following page indicates how housing choice can be achieved across the SEQ Place Model. Many housing types have the added advantage of using land and materials more efficiently, allowing flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of households over time, including work from home arrangements.

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P2. RURAL PLACES P3.RURAL TOWNSHIPS P4. NEXT GENERATION SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS Housing T ypologies Detached houses on wide lots Detached houses on narrow lots The “plexes” Duplexes/ Triplexes/ Quadplexes/ Quinplexes Row House Live/Work Building Low Rise Apartment Medium and High Rise Apartment

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P5. URBAN

NEIGHBOURHOODS P6. CENTRES OF ACTIVITY P7. CBDs

Detached houses on wide lots Housing T ypologies Detached houses on narrow lots The “plexes” Duplexes/ Triplexes/ Quadplexes/ Quinplexes Row House

Live/Work _Building Low Rise Apartment Medium and High Rise Apartment

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Street Scale

3.0

Street function and design depends on its context in the SEQ Place Model and the neighbourhood. Streets are critical for movement, but have several other important functions too. These include access to properties, parking, utilities and services, biodiversity and most of all, placemaking. Depending on the context of an individual street, the priority of these functions will vary, and street design must respond appropriately.

This part of the guidelines covers: 3.1 Complete streets 3.2 Neighbourhood streets 3.3 Connector streets 3.4 Rear lanes 3.5 Intersections 3.6 Pedestrian crossings 3.7 Kerbs

3.8 Shelter and shade 3.9 On-street parking

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Successful streets are places for people, not just movement

Complete streets

Moving people and goods efﬁciently is essential to maintaining prosperous, sustainable communities. Our roads link people and places all across the region and form the backbone of the movement network in SEQ, connecting suburbs, towns and rural areas.

While streets are critical for movement, they have several other important functions too. These include access to properties, parking, utilities and services, biodiversity and most of all, placemaking. Depending on the context of an individual street, the priority of these functions will vary, and street design must respond appropriately.

In this study, the most successful streets blend their movement function with placemaking. The best residential streets were often simply designed and featured large street trees.

Streets in Centres of Activity and CBDs were carefully designed with footpaths, street trees, lighting, seating and other elements that collectively contribute to the public realm and streetscape.

Complete streets in SEQ integrate with an appropriate scale and form of neighbouring buildings, and also exhibit that SEQ subtropical essence, through materials, fences, shade, landscaping and other elements.

More detail of the principles of quality street design can be found in Complete Streets: Guidelines for urban street design (Institute for Public Works Engineering Australia, 2010).

Grey St, South Bank incorporates cycle ways

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The best neighbourhood streets are places in their own right

Neighbourhood streets

Abbott St, New Farm – a classic neighbourhood street

In SEQ, most residents live in neighbourhood streets. They are the most abundant of streets, stitching our residential and mixed use neighbourhoods together and providing access to homes and sometimes workplaces. As the name suggests, these streets are local in nature, providing access to properties in a neighbourhood but having a relatively minor trafﬁc function. Neighbourhood streets also have many other functions, they are used to service properties with water, electricity and other services and provide routes for walking and cycling for recreation as well as commuting. They are also used for parking and maintain important stormwater conveyance and local biodiversity functions.

The best neighbourhood streets identiﬁed in this study did not have a prominent trafﬁc function. Even when neighbourhood streets were wide, the space was often dominated by substantial trees, not asphalt.

Other streets are narrower and lined with attractive buildings and gardens, instead of blank fences or empty unused yards. Neighbourhood streets are as important to placemaking and neighbourhood character as they are to movement and property access. Historically, street widths have been devised for many reasons, but this study identiﬁes a common neighbourhood street typology comprising of a 7-8 m wide carriageway in a 15 m reserve (up to 20 m in older areas). Where wider verges are found, they were generously landscaped. Wider streets enable plenty of space for walking and cycling, a good relationship between buildings on either side of a street, and adequate space for vehicles, parking and trees.

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Connect people and places, don’t just collect cars

Connector streets

Streets with a more important connecting function must be designed to accommodate increased movement for all travel modes. The goal in planning these routes is connecting people with destinations, rather than collecting cars.

What’s more, connecting streets are often important people places. These streets house public transport routes, are home to shops and commerce (reﬂecting their accessibility to higher numbers of people), and form well known linear landmarks of our towns and cities.

A connector street typology of a 12.5 m roadway in a 20 m reserve was evident in this study. This width allows on-street parking, bus stops and cycle lanes to be accommodated into the street. A median is sometimes included with trees to form a boulevard.

More detail of street types can be found in

Complete Streets: Guidelines for urban street design, (Institute for Public Works Engineering Australia, 2010).

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Use rear lanes frequently in neighbourhoods and centres

Rear lanes

This study found examples of laneways in every urban place type, serving a variety of functions. A laneway in a suburban neighbourhood can provide vehicle access to rear loaded houses, increasing the amenity of the primary streetscape and reducing impacts on traffic from frequent driveways. The relationship of buildings to the street is the key to the success of this street typology. For example, Varsity Lakes demonstrates how well a residential lane can function as a service and vehicle point for rear loaded housing product as well as the primary street frontage for secondary dwellings and fonzie flats. The interface between the rear loaded dwellings and those facing the laneway needs to be carefully considered for this configuration to succeed.

The position of buildings and windows must allow overlooking of the lane to maintain personal safety. Short lane lengths and views from neighbouring dwellings also assist. In Urban Neighbourhoods (P5) and Centres of Activity (P6), laneways are an effective way to address parking and servicing requirements for businesses and residents. Continuous street frontages of active uses can be maintained by ensuring on-street parking is available, limiting driveways and providing for a quality public realm. Rear lanes were a frequent success factor in centres visited during this study. Laneways in Centres of Activity and CBDs can transform an empty space in between buildings into a vibrant, attractive hub for people to meet and pass through.

Varsity Lakes utilises rear lanes for vehicle access to row houses and secondary entry points for home based businesses

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Use four-way intersections in P4 and P5 Neighbourhoods

Intersections

Grid street networks have many advantages, including great connectivity, legibility and longer vistas. Grids also result in frequent cross-streets, or four-way intersections that must be managed appropriately.

For several decades, roundabouts have been used to do this job. While efﬁcient at moving vehicles, roundabouts prioritise vehicles over walkers and cyclists. When overused, even drivers are inconvenienced. Two lane roundabouts are almost never suitable for places for pedestrians and cyclists.

Roundabouts are not common in most of the SEQ places in this study, except in the busiest centres and CBDs. In fact, un-signalised four-way intersections (often controlled by give four-way or stop signs) are found frequently in most place types (except in the much busier CBD locations).

Unsignalised four-ways fell out of favour because roundabouts are usually deemed to be safer for trafﬁc, but four-ways have beneﬁts too. They use less land, enable a grid street layout to be easily built, and are usually easier for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate. Four-way intersections are becoming accepted again.

Complete Streets: Guidelines for urban street design published in 2010 by the Institute for Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA, 2010) suggests uncontrolled or priority controlled four-way intersections are a valid option, when validated by appropriate trafﬁc analysis.

Where four-way trafﬁc movement is not desired, four-way active transport movement must still be achieved.

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Prioritise pedestrians especially in centres and CBDs

Pedestrian crossings

To increase the number of people getting out of their cars and around their suburbs and centres on foot, appropriate pedestrian infrastructure and street crossings must be planned and built.

A one-size-ﬁts-all approach to pedestrian crossings is not appropriate. The standard of crossings is a function of the amount of street trafﬁc and the importance of the pedestrian route. But few pedestrians do not always mean that few crossings are required. The opposite may be the case. Pedestrians might stay away until a safe, comfortable and interesting walking route exists.

In this study of SEQ places, few formal crossings were found in suburban streets. Pedestrians were certainly present at different times of the day, but there was often little trafﬁc and pedestrians could cross at their leisure.

Urban Neighbourhoods are denser and have more people and trafﬁc, but again formal crossings were not common. However, pedestrian refuges on busier streets and some signalised crossings at major intersections were needed, for both suburban and urban contexts.

In service and employment centres (whether Rural Townships, centres or CBDs) crossings become very important to the successful functioning of the place. Refuges, signalised crossings and zebra crossings were commonly present in these ﬂourishing places. In CBDs, shared zones were common. The lesson from these busy and vibrant places is that high pedestrian priority crossings, such as zebra crossings and shared zones, are a critical ingredient in making the place attractive to people and successful centres need people more than anything else.

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Use stand-up kerbs and tight kerb radii on street corners

Kerbs

The devil is often in the detail, and in street design the detail includes things like kerb types. Today, concrete kerb and channel can be shaped into almost any proﬁle and shape but, as with many things, the old fashioned design is often the best.

Stand-up kerb was the most common kerb type across all place types in this study. In suburban streets, stand-up kerb was used more than 50 per cent of the time, while in urban places and in centres the stand-up kerb was almost universal. Flush kerb was also used in some neighbourhood streets and in CBD shared zones, where pedestrian priority is achieved by blending the vehicle and pedestrian space. Flush kerb is also appropriate to achieve water sensitive urban design, often in non-urban, suburban or park side settings.

Stand-up kerbs deﬁne the edge of a roadway better and keep vehicles away from the footpath. Roll-over kerb, popular in late 20th century suburban expansion, allows cars to park easily on the verge, but the message to pedestrians is that the whole road reserve has space for cars. Parking on footpaths is illegal and causes signiﬁcant inconvenience for residents.

Many of the surveyed places in the study have corner radii much tighter than usual under recent standards, with clear beneﬁts to walkability and safety. Relatively sharp corners (such as 3 m radii on local streets) are a highly effective speed control measure, removing the need for bumps and trafﬁc islands and the like. A sharper corner radii makes the pedestrian crossing narrower, shortening the time for pedestrians to cross and making it safer and easier to cross.

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Street trees provide shelter and create a sense of space and place

Shelter and shade

In the SEQ subtropical climate, shade and shelter boost the walkability of a street. Shade protects pedestrians from the elements as well as reducing heat island effects. In this study, trees were the most common means of providing shade, although in centres and CBDs building awnings and other structures are important for shade and weather protection. Some of the most attractive and inviting streets were lined with consistent and mature street trees spaced to allow their crowns to touch to form a canopy. Streets lined with consistent tree species, with different streets planted with different species, create visual interest. Selecting the right species for local conditions ensures their health and longevity in the urban environment. Care must be taken to minimise clashes between buried infrastructure and tree roots to ensure enough space exists for both.

Street trees can also be used to narrow the carriageway width, in a physical sense and a perceived sense, helping to slow trafﬁc. Tree lined pathways can provide useful visual links between focal points within a place type including areas of open spaces, and residential and commercial areas that might otherwise feel disconnected. A tree lined street helps to create a sense of comfort and enclosure for pedestrians.

Street trees in commercial areas can mimic human scale and lessen the dominance of taller structures.

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On-street car parking is important to parking supply and vitality

On-street parking

In this study, on-street parking was well provided for and provided the flexibility to accommodate residents and visitors. On-street car parking in neighbourhoods and centres delivers a range of benefits, including reduced on-site parking demands, slowing passing traffic and activating the street as people move from their vehicle to a destination.

In Next Generation Suburban (P4) and Urban Neighbourhoods (P5), rear lanes and shared driveways can increase on-street parking provision where a higher demand is expected. Rear loaded housing increases the amenity of the primary street and promotes walkability. In mixed use areas, developments with compact housing forms and transit oriented development precincts, reduced car parking rates and opportunities for shared car parking work well.

A mix of uses within a neighbourhood or centre tend to have varying peak times and demand and allow parking spaces to serve a range of surrounding businesses and customers. In Grey Street at South Bank, a diversity of uses that function day and night including restaurants and cafes, cinemas and ofﬁces share the parking.

Sensible use of on-street parking, which is a feature of the streets this handbook promotes, can also help reduce the need for on-site parking, which can reduce housing costs. This is further discussed in 4.10, off-street parking. On-street parking on major roads requires separate consideration against road planning objectives.

The car parking for this apartment complex is located at the rear via a shared access point which improves on-street parking opportunity and the visual appeal of the building

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Sustainable development protects and conserves the urban water cycle

Water Sensitive Urban Design

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD)

focuses on the efﬁcient and effective management of the urban water cycle and ensures that natural water systems within the urban environment are protected to allow them to function more effectively. WSUD is a desirable solution to stormwater management and in this study it found that several greenﬁeld developments had integrated the design objectives for managing urban stormwater into the landscape.

Some WSUD applications include rainwater storage tanks suitable for rural, suburban and urban areas, grass or landscaped swales, inﬁltration trenches and bio-retention trenches, porous pavements, greywater harvesting and treatment ponds.

In urban environments, WSUD is useful for managing stormwater quality, improving waterway stability and managing the frequency of flows. Site conditions, climate, catchment and pollutant characteristics will influence the selection of WSUD applications. This handbook supports the use of WSUD principles and reflects the State Planning Policy for Healthy Waters 2010 (Queensland Government, 2010d), and Technical Guidelines - Implementation Guideline no. 7.

(Queensland Government, 2009b).

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Lot and building scale

4.0

The approach to development on individual lots and buildings can do much to promote the Next Generation Planning concepts of Smart Growth and Affordable Living. It also offers the best opportunities to achieve consistency in basic standards across the region to reduce housing costs and promote affordable living.

Note: The names given to dwelling types in these pages describe types of buildings. In Queensland Planning Provisions (QPP) compliant planning schemes, dwelling types are usually given deﬁnitions in the context of material change of use (MCU) development. More than one MCU deﬁnition may be relevant to particular buildings (i.e. a row house may be developed as either a dwelling house on a separate freehold lot or as a multiple dwelling on common property. In both cases the built form is the same).

This part of the guidelines covers: 4.1 Detached houses on wide lots 4.2 Detached houses on narrow lots 4.3 The “plexes” – duplexes/triplexes/ quadplexes/quinplexes

4.4 Row houses

4.5 Secondary dwellings 4.6 Live/work buildings 4.7 Low rise apartments

4.8 Medium and high rise apartments 4.9 Consistent lot types

4.10 Off-street parking 4.11 Addressing the street 4.12 Build to the slope 4.13 Height

4.14 Space around the house 4.15 Carports and garages

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An appropriate housing option for some households

Detached houses on wide lots

Detached houses on traditionally sized lots are

a large part of the housing stock in SEQ. They serve the needs of a wide range of household types.

In SEQ, these lots are typically around 20 m wide, and from 450 m2_{to 2000 m}2_{. When}

they occur in large tracts without other forms of housing, this housing type is highly land consumptive and contributes to unsustainable urban sprawl. Smart Growth means using land more efﬁciently for this form of housing and mixing it with other forms, particularly in Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4), but also in existing urban neighbourhoods (P5). It is also easy to design this housing to incorporate secondary dwellings and still look the same.

Some of the great examples in SEQ of detached houses on larger lots challenge the traditional front setback of 6 m, demonstrating that smaller setbacks at the front and side of a property achieve a more efﬁcient use of private land and provide great amenity or character. Houses with smaller building footprints allow space for deep planted gardens and vegetation cover, natural drainage and stormwater ﬂow, treed back yards, cultivating crops and keeping pets.

Detached houses of modest scale with small site coverage are a robust and ﬂexible development form, allowing for the renovation and expansion of houses over time to accommodate more modern living choices, changing household sizes and ﬁnancial circumstances.

Detached houses are easily owned individually without the need for a body corporate.

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Small lot housing is found in some of SEQ’s most loved neighbourhoods

Detached houses on narrow lots

In recent times in SEQ, as elsewhere, single

and double storey detached houses are being developed on much narrower and smaller lots. This housing is also found in many older, widely admired neighbourhoods. This housing type can take a number of forms, including those referred to as cottage and villa style homes. They require some elements of the building design to be carefully managed, such as dwelling size, setbacks, private open space and car parking.

Cottages are small single storey dwellings on small lots that are relatively compact and usually have a single car parking space (or two tandem car spaces), so car parking does not dominate its streetscape. These houses can be relatively small in size in some places, similar to the size of traditional dwellings built during the ﬁrst half of the 20th century. Lot frontages for cottage dwellings can be narrow

(10-12.5 m).

Allowing some setbacks to the front and side for habitable rooms provides for natural light, cross ventilation and better design outcomes. Setbacks on one side of the lot can be very small, while garages, service areas and verandahs can be built to a lot boundary. Double storey detached housing on small lots will enable a smaller site coverage, while retaining areas for private open space, deep planting areas, trees, natural drainage, vegetation and reusable gardens. Some double storey houses can have car access from rear lanes, allowing parking for two cars. Double storey buildings create improved street enclosure and deﬁnition, which works well in Urban Neighbourhoods.

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A compact housing form compatible with high quality streetscapes

The ‘plexes’ – duplexes/triplexes/quadplexes/quinplexes

Duplexes are paired dwellings sharing a single

internal wall, while triplexes, quadplexes and quinplexes are similar but with three, four and ﬁve dwellings in turn. They can be single or two storeys and some, particularly duplexes, can present to the street similar to a detached house.

Plexes are often best sited on a corner, to punctuate the street end and accommodate more than one driveway. They are an effective way to increase density, in both urban and Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods. Sometimes two detached houses can be on the one lot. These housing forms are generally located in P4 and P5 neighbourhoods, interspersed with other housing forms.

There are many good examples of duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes and quinplexes in SEQ, particularly in newer, integrated developments such as Varsity Lakes.

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Row houses form great streetscapes and efﬁcient housing

Row houses

Row houses, also called terraces, are a number of attached houses of two to four storeys on individual lots. Usually more than three to four row houses are located together. Long rows of more than eight houses are uncommon in SEQ.

Row houses should have car access and servicing from a rear lane, creating high quality streetscapes not compromised with pedestrian safety and amenity by multiple driveways over footpaths.

Private open space requires fencing for privacy and is often located between the dwelling and the rear garage or car port. To maximise the area of open space and contribute to a more urban streetscape, front setbacks are small. To add privacy, main living areas or front habitable rooms are elevated. Lot and building widths can be as narrow as the width of one bedroom or as wide as two bedrooms.

Two storey row houses with semi-basement

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Granny and Fonzie ﬂats can provide low cost, ﬂexible housing options for suburbs

Secondary dwe

Next Generation Planning

A handbook for

Forewords

Table of contents

About this handbook

The need for a

Affordable Living

Smart Growth in SEQ

SEQ Place Model

Creating this handbook

How to use this handbook

The guidelines

Sub-regional and district scale

Areas essentially untouched by human habitation

Small settlements surrounded by rural places

Next Generation Suburban Neighbourhoods (P4)

Higher density, walkable, mixed use neighbourhoods

Concentrations of non-residential activities at the focus of transport networks

CBDs (P7)

Speciﬁc Use Places (P8)

A key attribute of Next Generation Planning

Neighbourhood design is fundamental to sustainable, walkable urban form

A basic tool of place building

Street Network

A deﬁning characteristic of SEQ

Housing choice contributes to Affordable Living

P5. URBAN

NEIGHBOURHOODS P6. CENTRES OF ACTIVITY P7. CBDs

Street Scale

Successful streets are places for people, not just movement

The best neighbourhood streets are places in their own right

Connect people and places, don’t just collect cars

Use rear lanes frequently in neighbourhoods and centres

Use four-way intersections in P4 and P5 Neighbourhoods

Prioritise pedestrians especially in centres and CBDs

Use stand-up kerbs and tight kerb radii on street corners

Street trees provide shelter and create a sense of space and place

On-street parking

Sustainable development protects and conserves the urban water cycle

Lot and building scale

An appropriate housing option for some households

Small lot housing is found in some of SEQ’s most loved neighbourhoods

A compact housing form compatible with high quality streetscapes

Row houses form great streetscapes and efﬁcient housing

Granny and Fonzie ﬂats can provide low cost, ﬂexible housing options for suburbs