Brisbane Urban Growth Model: An Integrated Infrastructure Management Framework for Brisbane, Australia

Introduction

Sustainable urban development and the liveability of a city are increasingly important issues in the context of land use planning and infrastructure management. In recent years, the responsibilities of local governments with regards to infrastructure management practices have increased under the pressure of rapid urban growth. Aside from managing the daily operational functions of a city, such as assessment of property development applications and maintenance of urban streetscapes, local governments are now also required to undertake economic planning; manage urban growth; be involved in major national and state infrastructure planning and even engage in achieving sustainable urban development objectives.

The increase in the responsibilities and roles of local governments have meant that local elected officials and urban planners have less time to make decisions, and so rely more on planning support systems that inform the decision making process and improve urban management practices. Urban modelling tools have been widely used in developed countries for this purpose. However, many of these models are generally ‘one-off’ applications with a single purpose, rather than multi-dimensional applications. As a result, many of them become obsolete in a relatively short period of time.

The aim of this chapter is to examine the complex relationship between infrastructure management, land use planning and economic developments, and to illustrate why there is an urgent need for local governments to develop a robust planning support system to facilitate better infrastructure management. The development of the Brisbane Urban Growth (BUG) Model has proven initially successful for Brisbane City Council as the first step toward establishing a sustainable urban and infrastructure management framework. Compared to the conventional land use planning approach, it is a better approach to facilitating sustainable urban development and infrastructure management.