Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 122 This issue of Urban Ideas is about MIXED USE. For decades planning rules have separated uses into various precincts. The noisy industrial uses were well away from residential and commercial uses. But now that environmental laws have managed excessive noise and pollution and as work has moved to high tech creative industries everything can be mixed up much more. The Urban Taskforce is a great supporter of mixed use development. In some examples the mixture is in the same building in other examples it is on a precinct where residential/ commercial/ retail uses all work together. While the theory may sound good the reality is much harder as funding streams are often from different sources for particular uses. But there are some good examples of mixed use development around the world and in Sydney as this issue demonstrates. EXAMPLES FROM EUROPE Vernon Daal, a Dutch urbanist living in Sydney, writes about two amazing mixed use developments in Holland that push the boundaries of integration. Europe’s traditional cities have generally been mixed use and this tradition is continuing in new developments. SYDNEY EXAMPLES OF MIXED USE We profile local Sydney mixed use projects by Urban Taskforce members PAYCE Consolidated Ltd, Rebel Property Group, Holdmark Property Group and Dyldam that are driving interesting examples of projects that balance various uses. The funding of different uses does make it harder to raise funds for each area and this often means larger scale developers are able to manage mixed use projects successfully. THE CENTRAL SYDNEY STRATEGY IS DRIVEN BY MIXED USE The City of Sydney Council has recently issued a new draft Central Sydney Strategy that encourages a mixed use approach to the city. Residential development is only supported if it is in a mixed use building where 50% of the uses are commercial. Some cities identify commercial only areas in city centres where other uses are prohibited but the draft plan encourages a range of uses. A good example of the proposed mixed use approach is a project at 286 Sussex Street which has 50% of the building as a hotel and 50% as residential development. The project is by Urban Taskforce member Ausbao and the design was selected through a design competition. We illustrate it here as an example of how Sydney’s centre may develop. (Illustration on the right.) INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS SUPPORT MIXED USE Jane Jacobs in her seminal book ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ called for a mixture of uses in cities. Her book included a chapter titled ‘The Need for Mixed Primary Uses’ that suggested that city centres were too much dominated by work uses. She was very critical of centres being called CBDs with their focus on Business. Jacobs called for – “City districts will be economically and socially congenial places for diversity to generate itself and reach its best potential if the districts possess good mixtures of primary uses…” The well-known urbanist Jan Gehl in his book ‘Cities for People’ calls for the diversity of use that comes by mixing up activities. “Fortunately, interest in building dynamic, mixed-use urban areas instead of conglomerations of free standing single buildings is growing.” Mixed uses make vibrant cosmopolitan cities The Urban Taskforce is keen to have responses to the proposals illustrated in this issue of URBAN IDEAS and we welcome comments to admin@urbantaskforce.com.au Chris Johnson AM Chief Executive Officer Urban Taskforce Australia Credits Cover image featuring East Village by PAYCE Consolidated Limited Ausbao's hotel with apartments above