Insider Influences on Urban Consolidation Policies in Melbourne
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Property Ownership and Planning Regulation: Insider Influences on Urban Consolidation Policies in Melbourne A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Elizabeth Taylor BUPD (Hons.) School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning (GSSSP) RMIT University February 2011 i ii Declaration I certify that, except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work that has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and that ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. Elizabeth Taylor February 2011 iii Acknowledgements Many thanks to my primary and secondary supervisors, Professor Gavin Wood and Associate Professor Robin Goodman. I would especially like to thank them both for always making time to help with this thesis. Particular thanks to Gavin for his input on the design of the models, and to Robin for helping bring together the main arguments. Valuable feedback on the submitted version of the thesis was given by the two external examiners. I have also received valuable technical input and guidance at different points from: Michael Ball, Melek Cigdem, Christian Nygaard, Ashton de Silva and Dag Einar Sommervoll. Customised data was supplied for the research by the Office of the Victorian Valuer General, and the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development. Merging of the sales and valuations datasets as described in Appendix 1 occurred with research assistance from Sarah Taylor and Stephen Page, as part of an AHURI-funded project, “Planning and the Characteristics of Housing Supply in Melbourne”. The map at Figure 4.8 is based on research undertaken by the author for the Department of Planning and Community Development. Parts of this thesis have appeared in papers presented at the 2007 European Network of Housing Researchers Conference, the 2009 State of Australian Cities conference and the 2010 New Housing Researchers’ Colloquium. Thanks to the following for support and input: RMIT University and AHURI Ltd (including for their financial support); staff at the AHURI-RMIT research centre; RMIT postgraduate students (especially Joe Hurley for whiteboarding ideas); students and staff at the AHURI postgraduate symposiums; Sarah Taylor and Steven Fishlock; Rowland Atkinson, Terry Burke, Michael Buxton, Sheree Cartwright, Prem Chhetri, Ascelin Gordon, Daphne Habibis, Ian Jones, Annette Kroen, Bill Langford, Geoffrey Meen, Kevin O’Connor, Sharon Parkinson, Richard Watling and Chris Wight. Thanks to Penelope Goodes for professional proofreading. Special thanks to Andrew Bonnici for helping with diagrams; for bringing me my lunch; and for his unfailing encouragement. Finally, thanks to the RMIT University security and cleaning staff, whose awkward conversations in the middle of the night provided a constant source of inspiration for me to finish. iv Table of Contents Abstract.....................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1.....................................................................................................................3 Introduction.................................................................................................................3 1.1 Project beginnings ..........................................................................................3 1.2 The issues ......................................................................................................6 1.3 Approach ...................................................................................................... 10 1.4 Thesis outline ............................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2................................................................................................................... 19 Planning and Housing Markets................................................................................ 19 2.1 Key concepts................................................................................................ 20 2.2 Planning and housing markets: the case for planning ................................... 23 2.3 Planning and housing markets: the critical view............................................ 30 2.4 Planning and housing markets: the endogenous view .................................. 35 2.5 Implications................................................................................................... 51 Chapter 3................................................................................................................... 53 Urban Consolidation and Housing Affordability..................................................... 53 3.1 Key concepts................................................................................................ 54 3.2 Consolidation and affordability: the critical perspective ................................ 57 3.3 Consolidation and affordability: the planning perspective.............................. 60 3.4 Containment and affordability: an endogenous perspective.......................... 66 3.5 Implications................................................................................................... 76 Chapter 4................................................................................................................... 78 Booms and Barriers: Urban Consolidation and the Housing Affordability Agenda in Australia ................................................................................................................ 78 4.1 Method ......................................................................................................... 79 4.2 Housing affordability and urban consolidation on the planning agenda in Melbourne ............................................................................................................... 80 4.3 The anatomy of two housing affordability crises............................................ 94 4.4 Planning strategies during two housing affordability crises ......................... 102 4.5 Planning on the housing affordability agenda during two housing affordability crises 109 4.6 Key findings................................................................................................ 117 Chapter 5................................................................................................................. 120 Backlash: Patterns of Planning Objection and Dispute in Melbourne................ 120 5.1 The regulatory environment ........................................................................ 124 5.2 Method ....................................................................................................... 128 5.3 Findings – descriptive results...................................................................... 134 5.4 Findings – modelling results ....................................................................... 148 5.5 Key findings................................................................................................ 153 Chapter 6................................................................................................................. 155 Betterment: Landowner Submissions and the Expanding Urban Growth Boundary................................................................................................................. 155 6.1 Background ................................................................................................ 157 6.2 Approach to the UGB and the GAIC ........................................................... 164 6.3 Analysis of public submissions.................................................................... 168 6.4 Key findings................................................................................................ 183 Chapter 7................................................................................................................. 185 Betterment: Modelling Urban Fringe Land Prices and the Urban Growth Boundary................................................................................................................. 185 7.1 Land price model ........................................................................................ 186 7.2 Descriptive results ...................................................................................... 195 7.3 Land price model results............................................................................. 205 7.4 Key findings................................................................................................ 211 Chapter 8................................................................................................................. 213 Betterment: Estimates of Planning Gain and Taxation on the Urban Fringe...... 213 8.1 Approach: betterment values ...................................................................... 215 v 8.2 Results: estimated betterment values ......................................................... 216 8.3 Approach: effective tax rates of the GAIC on betterment ............................ 222 8.4 Results: effective tax rates of the GAIC on betterment................................ 227 8.5 Key findings...............................................................................................