Better use of existing infrastructure assets is the key to unlocking community value
Infrastructure Australia's 'Future Cities' report, released last month, has urged governments to improve the use of economic and social infrastructure to create greater value for communities:
Australian governments should routinely review the capacity of economic and social infrastructure within our cities and develop strategies to 'sweat' existing assets to extract greater value for communities.
A major opportunity to improve the use of our infrastructure is to increase the utilisation of the physical assets themselves. Some assets traditionally defined by their core purpose now need to serve multiple purposes.
For example, there are likely to be opportunities to make better use of school facilities outside of school hours. School sporting facilities are the obvious candidate and are often well utilised, but the classrooms could host a myriad of language classes, music lessons and other community activities.
The effort involved in ensuring the uses are acceptable to the community and the interface between the different uses is appropriately managed (say, by cleaning early in the morning, rather than in the afternoon) seems worthwhile.
There are currently around 1,500 government schools in Victoria alone, and the projected growth in school-aged children (see below) means additional schools will be required. If the investment in new schools is able to support additional community uses, it will represent better value for money for the government and deliver additional amenity to the community.
Community assets raise a similar – and possibly larger – opportunity. Growing up, we used the local oval for football in the winter and cricket in the summer. The accompanying club rooms offered three key features: shelter from the rain or sun; a kitchen; and a dozen or so showers.
It didn't occur to me then, but these facilities stood idle for the majority of the week and are the same facilities that could dramatically improve the lives of homeless people and other disadvantaged groups. Why shouldn't these assets serve multiple purposes?
There are a large number of community assets that should be considered in light of their physical characteristics rather than their (current) primary use: scout halls, community centres, public libraries, the list goes on.
Other assets – like prisons – may only serve a single use, but utilisation may be improved by co-location or careful planning (this idea is also picked up in a number of recommendations coming out of the 'Future Cities' report). The medical precinct in the north of Melbourne and the correctional assets out at Ravenhall are good examples of this trend in Victoria.
There is a growing acknowledgement that we need to do more with less. Doing more with what we already have is a great start.