Step-change Cities Partnership

A cross-system and multi-state collaboration piloting new ways of preparing communities for transformational urban change

Achieving sustainable growth will require a step-change from today’s urban identity and a leadership approach that prepares and supports all stakeholders to successfully navigate urban change. It will require the people who live in, plan for, lead and build our cities and suburbs to champion the required vision, guide the changing identity of communities, and focus on creating great places for generations to come.

The Step-change Cities Partnership is a cross-system and multi-state collaboration that seeks to:

UNDERSTAND community preparedness for transformational urban change

EXPLORE ways to better equip practitioners and key stakeholders to lead urban transformation

TEST Studio THI’s already developed tools and programs and identify other needs

SHARE knowledge and learning with the sector and shape a community of practice

Phase 1

Understanding Urban Change Readiness

14 leading organisations from across local and state governments, peak bodies and the private sector support the implementation of Studio THI’s Urban Change Readiness Index in 4 local government areas (LGAs) of Cairns, Ballarat, Penrith and Hume.

This built an evidence-based understanding of community preparedness for transformational urban change and explored ideas for how our sector could better prepare themselves and the community for urban change.

Download Phase 1 outcomes

Phase 1 - Key Findings

Readiness Challenge

Our growing communities face an urban change readiness challenge, characterised by a lack of population growth awareness, limited understanding of the need for urban consolidation, minimal participation in urban change discussions, and low trust in the urban development system.

One in two people we surveyed were unaware of upcoming growth in their area. Only 15% of respondents had participated in urban change discussions in the past three years. 1 in 2 people don't perceive any issue with the continued construction of detached houses on the city outskirts.

Shared Strengths

Communities share some strengths to build readiness, including openness to growth and change, support of foundation planning strategies like the 20-minute city, trust in local government leadership and a desire to participate actively in shaping future urban landscapes.

75% of the people we surveyed viewed the 20-minute city concept as important in shaping how cities grow but only 18% were aware of the concept before completing the survey.

Residents identified individual and whole of community benefits of urban change more frequently than perceived negative impacts.

Different Priorities

Growing communities have diverse priorities and knowledge gaps which significantly influence the focus of initiatives to build readiness. We need to understand LGA-specific priorities and develop nuanced change responses.

Index Benefits

Implementing the Index specifically for each LGA creates actionable insights, positively shifts community sentiment by up to 57%, builds a transition leadership mindset and frames a tailored change narrative.

By having a detailed understanding of capacity, awareness and acceptance of change across our community, we can take a much more resolved and resolute plan to talk to our stakeholders around specific issues in targeted areas.

Ed Johnson, Cairns Regional Council
It is amazing that across three states and thousands of kilometres, there are such similarities, but enough nuances to show the importance of a tailored approach

Andy Johnson, Manager City Strategy at Hume City Council

Phase 1 - Recommendations

Assess Change Readiness

An evidence-based understanding of a community’s urban change preparedness should be a key technical study conducted to inform national, state and local policy and planning as well as major projects conducted by the private sector.

Localise Strategies

The development and implementation of local-level preparedness strategies are critical tools to support urban transition. These strategies should be long-term plans that proactively aim to enhance community and stakeholder knowledge, desire and leadership capabilities for sustainable urban change. Opportunities to improve preparedness should be identified within current and upcoming planning processes and considered a strategic focus for growing communities.

Prioritise Education

Education initiatives should be the cornerstone of any preparedness strategy and should prioritise community, agency staff and elected member learning. It's crucial that local government leadership has both a technical understanding of sustainable urban development and the necessary skills to lead informed change conversations.

Invest for Local Action

As a sector we need to collectively invest in building our system’s urban transition leadership skills, tools and resources to support local-level action. Emerging investment opportunities include:

National Urban Change Readiness Database - An Australia-wide, publicly available evidence base of LGA specific readiness for urban change,
Customisable Community Education Resource – A set of community facing content assets that can be utilised to increase awareness of population growth, strengthen understanding of the need for urban consolidation
Urban Change Leadership Capabilities - Develop an evidence-based understanding of current capability gaps and strengths, and then develop responding training programs and resources

Phase 1 - Detailed Urban Change Readiness Index Outcomes

Studio THI’s Urban Change Readiness Index was implemented in 4 local government areas (LGAs) of Cairns, Ballarat, Penrith and Hume.

The Index built an evidence-based understanding of each community’s preparedness for urban change across three Domains and eight Indicators. It explored each community’s understanding and knowledge of sustainable urban change, sentiment towards likely change scenarios and confidence in the system to manage change well.

Data for the Index was gathered through a 30-minute online community survey that was tailored to explore the specific urban transition themes in each LGA. The survey was distributed to a recruited and incentivised sample of between 130-300 community members in each city, in total capturing the views of 780 residents across the four cities.

Key insights can be explored by Domain here.

Urban Change Literacy

Urban Change Literacy measures Level of urban change awareness, sentiment towards anticipated growth and knowledge of sustainable urban change concepts, challenges and benefits.

Indicators - Awareness + Sentiment + Knowledge

Insights