Dejan Simovic, Tatjana Djuric-Simovic

DESIM – R&D, Sydney, Australia

Keywords: Collaborative Planning, Sustainability Circular Economy, Social Outcomes

ABSTRACT

In accordance with Sustainable Development Goals, achieving sustainable, regenerative development requires that we continuously measure outcomes on multiple bottom lines. Measurement of economic and environmental/ecological outcomes of sustainable development are reasonably well researched and implantation is in some cases well advanced. Measuring social outcomes, on the other hand, is lagging.

New technologies, like AI, blockchain, smart cities, Digital Twins, and new methodologies, as Circular Economy, are providing opportunities to address this gap in innovative ways. Question is: who evaluates outcomes? Who determines what is successful community? How do we prevent misuse of these new technologies? Our research indicates that active participations of citizens would be necessary in defining and measuring outcomes of planning and continual governance.

In this paper we have investigated current system of “public engagement” as well as few alternative systems/tools in use in Australia. As a result, we have developed a proposal for an alternative model that could address some of identified problems of the existing system and anticipated difficulties in the future. The heart of that framework is the Sustainability Research Centre (SRCe), a hub, a place, physical and virtual, where community, industry and research collaborate.

Our plan is to implement this framework on our specific pilot project, in collaboration with specific community. The location of North Arm Cove in New South Wales (NSW), Australia is used as a case study for creation of an innovative, sustainable, regenerative development framework – North Arm Cove Initiative. This location has been selected 105 years ago by an American urbanist, architect and community builders couple Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin, as a preferred location for their plans for the New York of Australia.