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This chapter provides the framework and rationale for Greening the Greyfields and its two new models for greyfield precinct regeneration (GPR): place-activated and transit-activated GPR. They provide a basis for regenerative urban redevelopment in the middle-ring greyfield suburbs of fast-growing, low-density cities. Place-activated GPR advances a new development model for the ‘missing middle’ in cities: new medium-density housing at precinct scale. Transit-activated GPR extends new sustainable modes of mobility into car-dependent suburbs. Both processes are required for retrofitting suburbia to fix the shortcomings of mid- to late-twentieth-century urban planning and development., open access

Greening the Greyfields uses ‘greening’ as a term related to the regeneration of an urban area, as well as to the choice of environmentally beneficial (or at least neutral) technology for new urban development. This chapter will outline how new twenty-first-century green urban infrastructures can help realise the value proposition of regenerating established middle suburbs. The technologies covered include energy, water, and waste systems, along with smart information and communications technology (ICT) systems that are needed to make the ‘distributed green technology’ work efficiently and equitably. Micro-mobility (scooters and bikes) is likely to help accessibility at a precinct scale and will be discussed in the next chapter, although they certainly fit within the new distributed infrastructure model. While this chapter looks at ‘greening’ in terms of ‘green tech’, Chapter 5 will look at nature-based solutions more broadly. Greening the greyfields provides the opportunity for new ‘green tech’ to be introduced in urban development in an integrated way., Open access

Between 2000 and 2020, Australia’s population grew almost 24% to 25 million. Most of this growth occurred in Australia’s major cities, acutely exacerbating sprawl, which has been a planning challenge since the mid- to late twentieth century. The urban-policy response has been toward more compact cities via ‘infill’—redevelopment within existing urban boundaries. This chapter distinguishes between former industrial ‘brownfield’ infill and the more challenging ‘greyfield’ infill. Greyfields comprise ageing, under-capitalised, low-density suburbia. Most metropolitan planning strategies enable small-scale, ad hoc greyfield redevelopment that tends to erase suburban qualities while only slightly increasing density. As a result, infill targets are not being met. But there is another way, outlined here as ‘greyfield precinct regeneration’: larger-scale integrated redevelopment facilitated through land assembly and supportive state and municipal planning policy., Open access

Healthy urban ecosystems are increasingly recognised as important for resilient cities and need to be considered as part of GPR. Urban nature-based solutions (NBS) comprising green (vegetation) and blue (water) infrastructure need to be considered at multiple scales from the bioregions, through to catchments, neighbourhoods/precincts, blocks, streets, and buildings, including linkages through and in GPR areas. This chapter describes how climate change—particularly extreme urban heat—is expected to affect Australian cities, and how green and blue infrastructure can help GPR to be incorporated into urban adaptation and mitigation solutions. Topics covered include water-sensitive urban design, nature-based solutions, and urban cooling. The chapter outlines how nature-based solutions can be incorporated into higher-density regenerative urban redevelopment through new technologies and supported by planning models, many of which can be best designed and managed at precinct scale. The ‘additionality’ of green and blue nature-based solutions can offer residents of GPR areas increased liveability and enhanced resilience in both normal and extreme weather., Open access

This chapter will focus on how new transit technology and corridor-regeneration policies can help transition greyfields. It builds on Chap. 3, which outlined the new distributed green technologies and their potential to help with urban regeneration in the greyfields at precinct scale. Transport systems are the sole focus of this chapter, as they have a very specific ability to help with urban regeneration via transit-activated GPR, given that accessibility is probably the largest city-shaping mechanism., Open access

This chapter expands on the required set of innovations in urban planning, precinct design, performance assessment, and engagement processes outlined in Chap. 1 that are core to the delivery of greyfield precinct regeneration (GPR). The sections that follow dive deeper into the key transitioning processes and provide case-study illustrations for place-activated GPR drawn from the City of Maroondah’s Greening the Greyfields project., open access

This book has introduced two new (linked) models for greyfield precinct regeneration—place-activated and transit-activated GPR—with a new set of processes to enable them. The need for new design, planning, and engagement tools that must be integrated into all urban development is also seen as key to unlocking greyfield regeneration. Designs for such precincts have proliferated, but planning systems are still hindering their implementation, especially those systems related to land-assembly issues in the established, occupied middle greyfield suburbs. Planning must change, and a potential way ahead involves the planning processes demonstrated in this book. A first step involves district greenlining, which enables identification of strategic planning challenges and priorities for action at a district scale along a transit corridor (transit-activated GPR) or in precinct-scale areas in typical middle suburbs with high redevelopment potential (place-activated GPR). Their key attributes are gleaned from the previous chapters and summarised in this chapter. A final plea is made here for partnerships to be created from the engagement of all stakeholders: government, community and civil society, innovators, and developers. Greyfield Precinct Redevelopment Authorities established within state governments as part of a federal Better Cities 2.0 program could guide this transition., open access

open access

This open access book outlines new concepts, development models, governance and implementation processes capable of addressing the challenges of transformative urban regeneration of cities at precinct scale.