Transit oriented development - making communities more vibrant by focussing more varied development in pedestrian-friendly areas close to public transport – is the topic for a major international conference in Fremantle in July.

The conference will focus strongly on strategies for taking transit-oriented development projects beyond planning to successful and profitable implementation, according to conference presenter PATREC, the Curtin University-based Planning and Transport Research Centre.

PATREC Executive Director Dr Fred Affleck, who is also the Chairman of the Midland Redevelopment Authority, said this type of development was an emerging feature in many current urban projects throughout the western world. Transit oriented development was an alternative to the ever-rising costs of car travel and helped to create new job and educational opportunities.

"In Perth there are excellent examples of this type of planning in the Subiaco, Cockburn Central, Wellard Village and Midland urban centre projects," Dr Affleck said.

The conference features internationally renowned speakers including US transit expert Robert Cervero, author of Transit Metropolis, and Luca Bertolini from the University of Amsterdam whose book Cities on Rails describes the most successful and interesting European rail station developments.

Another international speaker is Shelley Poticha, executive director of the Centre for Transit Oriented Development of Reconnecting America, a US-based body that promotes compact, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use neighborhoods as the best building blocks for vibrant communities.

WA speakers from the private, Government and academic sectors include Warwick Hemsley, Managing Director of Peet & Co, Ross Holt, CEO of Landcorp, Alannah MacTiernan, Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Jeremy Dawkins, Chairman of the WA Planning Commission, Professor Peter Newman, Chair, WA Sustainability Roundtable, and Professor Ruth Durack, Director of the Urban Design Centre of WA.

Related Link: www.congresswest.com.au/TOD

For more information contact:

Katie Clarke
Congress West
PO Box 1248
West Perth
WA 6872
Australia

Phone: +61 8 9322 6906
Fax: +61 8 9322 1734
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.congresswest.com.au/TOD/