ACT planners will turn to nationally recognised "thought leaders" to help inform future design decisions for Canberra, while also considering lessons the territory can learn from cities overseas.
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The territory's planning authority has approached the market for consultants to develop suggestions to improve the liveability of the city as part of a wide-ranging review and reform project.
ACT Chief Planner Ben Ponton said the work was an important part of the project.
"This will include an investigation into the best way to deliver commercial and residential opportunities that deliver the correct mix of retail, office and residential space, while making the economies of our commercial centres stronger," Mr Ponton said.
Mr Ponton said the ACT government was committed to making planning decisions that positioned Canberra as a destination city where people choose to live and companies want to invest.
He said the planning authority had asked thought leaders to consider international examples that could inform Canberra's planning processes.
"We've asked them to identify leading national and international cities that Canberra can learn from," Mr Ponton said.
"This information will help establish best-practice planning outcomes that suit our growing city and encourage investment, while maintaining what makes Canberra special.
"We're looking to learn from what makes those cities work and see what can be applied to make Canberra an even better modern city."
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Mr Ponton in February told a territory estimates hearing the current ACT planning system gave developers a "clear pathway" and he hoped a new system could be implemented next year.
"As a result of a very rules-based system, people are just going through and ticking off each of the rules," he said.
"What that is driving is that people aren't stopping and looking at their site and really thinking about what is the best outcome for this site, they are not thinking about the site in the context of the street or the block or the suburb.
"What we then find is that as we are going through that process that the planning authority may be almost forced to approve a development that we know is not ideal and the community doesn't particularly want.
"The developers know they can get a clear pathway, particularly if they comply with all the rules and there is less chance of a tribunal appeal and that's driving the development that we are seeing."
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