Leadership Goal

Objective

Drive the delivery of productive places, and enable jobs for the future.

Target

To contribute to a global innovation economy by enabling 30,000 enduring jobs for the future by 2036.

Relevant Sustainable
Development Goals

Overview

Landcom’s Productive Places pillar is focused on a leadership goal to ‘contribute to the global innovation economy by enabling over 30,000 new jobs by 2036’. This is our economic pillar committed to delivering places that will be productive and engaging for those that live there.

This leadership goal was developed to reflect Landcom’s commitment to economic development, strengthening technology infrastructure and advancing equitable opportunities for skills development and education.

Landcom addresses the enablement of jobs and innovation through the following focus areas:

  • Training & Employment
  • Innovation

Each of these focus areas includes a suite of targets to measure our success.

Case Study

Collaborative Urban Teaching Platform

Universities and governments are increasingly encouraged to work collaboratively on large-scale urban development projects.

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Case Study

Common Purpose City Challenge

Landcom was proud to partner with Common Purpose in the Common Purpose City Challenge, where over 500 students from Western Sydney University were challenged to answer the question: ‘How can Western Sydney embrace renewable and resilient energy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050?”

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Management Approach

Our leadership goal to enable 30,000 jobs across our communities by 2036 is in direct response to the broader NSW government objectives. As at 2036, the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) forecasts the Sydney region alone will need 817,000 new jobs. As part of Landcom’s mandate we support these targets by developing great places and mixed-use communities where people can work, live and play.

In FY18 our Economic Development Working Group30 released an approach for overcoming the challenge of consistently and effectively calculating our efforts to enable enduring local jobs. We use proxy employment ratios, developed through detailed research and benchmarking, attributed to various land uses based on m2 gross floor area. Examples of land uses included are commercial, retail, industrial, community, cultural, tourism, health services, education, storage, hotel, serviced apartment, student housing and residential. As jobs creation is a long-term goal for Landcom, we report our performance based on the FY actuals, and forecast jobs created for the life of a project. This gives us a clear indication of whether we are on track to meet our 2036 target.

In FY19 Landcom’s methodology was also adopted across the NSW Government’s Common Planning Assumptions Group (CPAG), influencing a consistent government wide approach.

We also contribute to advancing education and skills development across our communities. We work with industry and registered training organisations to develop programs that address specific skills requirements of locals, and provide training opportunities and employment pathways for those experiencing low or long-term unemployment. We also collaborate with schools and other educational institutions to deliver learning and youth engagement programs that are aligned with the NSW primary and secondary curriculum topics.

For Landcom’s FY20 performance for enabling jobs and providing local Training & Employment outcomes see Training & Employment Performance Results below.

30 The Economic Development Working Group was established during our operations as Landcom trading as ‘UrbanGrowth NSW’.

Landcom addresses Innovation by investing in research that advances the property and development industry, and future proofing our communities.

We invest in collaborative research such as Cooperative Research Centre programs, or via our own Roundtable. Landcom’s Roundtable is a collaboration with other government organisations31and eight leading Australian universities. Comprised of senior representatives from each institution, the Roundtable meets several times a year to review research proposals that advance urban development innovation.

Governance: Landcom’s Roundtable

 

Governance Roundtable

 

Landcom’s research priorities are aligned to our Strategic Directions:

Landcom Strategic Direction

Research Priority

Housing

Increase the affordability, supply and diversity of housing



Landcom is interested in research that:

  • clarifies how Landcom can deliver innovative housing governance or tenure models for low to moderate household incomes
  • identifies relevant new housing design typologies that are scaleable, affordable and resilient to future market changes.

Partnerships

Partner with others to unlock development opportunities and improve delivery



Landcom is interested in research that:

  • empowers future project resilience to the changing nature of cities, infrastructure, employment, people and communities.

Leadership

Demonstrate excellence in sustainable development and planning practices

 

Landcom is interested in research that:

  • empowers urban developers to advance the delivery of sustainable, socially equitable, environmentally friendly and commercially viable communities
  • enables the delivery of new home designs that meet the needs of the diverse communities in which we operate
  • empowers the commercialisation of knowledge creation to benefit Landcom and industry.

 

Landcom addresses emerging technologies in our Innovation focus area. Currently we are seeking to roll out smart technology to our new communities in the form of electric vehicle (EV) rapid charge stations and increasing the provision of free Wi-Fi in public places. We see these initiatives as future-proofing communities, reducing inequalities in access to information and ensuring early adoption of future transport technologies.

Ultimately, the provision of EV chargers throughout Landcom communities improves resilience, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and reduces transport related cost of living expenses for residents. These targets also contribute to Landcom’s low-carbon transport approach, including accessibility to public transport, walkable and cycling-friendly neighbourhoods (see Health, Equity & Inclusion).

31 During FY20 government participants included NSW Government Architect, Greater Sydney Commission.

Our Sustainable Places Strategy identifies a number of initiatives as future opportunities to enhance our Productive Places commitments. We are also retiring several priorities, as they have become part of our business as usual approach which are noted below. This includes:

  • adopting a Reconciliation Action Plan
  • considering our business approach to staff volunteering
  • advancing our approach to driving smart cities and innovation (retired – integrated into BAU)
  • collaborating to deliver employment hubs and opportunities across our portfolio (retired – integrated into BAU).

In FY21 we will update our management approach to include the adoption and delivery of a Reconciliation Action Plan. This responds to our new material matter of respecting indigenous culture and heritage. This was forecast for delivery in FY20, however has been delayed due to the impacts of COVID-19.

We have also retired our priority regarding smart cities innovation, as Landcom is now an ongoing collaborator with the Centre for Smart Modern Construction, a member of the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment Circular Economy Working Group, and focuses on innovation via our Roundtable and Green Star certifications.

Landcom is also retiring its priority related to employment hub collaborations, as our partnership with Transport for NSW to deliver the SMNW Places program, and our ongoing focus on enabling enduring jobs across our project portfolio fulfils this remit.

Performance Results

See below our performance results for each of the reporting areas within our Productive Places Pillar.

Landcom’s Sustainable Places Strategy addresses Training & Employment. This focus area forms part of our Productive Cities pillar and is a representation of our commitment to advancing needs-based education, skills and training to our communities.

In FY20 all targets for reporting against our Training and Employment were in scope. Our results are presented below.

 

Targets
Performance

To contribute to a global innovation economy by enabling 30,000 enduring jobs for the future by 2036.

Performance

Cumulative jobs enabled


Targets

Projects to engage and foster education, learning or employment outcomes via actives or initiatives, based on identified needs of the local and regional community.

Performance

FY19:

Engaged over

1,500

students across our Skills Exchange, research and excursion programs

FY20:

Engaged over

800

students across our Skills Exchange, research and excursion programs

Landcom is making steady progress to meet our commitment to enable 30,000 enduring jobs by 2036. FY20 in scope projects include remaining stages at Edmondson Park, Lachlan’s Line and Green Square, and new precincts across SMNW Places program, Macarthur Gardens North and Fennell Bay.32

The total forecast for jobs enabled by 2023 has decreased between our FY19 and FY20 reporting period, and is attributed to adjusted total commercial gross floor area across the SMNW Places program. These forecasts will continue to be subject to change, while future projects remain in the planning phase and we respond to market demand.

32 Edmondson Park Stages 3, 5, 6 and 9; all Lachlan’s Line stages excluding North Station and Green Square stages 2, 3 and 4.

In FY20 we delivered our Skills Exchange program at our Newleaf community in Bonnyrigg. This is an extension of our Skills Exchange investment that commenced at Airds and Claymore in FY18, and Macarthur Heights in FY19. These communities and surrounding areas have an identified need for employment pathways for young people and the long-term unemployed.33

In FY20 we had eleven unemployed or disadvantaged students graduate from the Skills Exchange Program, which was a partnership between Landcom, Land and Housing Corporation, TRN (our Principal Civil Contractors for the community), Master Builders Association and the Daystar Foundation.

The students came from areas surrounding our Newleaf community in Bonnyrigg. They participated in a three day training course each week over a six week period to gain certified skills including basic construction, construction health and safety, first aid and traffic management. Following the course, TRN offered positions to five of the graduates to work on the final stage of earthworks for our Bonnyrigg community. The remaining graduates were connected with labour hire companies to help their job search.

We also engaged over 800 secondary and tertiary students throughout the reporting period, as part of our Roundtable research programs, school excursion programs, events and project engagements (see Innovation Performance Results in the next tab). This ranged from guest lectures to bachelor or master’s degree candidates by our senior leaders, through to providing students with access to our assets to learn about real world development practices.

33 Airds: 26% unemployment rate: https://profile.id.com.au/campbelltown/employment-status?WebID=100; Claymore: 27% unemployment rate: https://profile.id.com.au/campbelltown/employment-status?WebID=100

Landcom’s Sustainable Places Strategy addresses Innovation. This focus area forms part of our Productive Places pillar and is a representation of our commitment to advancing innovation through our business, and to our communities.

Targets
Performance

Measure and report annual investment in research and development.

Performance

FY19:

$491,840
cash

$402,708
in-kind

FY20:

$150,000
cash

$373,499
in-kind


Targets

All project teams engaged in Landcom’s Roundtable ‘Communities of Practice’ program.

Performance

FY19:

2
project teams engaged

FY20:

No Community of Practice meetings held34

34 Our first Community of Practice meetings under the renewed Landcom Roundtable Agreement were due to be held in April 2020 however the impacts of COVID-19 on the university sector meant that we delayed the first meetings until July 2020 which fell outside of the reporting boundary.


Targets

Greenfield/Regional: all new communities provide electric vehicle chargers to service a minimum 10% total dwellings (as either publicly accessible or private use).

Urban Renewal/High Density: provide a minimum 10% parking yield, per parking lot, as EV Charge Station ‘turn-key’ ready at development completion.

Performance

FY19:

No projects in scope

FY20:

100%
in scope projects achieved


Targets

Key open spaces to provide free Wi-Fi access.

Performance

FY19:

No projects in scope

FY20:

100%
in scope projects achieved


In FY20 Landcom contributed $523,499 total investment value into collaborative research led by participants of the Roundtable; in FY20 this includes $373,499 worth of estimated in-kind value contribution from Landcom employees,35 based on research investment made at or before 30 June 2020. Many projects undertaken by the Roundtable include long-term research outcomes, and as such may be included across multiple reporting years. This also influences the presentation of our cash contributions year on year, which may fluctuate due to certain projects receiving upfront funding upon their commencement.

In FY20 there were 14 ongoing research projects related to our operations. A summary is provided below.

Research Projects Research Projects Completed
Sustainable Urban Food Production Explores the relationship between local food ecologies and urban redevelopment.
Creating the City We Want Investigates barriers to housing diversity in NSW with consideration to diverse family structures, cultural groups and ageing.
Healthier Higher Density Living Generates new knowledge and tools to address gaps in understanding the way health evidence can be applied to the planning of higher density urban precincts.
From Suburban to Urban Reviews open space definitions, typologies and uses by public to better inform local and state policies and practices in the provisioning and delivery of open spaces.
Phytoremediation for Contamination of Contaminated Land Demonstrates how phytoremediation can be used to rehabilitate and restore balance to contaminated soil.
Designing Bio-Shelters Applies cutting-edge modelling techniques more usually applied to architectural problems to design artificial habitats for native biodiversity in heavily urbanised estuaries.
New Generation Workspace and Precinct Activation Assesses how workspaces can be integrated into new developments and within planning regulations. It also includes architecture and design studio projects which will experiment with different spatial configurations, typologies and concepts for the zone.
Strategies for Planning Safe and Secure Public Domain Examines how counter-terrorism protective security can be integrated into design and development processes for crowded public places in Australia.
Valuing Creating Placemaking Evaluates creative place making activities and links to social and economic value. Assesses the direct or associated financial value for developers.
Community Engagement 4.0 Demonstrates public sector innovation through the use of Urban Pinboard as a community engagement tool. Uses 3D modelling to assist in explaining planning concepts to the public.
Predictive Housing Price Model Develops a framework and tool to more accurately forecast long-term (8 to 10 years) real estate prices in the Sydney residential property market.
Collaborative Robotics Investigates how collaborative robotics can help address the shortage of skilled labour to meet NSW housing goals.
Cooling the Commons Evaluates how heat impacts people’s movement between indoor spaces and use of the public realm, such as footpaths, shops, schools, parks, workplaces.
Affordable Built-to-Rent Critically evaluates built-to-rent potential to deliver affordable housing in the Australian market, based on international case studies in the UK and USA.

35 Due to the organisational separation from UrbanGrowth NSW Development Corporation during FY18 we only estimate the in-kind contribution of Landcom employees and acknowledge that Infrastructure NSW and Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation staff have also provided in-kind support to a number of research projects.

In FY20 Landcom had two projects in scope for our targets related to the provision of electric vehicle (EV) rapid charge stations or shared charging points. This target applies to new Landcom communities, and includes Tallawong and Hills Showground which were sold to the private sector with conditions of sale to deliver against these targets.

We had planned to implement the recommendations from the FY19 Electric Vehicle study conducted with Sustainability Advantage (NSW Department of Planning Infrastructure and Environment) and begin the transition of our fleet vehicles to electric during the year, however the implementation has been postponed due to the impacts of COVID-19 and the reduced use of our fleet vehicles. We will reevaluate our approach over the coming year.

There were two new projects in scope for this target during the reporting period, including Tallawong and Hills Showground. Both were sold to the private sector and included conditions of sale, or a Green Star certification pathway, to deliver on this target. Other new projects that became active during the reporting period fall outside the scope of this target, as they do not have sufficiently large community open spaces to warrant or draw demand for public WiFi, such as Macarthur Gardens North.

Our Sustainable Places Strategy

Climate Resilient Places

Enabling carbon neutral, water positive, zero waste and net positive ecological outcomes by 2028.

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Healthy & Inclusive Places

Enhancing Landcom’s international status for delivering world class liveable places, founded on equity, affordability and inclusion by 2036.

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Accountable & Collaborative Places

Driving accountability and performance along our value chain.

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