Free Information Sessions on Master Class Programme for 2019
Category Archives: Measuring City Growth
Dr Drane’s Greenshoots Update
Dr Jonathan Drane: Greenshoot News Update
Regional City Growth Dynamics: A Research Focus
I have recently left academia after 6 years at both UNSW Built Environment and then Western Sydney University’s School of Business. I am returning to my prior independent research and advisory profile which I have operated through Greenshoot Investments since 1993 which will aim to grow into a research and teaching centre in its own right as time goes by.
The Outer West Dormancy and Growth Dynamics Research Project which started during my MBA at MGSM in the 1990s then through my doctorate at UNSW and continued in my time with WSU will continue, and I will be seeking funding, sponsorship and collaborations. But early days.
See my research page which pays tribute to MGSM, UNSW and WSU where the dormancy research found its genesis, grew and now matures as time goes by.
For More Information : http://www.jondrane.net/research/
The Parlous State of Contemporary Property Development
The Property Development Industry in the commercial multi-apartment sector is plagued by the advent of DIY developers who clearly did not get the memo related to quality and integrity through the application of professional practices. When this resulted in two girls having to jump off a balcony to escape a fire and the death of one of those girls ( Bankstown 2012) , the industry finally said no.
This research found its genesis through my chronicling of the degeneration of professional property development practices while at UNSW City Futures where I was invited to write a conference article and speak on what I thought was the boring subject of defects. To my surprise, the audience was lit up by the talk and paper, because it brought to life the decay of property development professional structures over several decades.
A simple article grew into an invited appearance at the National Building Regulatory Summit in February 2018 where I found myself an accidental historian of the industry. There I chronicled the decay in development structures across finance, design, construction and statute, an integrated view previously unseen.
For More Information: http://www.jondrane.net/research/the-state-of-contemporary-property-development-structures/
Property Development Master Classes: ‘Work Ready’ and ‘Street Wise’
The universities continue to attempt to steer coursework and offerings toward an ‘industry ready’ framework and for students to be more ‘fit for purpose’.
With this in mind, I am offering a number of online webinars for College and University students (undergrad and postgrad), which are designed to supplement their current College and University studies and help their career aspirations to come to life in the complex and exciting world of commercial property development.
The Master Classes are designed to provide real life skills and street smart tools to get students on the road to success. Whether they want to follow a career employed in property development and/or become a property developer in their own right.
The first master class is in three sessions in early November. You can learn more or book a seat here:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/dr-dranes-master-class-becoming-a-street-smart-property-developer-tickets-51576187766
Thank You Academia
I have spent a lifetime in the commercial property development and construction industry and been a property developer in my own right. Over those years I have mentored executives and managers and lectured to hundreds of students across four academic institutions including Sydney University, UNSW, WSU and ICMS. I am also an alumni of UNSW and MGSM.
I have loved working with the students and teaching is in my wiring. Being a creature of the wilderness and not the citadel, I now stand on the outside looking upward at these past institutions, my teachers and colleagues. Thank you for helping to get here. I look forward to working alongside some of my past colleagues toward issues heralded in the initiatives above.
Sincerely
Jon
Dr Jonathan Drane
Director Greenshoot Investments
and Optimum Search est 1993
Newcastle Revitalisation Programme – City Walk Through – A SFAUDI Event
Newcastle Revitalisation Programme – City Walk Through – A SFAUDI Event
(Sydney Forum for Architects and Urban Designers) (SFAUDI)
Hello Colleagues
Those who are interested in the Newcastle revitalisation programme including the light rail, here is a great way of catching up on latest events. Thanks to SFAUDI who are the host organizer and Hamish Robertson (see below).
Dr Jonathan Drane
School of Business, Lecturer in Property, Western Sydney University
Contact 0412996258, j.drane@westernsydney.edu.au
Researcher: Regional Study of Dormancy and Revitalisation
http://www.jondrane.net/research/outer-west-dormancy-study-sydney-basin/
Newcastle Walk Through Details below:
On Saturday, April 28th, SFAUDi member David Wilson, who is Principal of Transit Network Planning with Transport for NSW, will be showing us around Newcastle, for an update on the Newcastle Transformation and Transport Program, including the Stage 2 extension to the light rail from Stage 1, which is now under construction, plus a short presentation about the Newcastle Revitalisation Program. The walk starts at the Newcastle Interchange and is followed by a walk through the Honeysuckle Precinct, a ferry trip to Stockton, and then lunch. The visit will last a few hours, so we need to arrive in the city preferably by 11.00am. David has suggested some options for train times, listed below. Again, please let us know if you can join us – it promises to be a fascinating and memorable outing.
Best regards,
Hamish Robertson
SFAUDI
TRAIN TIMETABLES
Trains on Saturdays leave Central Station at 16 and 46 minutes past the hour.
The 8.16am train from Central arrives Newcastle at 11.01am or
The 8.46am arrives 11.51am in Newcastle.
Trains from Newcastle returning in the evening only depart once every hour at 54 or 55 minutes past the hour
The 16:54 from Newcastle arrives Central at 19:59pm
The 17:55 from Newcastle arrives Central at 20:29pm
Either of these train options would allow just under 6 hours in Newcastle for the visit
The Sydney Forum for Architecture and Urban Design Inc is a not-for-profit association incorporated in the state of New South Wales, dedicated to exchanging ideas on …
Study of Dormancy and Proliferation in Outer West Centres – Sydney Basin
The Outer West of Sydney: The Great Dividing Range
The Outer West of Sydney: Where is the Great Divide?
Date: 18 May 2015 ( archival re-publication)
By Dr Jonathan Drane
At a university seminar last week, a recognised city strategist ended his talk with the words” what is Sydney going to do with Parramatta?”. The question may be “ What is Parramatta going to do with Sydney”. The new Plan for Growing Sydney DOP&E Dec 2014) features a revisionist view of the Sydney metro right out west to the mountains (see attached). The emphasis has been influenced greatly by the considerable voting power of the ‘wild west’ and the strong and sophisticated advocacy machines of such regional centres as Parramatta and Penrith and others. Their position on the map as strategic centres highlights that this is pulling the ‘great divide’ between east and west toward the Blue Mountains. So where is the great divide between east and west of Sydney?
If you asked someone from Rose Bay where the west of Sydney starts, they might say Strathfield? If you ask a Penrith or Parramatta person they would see some humour in this. The perception of the great divide between east and west has been the subject of regional irritation by those cities in the west who are forging a new direction for the face and complexion of Sydney to the Blue Mountains. Part of the realisation of a new vision and identity for the west, should surely start with the question “where exactly is the west of Sydney?.
Dr Jonathan Drane
Read this article as a pdf:
ow1-the-outer-west-dividing-range
The Palmer Street Story
Case Study- The Palmer St Precinct 2012
Date: 1 June 2015
By: Dr Jonathan Drane
A study of the proliferation of buildings in the Palmer Street and Railway Precincts Townsville, Far North Queensland Australia.
“The Evolution of our Dining Mecca’ Townsville Bulletin, 2008, June 28, Page 7 raggatt-2008-evolution-of-dining-mecca
Townsville is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is often described by Queenslanders as ‘the capital of the north’, and enjoys a mult- sector economy which includes, government, defence, tertiary education, resources and tourism, together with one of the major ports in Australia.
In 2003 to 2007 two cityscape precincts in Townsville were subject to intense development stimulation. The Palmer St precinct on one hand was transformed into an active eat street and hotel precinct, whilst the Railway Precinct saw patchy development in the same period, although both precincts were the subject of city visions and stimulus by local authorities.
In this case study, the ensuing phenomenon of ‘prolific building growth’ in these dilapidated cityscapes is explored and explained, by what is proposed as the central force of change – ‘the property development mechanism’.
An explanatory model of the ‘property development mechanism’ is created in the setting of dilapidated cityscapes which are seen as a ‘field of activation’ for the mechanism and its actor ‘the property developer’. The reasons for the different levels of activation are explored, and the findings both support and strengthen the model, and form a basis for future exploration and development of the model.To read about the project in more detail please see Jon’s research page “The Seed in the Cityscape” on www.jondrane.net Link to Summary Of Doctorate
Dr Jonathan Drane
www.jondrane.net
Read this article as a pdf:
The Cinderella City
The Cinderella City: Newcastle and Honeysuckle, NSW
Date: 1 July 2015
By Dr Jonathan Drane
For regional cities with dormant cityscapes, the Honeysuckle story is an amazing reminder of the transformation of what was a disused port goods yard into a modern accommodation and restaurant precinct.
But for those who believe this fairy tale story was without its problems, one should be reminded of the fact that Newcastle was once called the ‘Cinderella City’.
Snapshot 1991 Newcastle, NSW
“In a feature article for the local daily broadsheet newspaper The Newcastle Herald, journalist Terry Smyth (1991, p16) uses the phrase ‘The Cinderella City’ to describe the plight or at least the perceived plight of Newcastle at this time. “Newcastle has a chip on its shoulder … a legacy of decades of hard knocks and of being labelled a dirty coal town.This despondent city”, he suggests “desperately wants to be noticed. Not as a mill town … and certainly not as a quaint backwater, but as a city with distinct lifestyles, problems, resources, advantages and dreams … A city with a soul.” (Stevenson 1999).
A young phd student at the time (Deborah Stevenson) captured the political power that was focused on the old port good yard area of Newcastle harbour and was one of the first to track its amazing transformation and the agendas at work at the time. In her later seminal paper ‘Reflections of a Great Port City’ (1999, p108) she brings to life the power of state led manifestation brought to bear in the new vision for the old port on the Honeysuckle lands. The Building Better Cities nation building programme at the time included a $100m seed fund to activate the precinct.
But money wasn’t enough as it turns out, for the precinct to actually be activated, required an understanding of not only property markets but the political and other forces at work.
Snapshot 2015 Newcastle’s Honeysuckle Precinct
Honeysuckle is a world recognised example of gentrification of a prior port historical area into a mixed use precinct which houses harbourside restaurants, where one can eat around the world whilst gargantuan vessels ply the harbour almost within reach. It houses both commercial and government uses and has a burgeoning modern apartment based population.
To reveal the most recent history of the precinct and to bring the story to life since Deborah Stevenson surveyed the shorelines of Honeysuckle, Dr Jonathan Drane completed a four year research project on dormant cityscapes across Australia with a case study on Honeysuckle.
The case study is included in his doctoral publication see publications page and includes a detailed chronology and timeline of the catalysts and forces at work to create the exciting new precinct.
Jonathan reveals that there is more to revitalising a public land release than understanding of property markets, economics and politics, but how these forces move in what he calls ‘windows of alignment’ where new buildings are proliferated in ‘spasms’.
Read Jonathan’s Case Study on Honeysuckle by going to the following link, opening the doctorate publication and going to chapter 10 ( a summary is below)
Link to UNSW Library for Published Doctorate
Honeysuckle Newcastle Cinderella City
PRD article.
Case Study Newcastle- Honeysuckle Precinct 2013
Extract from Jonathan Drane’s thesis ‘The Seed in the Cityscape”:
A study of the proliferation of buildings in the Honeysuckle Precinct Newcastle, Australia
Newcastle is a regional city 160km north of Sydney, which has enjoyed a rich history as a major Australian port, providing outlet for coal and its processing into steel, from the Hunter Valley region. Leading up to the early 1990’s, Newcastle suffered from slow economic growth and the decline of some of its key port functions. The result was the obsolescence of large tracts of the former port foreshore area called the Honeysuckle Precinct. With the advent of the federal Building Better Cities Programme in the early 1990’s, the precinct was awarded funding support to stimulate urban renewal and development . The Honeysuckle Development Corporation was formed (and later subsumed by the Hunter Development Corporation) and acted as a catalyst agent of change through the conceptualisation of the precinct, and its implementation by land release to private parties.
The result of this ongoing stimulation over 20 years until today has seen the foreshore change and grow into a popular mixed entertainment and tourist precinct, with related hotels, apartments and restaurants. The method of stimulation of these numerous developments was predominantly by the release of obsolete land parcels to private developers, the proponents of which would be chosen based on conceptual and commercial criteria.
As with the Townsville case studies, the focus of the case study is the proliferation of buildings from obsolete settings, through development stimulation both public and private. The study aims to reveal the catalytic nature of what is termed the ‘property development mechanism’, which works in waves and at alignments of certain forces and factors.
Dr Jonathan Drane
Read this article as a pdf:
Is Concord the Centre of Gravity of Sydney?
Is Concord the Centre of Gravity of Sydney?
Date: First published 5 June 2015
By Dr Jonathan Drane
PWC Geospatial Model 2015- http://www.pwc.com.au/analytics/gem.html
Think tanks and seminars continue to be held to try and understand the changing face of the city and its many forms in the Sydney Basin. This is especially topical in light of the voting power of the west and its dynamic future population projections relative to the east. One graphical model of Sydney based on a geospatial economic lens shows Concord as the ‘centre of gravity of Sydney’
The emergent ‘geo-spatial’ view of the city and other techniques, is grounded in the grinding national statistics of economy and demography.These after all are the foundation statistics of our nation at a macro level, the ABS, census, economic and industry data along with other industry data sets. The resultant analysis and charting of such data can however only ever be as good as the data itself. Whilst we still use the economic or demographic lens as our key visor for the viewing of the city, we will only see it in such terms.
The economic and demographic lens has allowed us to view the city from the stratosphere, through national statistics that were not originally designed to describe the phenomenological changes in the face of the city and its forces and drivers.
Dr Jonathan Drane
Read this article as a pdf:
cg1-is-concord-the-centre-of-gravity
Hello world!!
Welcome to my new blog and web site. It has been refined to focus on my independent research and advisory profile.
This site is designed to allow prospective clients to understand how I combine my research profile with the analysis of complex construction problems in different situations including legal cases and project situations.
My previous blog which included articles on the city dormancy and property development has been archived and key articles will be revisited here. Please contact us on info@jondrane.net if you need a particular article.
This site also caters and focuses on my research into city dormancy and urban renewal so that students are able to tap into my works. I encourage students of the built environment to continue my work in this area of city dormancy and development.
My non-fiction book collection including my books on the Camino de Santiago are briefly referred to on this web site and will be expanded in another independent web site.
Thank you for your interest in my work.
Dr Jonathan Drane
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Key Papers and Events
Book Now For Dr Drane’s Master Classes on Property Development
The New Breed of Property Developer
‘Defects A Builders View’ Read More on How the Property Development Industry Got Here
Read More on the State of Contemporary Property Development
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