The pursuit of better public administration and planning for the creative industries – planning collaboratively for sustainable creative quarters

This paper aims to explore the way in which creative industries could be better facilitated via local government policy. In an international climate increasingly pursuing neo-liberal policies, there is a growing interest in the focus of local government planning turning more towards place-based systems. A brief review is made of the international systems of planning for comparison with Australia, where there is continued reliance on land use planning in most states. Some embryonic attempts by local councils to implement place-based planning are also considered. Reference is made to the enterprise zoning system, and the business improvement system ('BID') as alternatives to traditional land use planning. Both these approaches are focussed on economic growth and sustainability, yet run the risk of widening inequities within a regional context. Closer examination of a possible BID implementation model in the context of the Sydney Metropolitan Region provides a greater understanding of the issues from the perspective of reform in governance and also informs the likely problems and opportunities of the BID model in a real urban context.