From Brownfields To Greenways: The Benefits of Active Transport And Brownfield Investment

BROWNFIELD ASIA SUMMIT 2017
THANG, Benjamin
Hong Kong, 23-24th August
Brownfield Asia Summit 2017 From Brownfields To Greenways: The Benefits Of Active Transport And Brownfield Investment

From Brownfields To Greenways
The Benefits of Active Transport And Brownfield Investment

Thinking
As urbanisation
accelerates, it calls
for plans that work
Rising water
crisis
Unsustainable traffic
growth
Unsustainable housing
policies
Industrial
pollution
Rising environmental
concerns
Cultural
colonisation

Brownfield
“A piece of industrial or commercial property
that is abandoned or underused and often
environmentally contaminated, especially one
considered as a potential site for
redevelopment.”1
Active Transport (Greenway)
“Walking, cycling, or using personal mobility devices
get the body moving and the heart pumping. These
modes produces minimal carbon emissions, making
this category the greenest and healthiest mobility
option” 2
Working Definitions
1. Source: The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 9
Aug. 2017
2. Source: Urban Mobility: 10 Cities Leading The Way In Asia-Pacific, Centre for Liveable Cities
(Singapore) & Urban Land Institute, 2017

Understanding The
Current Situation Of
Roads

How Well Are We Moving?
The future is now, are we ready?

Rethink
Strategy

“Post-industrial cities are laced with ready-made spaces in the form of webs
of linear voids that often result from industrial era infrastructure”
-Karl Kullmann

1. Tendency to be undervalued in planning and economic evaluation
2. Greenway helps to activate brownfield sites
3. Qualitative and Quantitative Values
• Environmental
1. Reduces urban sprawl
2. Carbon footprint positive infrastructure
• Social
1. To reverse the trend of cities becoming increasingly vehicle dominated
2. Alleviate road safety conditions for cyclists
• Economical
1. Grey network requires heavier investment
2. Greenway does not require re-engineering of grey network
3. Value uplift of adjacent properties
Why Active Transport Infrastructure And Brownfield Investment?

1. Understanding Value Capture
The Rationale for Value Capture

Concept
Value captured by usersRequired capital investment Funding by beneficiaries
By state
Value Captured
By user
Values created by active transport infrastructure
Source: Benjamin Thang – Value creation and capture model
Residual
Values
Eg.
Environmental

1. Value sharing stakeholders:
• Landowners, occupiers and developers
• Users and operators
• Businesses and employees
• Government
2. Proportionate contribution to infrastructure cost
• Traditional approach of general taxation
• Alternative strategy to identify end value
• Mechanisms to enable funding contribution from beneficiaries
3. Focused approach
• Integrated land use planning
• Sharper focus on benefits and public objective
Understanding Value Capture

4. Strategies are required for funding
from beneficiaries and state
financing
5. Types of value capture3:
1. Passive – Revenues without any
action taken
2. Active – Planned revenues streams
6. Value sharing should be a mean to
achieve primary objective rather
than an objective itself
Understanding Value Capture
3. Source: EY for the QueenslandGovernment,AlternativeInfrastructureFundingand Financing,2016

2. Active Transport Infrastructure Creates Value

1. What values?
Qualitative
• Improved quality of service
• Reduced congestion
• More reliable journey times
Quantitative
• Increased property values
• Growth in commercial activities
• Improved connectivity for market growth
Active Transport Infrastructure Creates Value

The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) also found average property uplift for the following4:
Heavy rail
6.9%
Light rail
9.5%
Bus
9.7%
4. Source: BITRE, Traffic infrastructure and land value uplift Information Sheet No 69

Active Transport
?%
Source: Land Transport Authority, LTA, Singapore

3. Examples
• Melbourne’s CityLink, land value improvement of nearly $30 billion5
• London Underground station, 500m cost 7.2% more, 750m cost 5.2%, 1000m cost 3.4%
premium6
• Sydney Chatswood to Epping Rail Link contributed to an increase from $4.68b (2002) to
$9.11 billion (2013)7
4. Challenges in quantifying economic effects
• ‘Move to more productive jobs’ methodology8
• Transport nodes plot ratios
Active Transport Infrastructure Creates Value
5. Source: SGS Economics & Planning, Long run economic and land use impacts of major infrastructure projects, 2012
6. Source: Nationwide House Price Index Special Report, 16 July 2010
7. Source: Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, Submission: M5 Corridor Upgrade, 2010
7. Source: Value Capture Discussion Paper, Australian Government, Using Value Capture to Help Deliver Major Land Transport Infrastructure, Roles for the Australian Government, November 2016

3. Value Capture in Practice

Value Capture Mechanisms For Greenways
Mechanism Description Examples
Taxation/ Financial value
uplift
Hypothecating future revenue which can be attributed to a project. • Denver Union Station Tax Increment
Financing
Sale of land or
development rights
Government owned land in the vicinity of the proposed
infrastructure, and after construction, the land or rights to develop
are sold or leased.
• Hong Kong MTR
• Washington DC Metro
• San Francisco BART
Direct (public) or joint
(public- private)
development
Government either undertakes development or partners with the
private sector.
• Hong Kong MTR
• Tokyo Metro
• London Crossrail
• Southern Cross Station, Melbourne
Re-zoning land usage to
revaluate the efficiency of
land use
Re-zoning of a land parcel to allow for higher value or intensified
commercial activities or housing. This can include allowing
developers to exceed zoning requirements.
• San Francisco BART
• New York Hudson Yards – District
Improvement Bonus payment
Source: Benjamin Thang – Greenway value capture mechanisms

Value Capture in Practice
• Cash flow & market failure
• Mismatch in cash flow timing (eg. Market positioning and condition)
• Wrong application of cash flow financing model
• Leverage on a range of financing tools to suit different project and circumstances
• Key principles to guide the design of a successful funding package
1. Ability of alternative revenues to finance the project;
2. Optimal allocation of revenue risk;
3. Provision of a sufficient revenue; and
4. Timing, certainty and predictability of the revenue

1. Hong Kong, Rail + Property Program
• The Metropolitan Transit Railway Corporation jointly develops its transit infrastructure with land
development
2. London, Crossrail project
• Value capture mechanisms contributed 32% towards the total cost of the Crossrail project9
3. Washington DC, Dulles Metro-rail Silver Line Expansion
• Value capture mechanisms contributed to 14% of cost10
4. San Francisco, Transbay Transit Centre
• Partly funded by private developers purchasing the right to develop nearby buildings high than
the usual limits
Value Capture Of Grey Network Around The World
9 & 10. Source: Location Value Capture Opportunities for Urban Public Transport Finance, Salon, 2014

Mechanism:
• Public-Private Partnership
• Sale of land development rights
Information:
• Selling development rights around and
over rail stations
• Partners with developers to integrate
mixed used spaces with MTR operated
railways.
• MTR’s operating and capital costs entirely
self-funded through a combination of
fares, commercial station retail rents and
joint property developments.
1. Example - Hong Kong MTR
Source: Wikimedia, Hong Kong’s International Finance Center mall and cinema with an MTR station, 2017

Mechanism:
• Hypothecation of future taxation
• User charge and tolls
Information:
• ‘Special Infrastructure Contribution (SIC)’ of
$200 per square metre in new residential
developments along the corridor
2. Example– Parramatta Light Rail, Sydney
Source Transport for NSW, NSW Government, Parramatta light rail, 2014

Why Value Capture
Matters To Greenways

4. Looking To Greenways

Circa 2013
Area of Focus
Launceston, Tasmania
Hypothesis
Greenways are sites for
placemaking with activities for
multiple users. They have the
potential to unlock underutilised
land flanking waterways and rail
routes, for active transport
redevelopment while reaping
benefits
Problem
Lack of data and gap in literature
on greenways and economics to
validate the benefits reaped on
such proposition other than
social and environmental
benefits

“Rather than a singular
fixed brownfield site
identified, greenways
form a spinal network
with various adjacent
linear opportunities”
From Brownfield to Bikefield, Benjamin Thang

Present, 2017
Looking forward

Rail to Trail:
• 2.33km linear park created on an elevated
section of a disused New York Central Railroad
• Adaptive reuse of the railway into an urban park
has brought on revitalisation for Chelsea which
had been in poor condition
Measures of Success:
• Properties directly adjacent to the High Line
experience an average of 10% property value
uplift
• 7 million users recorded in 2016
High Line Park, New York (2014)
Source: www.archdaily.com, Take a Walk on the High Line with Iwan Baan, 2014

Adaptive Reuse:
• Abandoned 1970 motorway flyover not
deemed safe for its original purpose
• Eye thumb remnant infrastructure
• Cafes, performance spaces and a market
are scattered across the site
• Serves as nursery for 24,000 indigenous
plants
Skygarden, Seoul (2016)
Source: www.archdaily.com, MVRDV's Skygarden, a Transformed 983-Meter Former Highway, Opens in Seoul,
2017

Repurpose and Rejuvenate:
• Linked to the 35.4km Atlanta BeltLine, a multi-
use trail connecting the city’s neighbourhoods
along a former rail corridor
• End of trip facility makes cyclists feel welcome
and secure
• In relation to value capture, the Market
donates the $1 of each car parking session to
the BeltLine
• Home near the BeltLine were sold within 24
hours, as opposed to taking 60 to 90 days
previously
Ponce City Market, Atlanta (2015)
Source: www.pinterest.com, Ponce City Market, Atlanta Beltline, 2017

YES.
It was a successful hypothesis in showing the relationship of greenways
acting as catalyst to breathe life into surrounding adjacent sites

5. Takeaways

Singapore Approach On
Greenways & Reducing
Brownfields
Source: Land Transport Authority, LTA, Singapore

• Challenges
• Accommodating growing population on limited land
• Increase demand on road network
• Solutions
• Incentives to encourage staggered travel time
• Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs) bill passed
• Introducing bike-sharing services
• Enhancing and increasing cycling network connectivity
Singapore – Reducing The Cars
2006
4.40M
27.5% increase
2016
5.61M
Source: World Bank, Population Statistics, 2017

• Results
• Ride sharing services has increased substantially
• PMD users have increased significantly
25% of PMD used daily11
• Takeaways
• Meaningful data generated from sharing services
• Multi-fold benefits of greenways such as:
• Reduced carbon footprint
• Active and health centric community
• Reduce reliance on road networks
Singapore – Connecting The Rides
11. Source: Urban Mobility: 10 Cities Leading The Way In Asia-Pacific, Centre for Liveable Cities (Singapore) & Urban Land Institute, 2017

“Currently, cycling accounts for about 1% of all
trips in Singapore. We foresee that commuter
cycling will pick up as more infrastructure and
supporting facilities to provide for safe and
convenient cycling are set in place.”
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Singapore, 2017

Electric assisted mobility
devices has enhanced
the capabilities of
greenways through the
empowering ability to
connect towns with key
destinations
This has also created the opportunity of remediating brownfield sites with
greenways acting as catalyst through increased connectivity.

1. Develop a safe cycling space
• Dedicated and protected space for cyclist and pedestrians
• More attractive to a wider range of cyclist
2. Enhance the cycling network connectivity and convenience
• Creating alternative last mile solutions (greenways alongside bus
• Cycling routes connecting towns and key destinations
• Convenience of short commutes within comfortable range of cycling or walking
3. Rethinking how greenways investments are catalyst for brownfields
• Brings about better connectivity and changes function of commercial spaces
• Harnessing technology such as electric assisted mobility devices
Possible Adoption of Best Practices

We share the power to create healthy cities.
The future starts now – Are you in?

All rights reserved
© 2017, Benjamin Shilun Thang, THANG ASSOCIATES
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credit is given at the earliest opportunity.

From Brownfields To Greenways: The Benefits of Active Transport And Brownfield Investment

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