Perth has finished seventh in a league table ranking the town planning performance of Australia's eight capital cities.
Perth has finished seventh in a league table ranking the town planning performance of Australia's eight capital cities.
The report by accounting firm KMPG ranked Sydney as the worst Australian capital city for its budget performance, population planning, housing affordability for key workers and traffic congestion.
Perth ranked slightly above Sydney with 45 points.
Adelaide finished top of the table on 73 points, followed by Canberra (68), Hobart (58), Brisbane (55), Darwin (53) and Melbourne (48).
Perth fared slightly better in a separate table measuring the performance of capital cities against nine criteria set out by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in December finishing fourth.
Melbourne topped the COAG criteria on 69 points, followed by Brisbane (64), Adelaide (61), Perth (56), Canberra (54), Sydney (47), Darwin (44) and Hobart (38).
The COAG criteria include subjects such as integration, social inclusion, housing affordability and health.
While Perth did not rank well on either table, KMPG found there were some town planning strengths in the city.
These included that the WA Planning Commission integrates planning and infrastructure with state-wide responsibility for urban, rural and regional land use planning and development.
The auditor also welcomed the quarterly publication of land supply and housing activity in Perth.
KMPG also found the release of proposed planning reforms in the report 'Planning Makes it Happen: a Blueprint for Planning Reform' last September provided a strong indication that the state government is seeking to establish an integrated infrastructure and land-use framework for urban areas which will include a revised State Planning Strategy, the Direction 2031 spatial framework and accompanying sub-regional plans and a revised Urban Development Program.
However the report found that there are significant areas for improvement.
"There are few future orientated infrastructure related plans which means there is limited medium and short term information for the private sector on infrastructure investment and innovation opportunities," the report said.
It urged WA to implement its Urban Development Program and Directions 2031 Spatial Framework as soon as possible.
The Property Council has welcomed the report.
"The report shows that the old urban growth plan for Perth, which is a legacy of the previous Labor State Government did not work," said Mr Joe Lenzo, Property Council of Australia Executive Director.
"The report found the Barnett Government's new urban growth plan, Directions 2031 is a big improvement." he said.
"The new Perth growth plan includes major reforms to the strategic planning system that will lead to greater compliance with the COAG criteria. While these steps position WA to more effectively plan for Perth's future, it is still to develop its land supply program and implement Directions 2031."
"Another challenge for Perth is to boost the provision of urban infrastructure and integrate infrastructure investment with suburban targets for population, jobs and housing."
"The audit concluded that there is a great deal of potential in Perth's new urban growth plan and strategic planning reforms announced last year; however, the focus must now be on implementation," Mr Lenzo said.
