b'development, the mix of transport modes, thethe public interest when it suits them.distribution of employment centres, the provision When refining the rules and procedures, regulators of open space, the heights of buildings, the mix ofmust ask themselves, in relation to the process for activities in a projecturban managers would (andmaking a decision: Is it legal? reasonable? fair? should) normally ignore many of the public interesttransparent (Wheeler 2006)?issues that a government agency might be expected to Regulators must ask themselves In relation to the consider, such as return on investment, fiscal impact,aims and outcomes: Who is the relevant public? distributive effects, effect on other policies and agencies,What are the relevant public interest issues and government commitments and public perceptions. their weightings? How should competing public interests be addressed (Wheeler. 2006)?Nevertheless, unlike almost any other decision maker, an urban manager might consider everything about theIt is just as well that urban managers should not feel city to be relevant. The remit does not relate to a site orobliged to define the public interest, and still less feel place, or a sector, or an industry, or a discipline, practiceempowered to claim that their actions are in the public or technique, or a constituency. A decision maker in ainterest. Not only would such claims be spurious, they public agency might have, more than most, a publicwould also be impossible to defend. role (however invisible). Farrelly defined it (politically) as the defence of the public interest. However, thereThere are many publics.remain fundamental differences between most public Urban change and urban projects may have administrators delivering public services and the urban managers who help create the opportunities andvery different effects on rich, poor, healthy, sick, constraints for developers. females, males, employer, employed, unemployed, young, old, renters, owners, big families andWhile many public administrators operate in ahouseholds of one and any number of other relatively open-ended and abstract policy context,categories.urban managers (even if they need to consider Urban change and urban projects may impact everything) should confine their analysis to the complex but narrow concerns related to urban landdifferently on different cultural groups; may be as a public good. positive and negative for those near and far, thoseWhether or not they are also politically activein diverse industries, those who work in one place, citizens, as officials it is precisely here, and onlyand those whose work is mobile, and in any here, that they have powerful and relevant tools tonumber of other conditions.intervene (hence the next point).This detail that could be analysed if necessary,The urban landscape is an integrated ensemble of rights that are socially created and publicly defined,but only to improve the transparency, fairness so that the purpose, scale and form of all urbanand effectiveness of the rules governing urban increments arein theorydetermined by the rulesdevelopment.and decisions of public regulators. More significantly, decisions about urban policyIt is the proper role of those regulators to understandand urban projects are fundamentally different to the reciprocal impacts between all such incrementsmost public policy decisions. The results of these and public land, community spaces, social infrastructure and all other public and private sites. decisions are in your face: they are fixed in place,These rules inherently capture a version of thematerial, visible and therefore public, even more public interest, and rule-of-law regulation itself is inso if they are private projects. the public interest, so further claims based on the public interest must be redundant and misleading. It is for these reasons that the outcomes should beWherewhich is almost everywherethe rules and procedures are rough and ready, it is incumbent ontightly defined by public rules and processes (however the regulators to consistently improve the rules andfrail, however rough and ready). It is for these reasons procedures, based on their day-to-day applicationthat the rules and procedures should be consistent, (this is a learning loop)and not rely on invokingtransparent and kept relevant. If this is done, to depart 89P3-20200301-SYDNEY STUDIO.indd 54 2020/3/5 21:54:08'