Impact of planning in PNG. A case study analysis of satellite town development using Geographical Information System (GIS)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION

ABSTRACT

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 FOCUS OF THIS RESEARCH
1.3 BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1.4 CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH
1.5 DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN PNG
1.6 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES
1.7 STRUCTURE OF THIS DISSERATION

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE OF SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT
2.2.1 DEFINING SATELLITE TOWNS
2.2.2 INSIGHT INTO GLOBAL SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT
2.2.3 DEFICIENCIES IN SATELLITE TOWN PLANNING
2.2.4 HOW DEFICIENCIES IN PLANNING CAN BE ADDRESSED
2.3 LOCAL PERSPECTIVE OF SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT
2.3.1 CURRENT APPROACH TO SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT IN PNG
2.3.2 PLANNING SYSTEM IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA (PNG)
2.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF GIS IN SATELLITE TOWN PLANNING
2.4.1 DEFINITION OF GIS AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN DECISION MAKING
2.4.2 USING GIS IN PLANNING
2.4.3 HOW SOME COUNTRIES ARE UTILISING GIS IN PLANNING
2.4.4 GIS COMMUNICATION WITH COMMUNITIES (NON-PLANNERS)
2.4.5 GIS APPLICATION IN STATUTORY DEVELOPMENT PLAN PREPARATION
2.5 CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.3 USE OF GIS DATA ANALYSIS TO DEPICT BEFORE AND AFTER
3.4 CASE STUDY LOCATIONS
3.5 STANDARD AND NON-STANDARD PLANNING PRACTICE
3.6 CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 4: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 ANALYSIS OF ‘BEFORE’ AND ‘AFTER’ OF PAIAM SATELLITE TOWN
4.3 ANALYSIS OF ‘BEFORE’ AND ‘AFTER’ OF KAIPORES SATELLITE TOWN
4.4 LOCATION OF PAIAM SATELLITE TOWN
4.5 LOCATION OF KAIPORES SATELLITE TOWN
4.6 CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 THE PURPOSE OF PLANNING
5.3 LOCATION OF THE CASE STUDIES
5.4 ACHIEVEMENTS OF STATUTORY AND NON-STATUTORY PLANNING PROCESSES
5.4.1 STRENGTHS OF PLANNED SATELLITE TOWN
5.4.2 WEAKNESSES OF UNPLANNED SATELLITE TOWN
5.5 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING THE PLANNING PROCESS FOR SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT IN PNG
5.5.1 IMPORTANCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION IN PLANNING
5.5.2 RESPONSIBILITY OF PHYSICAL PLANNING DIVISION
5.5.3 LEGISLATIVE CHANGES
5.5.4 SPECIAL TASK FORCE TO BE SET UP BY LANDS DEPARTMENT
5.5.5 GOVERNMENT FUNDING OF THE SPECIAL TASKFORCE
5.6 CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 KEY FINDINGS
6.2.1 PURPOSE OF PLANNING AND IMPORTANCE OF SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT
6.2.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF GIS IN PLANNING
6.2.3 SCENARIOS OF THE TWO SATELLITE TOWNS
6.2.4 PLANNING TASK FORCE AND SPECIAL TASK FORCE
6.3 FURTHER RESEARCH ON TECHNOLOGIES, E-PLANNING SYSTEMS AND PROPOSED NUMBER OF SATELLITE TOWNS

REFERENCES

APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: GIS DEVELOPMENT CONTROL PROCESS FOR KUALA LUMPUR CITY HALL
APPENDIX B: PLANNING APPLICATION FOR SATELLITE DEVELOPMENT
APPENDIX C: PLANNING ACT THAT NEEDS TO BE REVIEWED

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Population of Major cities of PNG

Table 2.2: Provincial Population for 2000 and 2011 census data

Table 2.3: Role of Geographical Information System (GIS)

Table 2.4: Development control process and functions of the Information system

Table 4.1: Standard planning practice activities for preparing development plans

Table 4.2: Non-standard planning process to setup Kaipores satellite town

Table 5.1: Activities of statutory planning process

Table 5.2: Activities of non-standard planning process

Table 5.3: Comparison of planning consequences from following the statutory and non-statutory processes for the case study satellite towns

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1. Map of PNG

Figure 1.2. PNG perspective of rural to urban migration

Figure 1.3. Map of declared physical planning and gazetted city boundary of Port Moresby

Figure 2.1. Jhilmil housing project, a new satellite town of Keranigan

Figure 2.2. The Provincial map of PNG

Figure 2.3. Structure of Lands and Physical Planning Department and the Physical Planning Division

Figure 2.4. Five Components of GIS

Figure 2.5. Layers of base spatial data

Figure 2.6. Percentage of most to least widely use GIS softwares

Figure 2.7. Land use model of Madrid, Spain

Figure 2.8. Decision tree to decide the use of GIS in community mapping

Figure 2.9. Model development and implemented for integrated Land use assessment of Klang Valley, Malaysia

Figure 3.1. Locality Map of Paiam & Kaipores Sattlite towns, Enga Province

Figure 4.1. Satellite image of Paiam village before establishment of satellite town

Figure 4.2. Declared physical planning boundary of proposed Paiam satellite town

Figure 4.3. Current aerial image, view from south of Paiam satellite town

Figure 4.4. Current aerial image, view from west of Paiam satellite town

Figure 4.5. Artist’s impressions of Paiam satellite town, view from east

Figure 4.6. Artist’s impressions of entire Paiam satellite town

Figure 4.7. Contour and manual subdivision map of Paiam satellite town

Figure 4.8. Zoning Maps of Paiam satellite town

Figure 4.9. GIS Zoning map and attribute database of Paiam satellite town

Figure 4.10. Photographs of Paiam satellite town

Figure 4.11. Photograph of Kaipores village before the satellite town development

Figure 4.12. Current Photograph of Kaipores satellite town

Figure 4.13. Current infrastructure images of Kaipores satellite town

Figure 4.14. Map of Lagaip - Porgera Electorate

Figure 4.15. Map of Porgera Rural Local level Government (RLLG)

Figure 4.16. Map of Kompiam - Ambum electorate

Figure 4.17. Map of Kompiam Rural Local Level Government (RLLG)

Figure 5.1. Enga Province map shows the locations of the satellite towns

Figure 5.2. Strategic location of Paiam satellite town according to electorate

Figure 5.3. Strategic location of Paiam satellite town according to RLLG

Figure 5.4. Location of Kaipores satellite town according to electorate

Figure 5.5 Location of Kaipores satellite town according rural level government (RLLG)

Figure 5.6. GIS zoning map of Paiam satellite town

Figure 5.7. Suggested planning task force to review the Physical Planning Act 1989 and Physical Planning Regulation

Figure 5.8. Suggested Structure of DLPP special task force

Figure 6.1. GIS map of Paiam satellite town

Figure 6.2. Locality Map of the two satellite towns

ABSTRACT

The impact of satellite town development in PNG is a result of not following the Physical Planning Act 1989 and the Regulation 2007. The Act ensures developments within the declared physical planning area undertaken in an orderly fashion; however, the legislation has not been followed in PNG, particularly when setting up satellite towns. The American Planning Association (2015) states that planning can be urban planning or regional and city planning, and it is a dynamic profession that tries to achieve development in an orderly fashion to balance the ecological, economic, social and environmental perspectives to improve the welfare of the community. In this sense, aim of the planning profession is only achievable by adhering to the aims and objectives of the relevant legislation. Purdon (1925) states that satellite towns are separate towns, which have their own local government and corporate life, social, economic, and cultural characteristics of a town and maintains their own identity and dependent on large towns or cities. In addition, the Geographical Information System (GIS) has been an important analytical tool for facilitating satellite town development in PNG. GIS was used extensively to develop the satellite town of Paiam in the Enga Province, with the aim of reducing the time taken for preparation and for timely completion with a desired quality of output. However, case studies have emerged that show there are two types of satellite town development in PNG: satellite towns that follow the planning processes, and satellite towns that do not comply with the planning processes.

The satellite town of Paiam has achieved economic, social and environmental sustainability even though it took 28 months to complete the planning processes. The satellite town of Kaipores took 19 months to establish and experienced political intervention, havoc with spatial planning and land ownership disputes. In Tasmania, Australia a taskforce was formed to establish a single state-wide planning scheme that would be fairer, faster, cheaper, and simpler for all Tasmanian (Tasmanian Liberals, 2014). Similarly, the Physical Planning Division of the Lands Department could form a planning taskforce to review the current Physical Planning Act 1989 and Regulation 2007 to ensure that it is faster, cheaper and simpler for all Papua New Guineans or politicians to set up satellite towns and implement other planning proposals. This planning taskforce could also consider incorporating GIS in the reviewed Physical Planning Act and Physical Planning Regulation. A quick approach to set up satellite towns in the country could be by facilitating all the statutory processes by a special task force form by the Department of Lands and Physical Planning (DLPP). The statutory processes could include planning, surveying, valuation and issuing of the individual land titles. The collective statutory processes could be expedited by the special taskforce consist of selected senior officers from each of the divisions of the department (DLPP).

Possible future research recommendation could be to modernise the planning processes. This could focus on an e-planning system with other computer-aided planning tools to promote efficient and effective high-tech modernised planning systems in PNG. Other possible research could be on the proposed number of satellite towns that could be established in each of the districts in the country based on the demography of the districts.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My heartfelt appreciation to my brother Steven Thomas for his effort in making available the photographs of Kaipores satellite town, and work colleagues Daniel Epara and Robert Malan for the Paiam satellite town maps. Most importantly, I am grateful to my dissertation supervisor, Paul McFarland, for his commitment and patience in the supervision of this dissertation.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

This research dissertation examines the statutory planning system in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with particular focus on satellite town development and use of Geographical Information System (GIS). Satellite town developments on state and customary land are controlled by the Physical Planning Act 1989 and Physical Planning Regulation 2007, and administered by the Office of the Chief Physical Planner (OCPP), a division within the Department of Lands and Physical Planning (DLPP). The implementation of the satellite town developments is facilitated by various statutory processes in the department, beginning with planning, surveying, valuation, and land administration, and ending with issuing of the individual land titles.

1.2 FOCUS OF THIS RESEARCH

In PNG, there is a statutory planning process for satellite town development. However, this is not followed in all cases because of intervention by elected representatives and the impact of tribal land ownership. As a result, there are unplanned satellite towns developing in PNG. The developers consider that the statutory planning processes causes unnecessary delays for their proposal for satellite town development to receive approval and be implemented. In addition, unplanned satellite town development is often link to election cycles. Politicians focusing on the election cycle (5 years) circumvent statutory planning process for satellite town development to impress their voters and garner support in the next election.

The unavailability of state land has also prompted the developers to establish satellite towns on customary land, as 97% of the land in PNG is customary land and 3% is state owned land. Satellite towns that are developed on customary land are not established in strategic locations largely due to tribal landownership issues. These issues emerge when politicians facilitate the satellite town development by purchasing land from customary landowners who are willing to release their land for direct and immediate financial gain. In addition, sometimes satellite towns are established on a politician’s tribal land, which can result in inequity in the distribution of government services and allocation of public funds.

The comparative case study undertaken in this dissertation examines satellite town developments that have been developed in accordance with the Physical Planning Act 1989 and Physical Planning Regulation 2007, and those that have not. The outcome of this study identifies issues and suggests improvements in PNG’s statutory planning system for satellite town development.

1.3 BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Papua New Guinea is located to the north of Australia and east of the Indonesian Province of West Papua (Irian Jaya).It has a population of approximately eight million people and 600 islands with a total area of 462,840 km². It has a tropical climate and experiences monsoons from December to March in the northwest and from May to October in the southeast (People Connexion, 2005). According to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2014), PNG has over 800 tribal languages; the official languages are Tok Pisin (Pidgin), Hiri Motu and English.

Figure 1.1 shows the map of PNG with its provincial towns and the national capital city of PNG, Port Moresby.

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Figure 1.1. Map of PNG, 2007, retrieved from http://www.taylormissions.com/images/pngmapdetail.jpg

PNG had 21 provinces, but the inclusion of two provinces in 2012 brings the total 23 provinces. It has a constitutional monarchy with the Head of State being Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the governor-general nominated by the National Parliament (Department of Foreign affairs and Trade [DFAT], 2014). There are three levels of government: national, provincial and local. National parliamentarians (total of 111) are elected for a five-year term, and the prime minister is appointed (and can be dismissed) by the governor-general on the proposal of Parliament. The cabinet is made up of government ministers who form the National Executive Council (NEC), and who are also appointed by the governor-general upon the recommendation of the prime minister. National parliamentarians are elected from 89 single-member electorates with 23 regional electorates that correspond to the 23 provinces, including the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and the National Capital District (Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade [DFAT], 2014). The provincial governors from the regional electorates have their own provincial assembly and administration.

1.4 CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH

The decentralisation of activities by setting up satellite towns is required to respond to issues of population growth and economic activities, such as mining and agricultural development. This research will examine how the planning system is currently operating in the country, focusing in particular on the current approaches to satellite town planning, and the effects of current satellite town development. The research will engage analytical tools such as the Geographical Information System (GIS) and its use in facilitating satellite town planning in PNG.

According to the World Health Organisation and the National Department of Health (2012), 87.5% of PNG’s population are rural residents, with only 12.5% living in the urban areas. Urban Planning in PNG (2013) states that, cities in PNG are growing rapidly, and there are increasing numbers of people migrating from rural villages to the cities. This is having a significant impact on the cities, as it is creating demand for more houses, better roads, more schools and hospitals, and better services. Thus, in order to manage this demand and overcome the pressures being experienced by the cities, satellite town development is required (Urban Planning in PNG, 2013). The main purpose of the rural-urban migration is to look for better opportunities such as employment, education, health and entertainment. This prompts urban population growth and subsequently causes social, economic and environmental problems, such as overcrowding, shortage of housing and high unemployment (Urban Planning in PNG, 2013). PNG has an annual population growth of 2.7 % and has an increased rate of rural to urban migration, (UN Habitat [UNH], 2015). Figure 1.2 shows the image that is used in PNG to show rural to urban migration.

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Figure 1.2. PNG perspective of rural to urban migration (Source: Office of Urbanisation, PNG, 2010)

You Tok (2007) states that to counter rural to urban migration, governments should improve rural development programs. This involves improvement in agriculture and cash crops, finding international and local markets for cash crops, providing or improving road and communication infrastructure to enable access for buyers to access remote areas, and easy access to communication for services and development purposes. Introduction of more agriculture training at the rural village level and provision of technical and home economic courses at the rural village level are also required (You Tok, 2012).

While these rural development programs have been implemented, satellite towns have been seen as an alternative way to prevent rural to urban migration. In this sense, satellite towns set up in a central location near the rural areas would improve the quality of life for the rural people. This approach would pave the way for decentralisation of government agencies to the satellite towns, which will make it easier to facilitate the rural development programs. It will also mean that proper management and control will be closer to the rural areas and successive government’s funding for rural development programs could be more strategically allocated.

1.5 DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN PNG

In Papua New Guinea (PNG), developments on state and customary land are controlled by the Physical Planning Act 1989 and the Physical Planning Regulation 2007 (the Act). This Act is administered by the Office of the Chief Physical Planner (OCPP), which is a division within the Department of Lands and Physical Planning. The OCPP has responsibility for ensuring that development proposals conform to the requirements stipulated in the Physical Planning Act 1989 and Physical Planning Regulation 2007.

The map of extended Physical Planning Boundary shown in figure 1.3 is an example of a declared physical planning area, it was approved by the National Physical Planning Board (NPPB) and it includes customary and state land. Any development that take places within the periphery of this declared physical planning area must receive prior approval from the Office of the Chief Physical Planner (OCPP), thus ensuring developments conform to the Act.

Figure 1.3 is a map showing the approved declared Physical Planning Boundary or future built-up city boundary of Port Moresby (National Capital District) and the existing gazetted built-up city boundary.

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Figure 1.3. Map of declared physical planning and gazetted city boundary of Port Moresby (Source: Development Planning Unit, 2014)

The Development Planning Unit of the Office of the Chief Physical Planner (OCPP) ensures satellite town planning adheres to the requirements specified in the Act, thus ensuring that the statutory approval to the plans meet the planning requirements. According to the Physical Planning Act 1989 (2007), development plans specified in the Act include the Provincial Development Plan, Urban Development Plan, Local Development Plan and Subject Development Plan. The Provincial Development Plan is a plan that covers the entire province, and the Urban Development Plan covers part of a province, in particular, any urban area. The Local Development Plan covers a part of an urban area, whilst the Subject Development Plan is a plan for a particular subject matter or matters that require special attention in relation to the public interest. Satellite town development plans fall under Local Development Plan, which is a plan that covers part of an urban area.

According to the Physical Planning Act 1989 (2007), the main activities to be carried out in order to confirm a satellite development plan must consist of (i) order to prepare, (ii) survey and analyses, (iii) plans and proposals, and (iv) written statements. The order to prepare is obtain from the Minister for Lands and Physical Planning and it has to be gazetted in the national gazette. Survey and analyses include an analysis of the physical conditions, land use, population, employment, housing, health and education, recreation, infrastructure, transport, water and sewerage, and power. Plans and proposal would include the physical constraint map, land-use map, development concept, structure plan and detail plan of the subdivision. Finally, the written statements include the statement of facts about the plan and the processes and procedures used, various data, techniques employed in the analysis of the data, policies and proposals, etc.

Furthermore, the Physical Planning Act 1989 (2007) states that a steering committee should be formed to guide the preparation of the satellite development plan. The primary role of the committee is to ensure that the plan is prepared on time and meets the set deadlines. The Physical Planning Act 1989 (2007), also mentions that the steering committee’s responsibilities include ensuring that the plan is legally consistent, that it is consistent with the terms of reference that it accommodates the needs of the customary landowners and that it protects the rights of the state leaseholders and other land users. The plan should also protect and promote community interests in social, economic and environmental aspects and be technically implementable. The committee is representative of various stakeholders in the community and represents various community interests. In this way, the interests of the community are protected and promoted in the plan so that different needs of the community are accommodated in the satellite town development plan.

The Act requires that upon approval by the steering committee of the proposed satellite town development plan, a satellite development proposal is to be presented to the National or Provincial Planning Board by the consultants or planners from the Office of the Chief Physical Planner (OCPP) who are facilitating the satellite town development project (Physical Planning Act 1989, 2007). Approval of the plan occurs in Port Moresby, the National Capital District of PNG, by the National Physical Planning Board (NPPB) for those provinces that do not have the Provincial Physical Planning Board established. Provinces that have a Provincial Physical Planning Board (PPPB) can consider the application for the satellite town development plan within their provinces.

1.6 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVIES

The aim of this research is to examine the planning system in PNG with particular focus on the development of satellite towns.

The research aim will be achieved by addressing the following research question and sub questions:

What is the impact of satellite town development in Papua New Guinea (PNG)?

- How has the PNG planning system developed and how does it currently operate?
- What is the current approach to satellite town development in PNG?
- What are the effects of the current planning approach?
- How might this understanding be used to inform improvements in the PNG planning system?

1.7 STRUCTURE OF THIS DISSERTATION

This dissertation is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 is this introduction, Chapter 2 presents a synthesis of the literature relevant to the research topic, Chapter 3 describes the methodology used to collect and analyse data collected in order to address the research question and Chapter 4 presents an analysis of the data collected. Chapter 5 discusses the research findings in the context of the literature and the data analysis, and Chapter 6 provides conclusions arising from the research and suggests areas for further research arising from this project.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The literature review focuses on global and local perspectives of satellite town development. It provides the relevant information and context, and assists in determining the appropriate methodology to address the research question and sub-questions stated in Chapter 1. Section 2.2 considers the global perspective of satellite town development, and Section 2.3 provides a local perspective of satellite development. Section 2.4 describes the significance of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in satellite town planning, and Section 2.5 describes the current approach to satellite town development in PNG, highlighting the Physical Planning Division and its units’ roles and functions. Chapter 2 concludes with a brief summary in Section 2.6.

2.2 A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE OF SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT

The following sub-sections provide a global perspective of satellite town development. A definition of satellite towns is provided, followed by an insight into global satellite town development and deficiencies in satellite town planning, and how these deficiencies are addressed in the global context.

2.2.1 DEFINING SATELLITE TOWNS

Purdom (1925) states that satellite towns are separate towns that have their own local government and corporate life, the social, economic, and cultural characteristics of a town, maintain their own identity, and are dependent on large towns or cities. Purdom (1925) further reiterates that satellite towns are to be located approximately 24 miles (38 km) from the parent city and should have their own social, commercial and residential centres. Atash and Wang (1990) reinforce the view by stating that in early 1958 and the 1960s, satellite towns were developed in places such as Shanghai in China to decentralise the population and economic activities from the central city to satellite towns (Atash & Wang, 1990).

Laursen (2012) states that satellite towns are to have a population ranging from 30,000 to 250,000, surrounded by areas reserved for open spaces, which makes them different to the suburbs, subdivisions, and bedroom communities, and they are also to be connected to the major cities by an efficient transportation system.

For instance, new towns such as Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan in Hong Kong are very well connected with the mass transit railway, which makes it more convenient for people to travel to and from the central city (Shaw, 1995).

Benzu (2011) also mentions that satellite townships are to have their own local government and corporate life and have all the necessary amenities and facilities within their limits. Except for features like employment and education, they should be independent from the parent city. Transportation services such as buses, taxis and trains should connect to the main city so that travel to the main city for work would not be an issue (Benzu, 2011).

2.2.2 INSIGHT INTO GLOBAL SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT

Shaw (1995, p. 258) states that, “China is one of the first countries in Asia to adopt a strategy of decentralizing its population”. He further mentions that in “1958 China adopted a central policy to build small and medium-sized cities to disperse population and industry away from large cities”. Yan (1985) notes that, in China, satellite towns were an effective means to control the size of the central city by dispersing population and industry. The Town and Country Planning Organisation (2011) states that, the concentration of economic activities and population in some of the mega cities in India has put tremendous pressure on the delivery of services, and consequently there is a need for decentralisation of activities to reduce the burden on these cities. In addition, some of the satellite town developments that were developed in the sixties and seventies in countries such as the USA, France and the UK have shown good results (Town and Country Planning Organisation, 2011). Atash and Wang (1990) suggest that in Shanghai (China), the satellite town program was use to decentralise economic activities and population from the major city to satellite towns. Furthermore, Yan (1985) states that many large metropolises in China have been experiencing problems of overpopulation, poor environment, inadequate transport, lack of open green space and serious pollution, and these problems were to be solve by the construction of satellite towns.

2.2.3 DEFICIENCIES IN SATELLITE TOWN PLANNING

Yan (1985), in writing about Shanghai (China), observes that some satellite towns in the past have not achieved their goals because of inadequate transportation facilities and utilities, and lack of promotional policies to inspire people to settle in those satellite towns. Shaw (1995) also states that, satellite town development was less successful in some of the cities in India, and they have failed to serve the purpose that they were originally set up. Shaw (1995) provides an explanation of the latter scenario by stating that satellite towns such as Gaziabad and Faridabad have a strong industrial base and provide job opportunities for many, but they are located quite close to Delhi, and as a result, there is considerable commuting to and from the city, which makes them more like suburbs than separate cities. Wong (2015) reinforces the view by stating that the problem with satellite towns is that when there is no recognition of the mixed developments, the movement of residents to huge public housing estates in a new satellite town means that people are moved away from their old areas where their jobs are located. The city of Seoul, Korea, had created a satellite town to facilitate decentralisation and had largely failed due to lack of employment opportunities in the vicinity of the satellite town (Shaw, 1995). “As a result many squatters moved back or commuted to Seoul” (Shaw, 1995, as cited in Yeung, 1988, p. 172).

Furthermore, from the perspective of landowner issues in satellite town developments, a study conducted by Mahmud (2014) stated that the government owned agency, Rajuk, in Bangladesh failed to acquire the land from the local landowners to develop the Jhilmil housing project or satellite township. However, private companies are implementing residential projects on large acres of land around the Jhilmil study area. Mahmud (2014) found that these private companies are running the housing projects in an unplanned way, without going through the statutory planning processes and procedures to get approval from the planning board.

Figure 2.1 shows the location of the proposed development of the Jhilmil housing project, which is a new satellite town in Keraniganj that covers 381.11 acres of land.

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Figure 2.1. Jhilmil housing project, a new satellite town of Keraniganj, 2014, retrieved from http://www.dhakatribune.com/environment/2014/feb/ 17/government-fails-extend-jhilmil-project

2.2.4 HOW DEFICIENCIES IN PLANNING CAN BE ADDRESSED

Shaw (1995, p. 259) states that, “there was a critical role played by the government through backing and supporting the policy implementation and had made success of some of the satellite town set ups in Tokyo”. He further states that, “government cooperation through the shifting of government offices to the satellite townships has shown Tokyo satellite town development to be successful” (p. 25). Fung (1981) also states that in China, development of cities with a population of over one million required vast capital investments on very costly engineering and technical installations, such as citywide transportation facilities and other urban services. To minimise the capital investment, the planners have adopted a policy guideline to restrict population of new satellite towns to be within the range of 50,000 to 200,000 people (Fung, 1981). Kwon (1991, as cited in Shaw, 1995, p. 257) provides an illustration where the development of ten satellite towns within a radius of 30 km of Seoul coincided with CBD manufacturing employment decreasing from 17.5% to 5.7% and a decrease in population in the central city resulted. Research conducted by Pradhan (2012) found that, Odisha State in India planned to develop a satellite township called South City on 485.62 hectares of land, and under that plan, owners of 30m² or more of land were to contribute 40% of their land for common use. Landowners were to retain the remaining 60% and the state government would use part of the 40% to create common amenities such as roads, drains, parks and sports infrastructure (Pradhan, 2012).

Pradhan (2012, p.1) observed that, aim was to “monetize part of the land by offering it to private parties for commercial exploitation such as opening a multiplex or starting a hospital”. This approach would raise the value of the land retained by landowners beyond the value of the value lost due to their 40% contribution, and once there is infrastructure development, the landowners’ contribution of 40% would reap huge benefits (Pradhan, 2012). Provision for such a state and landowner partnership is stipulated in the Odisha Development Authority Act 1982, and the Ahmedabad Development Authority has executed such projects successfully ensuring benefits to the landowners while also ensuring planned urban growth.

In Australia, the Tasmanian Government formed a Planning Reform Task Force with the objective of establishing a “single State-wide planning scheme that would be fairer, faster, cheaper, and simpler for all Tasmanians” (Tasmanian Liberals, 2014, p.1). The Planning Reform Task Force members were to develop a single set of procedures and documents for all applications and permits (Tasmanian Liberals, 2014). It comprises local government, public and private sector authorities who know the need for an appropriate planning and approvals system to help grow the local economy and create jobs (Tasmanian Liberals, 2014).

A similar task force was form in Hong Kong to review the delay in the processing of planning applications. This task force was to review in particular, the three main planning processes: planning applications, applications for amendments to outline zoning plans and plan making objections (Town planning task force, 2006). The task force members were to review each of the planning processes by analysing the core steps, and also to make recommendations with regard to problems and necessary amendments to the planning process to minimise the delay in the planning application processes.

2.3 LOCAL PERSPECTIVE OF SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT

The following sub-sections review the local perspective of satellite town development provided by different authors. The review focuses on the current approach to satellite town development and the planning system in Papua New Guinea.

2.3.1 CURRENT APPROACH TO SATELLITE TOWN DEVELOPMENT IN PNG

In the context of PNG, Numbasa et al. (2006) state that growth in major cities and towns is cause by an increase in population. This scenario has been cause by rural to urban migration that has placed significant pressure on urban service delivery. Because of rural to urban migration, major cities and towns are pressured by poor living conditions and deficits in the supply of housing (Numbasa et al. 2006). To stop the large rural to urban migration flow, there is an urgent need to urbanise the rural areas by setting up satellite towns (Numbasa et al. 2006). Table 2.1 shows the population of eight major cities in PNG that are identified to have been experiencing economic, social and environmental issues because of population growth; therefore, these cities are in urgent need of satellite towns to relieve these pressures. Table 2.2 shows the population of the 23 provinces, and

Figure 2.2 provides a map of PNG that shows the current three major cities and provincial capitals.

Table 2.1.

Population of Major cities of PNG

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Note. The population of major cities of PNG, 2015, retrieved from http://www.citypopulation.de/PapuaNewGuinea.html

Table 2.2.

Provincial Population from 2000 and 2011 census data

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Note. Papua New Guinea general information, 2015, retrieved from http://www.geohive.com/cntry/papuang.aspx

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Figure 2.2. The Provincial map of PNG, 2015, retrieved from http://www.citypopulation.de/PapuaNewGuinea.html

A study conducted by National Sustainable Land Use Policy (2012) stated that, there is a great need in PNG for the release of customary land for development purposes as 97% of the land is owned by the customary landowners and only 3% is owned by the state. The Government of PNG requires registration of land through the Incorporated Land Group (ILG), under the Land Groups Incorporation (Amendment) Act 2007, which empowers the land group to convert a commercially valueless asset (land) to a valuable property for the customary landowner’s advantages (National Sustainable Land Policy, 2012). Tararia and Ogle (2005) states that, landowners are reluctant to engage in land registration of their customary land under the existing system (ILG), and this is likely to be the case until the Government of PNG can demonstrate that it has improved its land administration system.

2.3.2 PLANNING SYSTEM IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA (PNG)

The literature review in this section provides information on the structure and operation of the land use planning system in PNG, focusing on current approaches to satellite town development in PNG. The reviews in this sub-section cover the departmental structure of planning, the success and failures of some of the satellite town developments and the status of GIS in facilitating satellite town development.

The Department of Lands and Physical Planning (DLPP) is one of the state departments that manage alienated and customary land in PNG. Alienated land refers to land that is initially acquired from the customary landowners and is then owned and administered by the state through leasehold and freehold leases (Numbasa et al., 2012); whereas, customary land refers to land that is not owned by the state but by the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea, whose ownership rights and interests are regulated by their customs. Department of Lands and Physical Planning (2014) stated that the ultimate mission of the Department of Lands and Physical Planning is:

To promote the best use of the land in Papua New Guinea in the interest of all citizens, individually and collectively by ensuring that an orderly process exists to be made available for sustainable economic and social developments and that land rights are guaranteed (DLPP, 2014, online).

Department of Lands and Physical Planning (DLPP) is made up of six divisions: Physical Planning, Surveyor General, Valuer General, Alienated Land, Register of Titles, Customary Land Management and the National Mapping Bureau. As shown in figure 2.3 is the structure of the Department of Lands and Physical Planning with the Physical Planning Division

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Figure 2.3. Structure of Lands and Physical Planning Department, and the Physical Planning Division, 2014, retrieved from http://lands.gov.pg/

PNG’s Physical Planning Division paves the way for the planning of the state and customary land throughout the country, and other divisions follow suit in performing their responsibilities in managing for the best use of the land. The ultimate purpose of the Physical Planning Division is to “establish and maintain a framework of Physical Planning nationwide that aligns the ongoing conversion of land uses and spatial development with long term government objectives for sustainable economic and social development” (DLPP, 2014, online).

The Physical Planning Division has three units that facilitate the planning processes: Framework, Development Planning and Development assessment. The Framework Unit undertakes formulation of policies in land use, urban resettlement, infrastructure and urbanisation. It is involved in setting guidelines and monitoring planning standards, reviewing circulars and handbooks, and inspecting the performance of the offices and boards. The Development Planning Unit is involved in supervising and preparing development plans, subdivision design, satellite development plans and infrastructure plans for urban and rural areas. The Development Assessment Unit assesses development proposals and controls development within the physical planning area. In addition, developers’ applications for planning permission are collectively assessed by representative planners from each of the units through field inspections and pre-board meetings. Planners provide advice to the applicants if required and make recommendations to the National Physical Planning Board (NPPB) for their deliberation and subsequent approval or rejection (DLPP, 2014, online).

Satellite towns in PNG are mostly developed on customary land as large proportion of land in PNG are owned the customary landowners (Numbasa et al., 2012). However, due to customary landowner issues and political tribal affiliations, satellite towns are not always established in locations that benefit the entire population. Satellite towns are developed in locations where customary landowners are willing to release their land for monetary benefits from the politicians, and sometimes politicians establish satellite towns on their tribal land, which results in inequality in service distribution.

2.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF GIS IN SATELLITE TOWN PLANNING

The sub-sections of this section review the definition of a Geographical Information System (GIS) and its importance in decision-making as seen by different authors. This is followed by discussion of the use of GIS in planning, how some countries utilise GIS in planning, GIS communication with communities (non-planners) and the importance of GIS in the preparation of development plans to overcome the delays in the statutory planning processes and procedures, which is the focus of this research dissertation.

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