Many of our assignments over the past 6 months have been looking at the economic impact of specific developments. What we discovered is, that while developers pride themselves on building communities, very little is known about the long term local economic impact of the community they create. Sure, they know about the economic impact of the investment they make and sometimes look at retail mix – but what about the permanent positive contributions they make to local communities in terms of economic activity and jobs?

Urbanised now has developed a product that can measure community impact.

It is a powerful tool for developers and Councils because it can show the permanent impact on the local community from decisions relating to the development.

In one example, we could estimate that once completed the new community would sustain $80 million in new local economic activity and 230 local jobs every year. We could also estimate what the impact of a Council decision to reduce density on the site and found that one decision cost the local economy more than $20 million and 70 jobs per year every year.

Urbanised’s community impact assessment can be used in conjunction with traditional economic impact assessment to give Councils, State Government, and developers an understanding of the permanent impact of decisions on the local area.