On a recent trip to Dallas with the UDIA and after meeting with the Director of City Planning at Dallas City Hall, I could not help but make some interesting comparisons.

The Dallas Fort Worth land area is about twice that of the Sydney Metropolitan with 9,286 sqmi (versus 4,775 sqmi for Sydney) so quite comparable. Dallas only adopted its first comprehensive city plan 10 years ago but already enjoys 11 Fortune 500 companies, who have headquartered there. There are strong property rights afforded to land owners in Dallas but the city is quite proud to announce that 99% of all its rezoning’s are driven by the market rather than City Hall.

This is the reverse in Sydney, where strong zoning codes dictate to the market the development types and densities it is permitted to have on all zoned land. It is the contrast between allowing the market to profit from land ventures versus giving the market a sense of codified order. In Dallas "regulation is considered a bad word" according to the city's chief planner. In Sydney it is perhaps deemed a "necessary" practice by comparison. I was reliably informed that in Dallas, rezoning’s take four to eight months with most DAs completed in under one month. That by Sydney standards is like "greased lightning" to borrow an expression from Grease, the 70s classic.

Looking at the stark contrast between the two systems and considering the advantages and drawbacks of each, one is found asking the obvious question: is speed more important or accuracy and considered order? All I can say is that after 19 years of rezoning land in our "considered order", I would be really keen to know for once what it feels like to get a DA approval within one month. Come on Sydney, let's give it a try - we can always revert to snail's pace if cheetah pace doesn't work!