Again, a town with a lot of appeal to the visitor. The heavy reliance on retail for its warehouse/waterfront developments could lead to questions of long term economic viability.
3. Common Issues with Respect to Urban Waterfront Developments
Major issues in common with Japanese developments visited and Australian waterfront developments are;
(｡)the finanCial feasibility of waterfront developments;
(｢)master plans; and
(｣)land use mixes and the role of retail in particular.
3.1Financial Fea5ibility
Most waterfront development would fail financial feasibility tests because they require too much money to be spent on infrastructure development too early in the life of the project - seawalls, breakwaters etc; this expenditure becomes a lead weight around the project's neck,
The ongoing maintenance costs of the infrastructure associated with waterfront developments can also lead to an early physical deterioration in the final product unless these costs are recognised upfront and factored into the overall economic viability of the project.
There is also a tendency to believe there is a limitless market for people who want to live, work and play near the water,
There is, howeverf no doubt that waterfront developments have provided additional and significant colour and culture to many places in both Japan and Australia,
While the financial feasibility of some of these projects if developed by the private sector only would be questionable, the fact remains they provide a broadly based community benefit.
It is important that the need for some form of subsidy for such projects is identified at the outset. This appears to be recognised by the port authorities in Japan and is applauded. The recogrnition factor in Australia is only occasional and several waterfront developments have failed or are in difficulty.
