Browsing Tag
Cities & Policy
43 posts
Digital Earth: The Paradigm Now Shaping Our World’s Data Cities
Today’s smart cities rely on networks: squillions of semiconductor devices that constantly pulse electromagnetic waves (light and radio…
The Aim For Cities Of All Sizes To Give Everyone A Fair Go
We live in an urban world. By 2030, 66% of the world’s population will live in cities, concentrated in…
The Way Forward For Intersection Design?
A major issue for road safety is collisions at intersections between vehicles and vulnerable road users such as cyclists,…
Why All Big Cities Need For Democratic And Metro-Scale Governance
Infrastructure Australia has called for metropolitan-scale governance of Australia’s largest cities. The new report by the Commonwealth’s statutory infrastructure agency,…
Why Australian Cities Are Crying Out For Better Planning
Although 90% of our population lives in cities, Australia lacks a national urban policy and our government provides insufficient funding…
Why Isn’t Australia An Active Travel Mecca?
Australian city planners are seeking ways to make cities better for walking and cycling. “Walkability and cyclability are attractive and “green”…
This Is Why Health Has To Be At The Heart Of The New Urban Agenda
Urban experts gathered at the ninth World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur over the past week to discuss progress on…
Tech Diplomacy: Cities Drive A New Era Of Digital Policy And innovation
France recently appointed a tech ambassador to the Silicon Valley. French President Emmanuel Macron named David Martinon as…
The Quest For The Convivial City: How Do Ours Fare?
What comes to mind when you think of the word “convivial”? Likely, images of happiness, freedom, relaxation and…
When A Country’s Towns & Villages Face Extinction
It is predicted that 896 towns and villages across Japan will no longer be viable by 2040 (see…
Why Suburban Tensions & Inequality Will Drive Infrastructure Innovation
The global trend towards suburbanisation and suburbanisms (meaning suburban ways of life) has an important infrastructure dimension. In both growing and…
Aussie Cities Needs To Amp Up Its Regional Transport Aims
In Sydney and Melbourne, the squeeze is on. Population is booming; house prices are still rising; roads and…
Temporary Cities In The Desert, A Model Of Human Respect For Earth?
On the alkali flats of north-western Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, the featureless yellow-packed playa (desert basin floor) stretches…
The Darker Side Of Liveable Cities Like Sydney
Sydney is frequently placed in the top ten of global “liveability” rankings. But despite the growing popularity of…
Living Off The Edge In A City Mall Where Design Fuels Conflict
There are few more telling signs of conflict in urban spaces than calls to send in the police.…
We Are Finally Realising Smart In Cities Is Not Just About Tech
Australia, one of the world’s most urbanised nations, is looking to up its investment in digital technologies to…
Smarter Cities May Very Well Be Slower Cities For True Urban Soul
Peter Jackson employed an intricate approach to the stage design of Lord of the Rings. The people who…
How Murals Helped Turn A Declining Community Around
The inner-city district of Shandon, Ireland, has a history that dates back to medieval times. Its narrow streets…
Poor Urban Planning, Poor Urban Life. Simple.
Modern urban planning first came about to improve industrial cities that had become unsafe, unhealthy and essentially unliveable.…
Airport Privatisations Have Put Profit Before Public Safety And Good Planning
The plane crash at Essendon Airport last week shows the folly of allowing runways to co-exist with commercial…
Beaches Of Relaxation Turn Into Beaches Of Frustration
Picture this. It’s a beautiful sunny day. You arrive on the beach, find yourself a nice quiet area…
To Be Smart About Cities, Have The Future In Mind
Smart cities create a symbiosis between information, the Internet of Things and technologies to make better decisions and…
Forget The Gym. A City Must Be A Playground For Health.
When Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, arguably the “father of gymnastics” and the inventor of the horizontal and parallel bars,…
Even The Ancients Cared About Heritage Buildings Before Reinventing Them
In any debate on new construction in our urban centres you are likely to hear phrases like sustainable…
Why Our Cities Need To Go On A Resource Diet
Cities are the epicentres of human activity. They cover less than 2% of the earth’s land surface but…
Create To Regenerate : Cities Tap Into Talent For Urban Renewal
The creative industries – ranging from game development to architecture, media, design and the arts – are a…
Technology For Car Convenience At The Cost Of Pedestrian Casualties
One pedestrian is killed every two days on Australia’s roads, the majority in metropolitan areas. While advances in…
Renewing City To Core With Arts School, From Sydney And Beyond
National Art School (NAS) interim director Michael Lynch has committed to defending its continued independence from the University…
Urban Urban … Not. The Drama Of Interconnected Cities Unfolds.
Are humans now an “urban species”? Do we now live in an “Urban Age”? To understand the contemporary human…
Some Services Simply Needs Government & Cannot Be Privatized
The New South Wales government is set to privatise its land-titling services. This decision may provide the impetus…
Aussie’s 2016 Election Has Different Tone & Priority Than USA’s
Rural and regional Australia is a big place. That’s obvious enough. Still, it’s easy to forget that the…
It Is Obvious To Begin With, Cities Are First & Foremost For People
The federal government’s recently released Smart Cities Plan is built on three pillars: smart investment, smart policy and…
Watch Suburbia Morph Into Green Squares In Cities Near You
The suburbs were the urban living format that defined Australian cities in the 20th century. Inevitably they’ve had…
Why A Privileged Sub-Urban Core For Sydney Will Destroy Its Soul
The New South Wales government is imposing an anti-urban legislative and development agenda on Sydney. This agenda conceptualises…
Why & How Perth Is Testing If Its Strategy Is Really Working
City planning has many approaches that have been used to enable better economic, social and environmental outcomes. The…
Getting Lost (Safely) Is Part Of The Fun & Smarts Of ‘Smart’ Cities
The internet has reached our cities. A smart city is optimised for efficiency, productivity and comfort. The smart…
The Promise Of City Scale Government As It Should Be
For residents of Australia’s cities, federalism means state governments have the right to assert what is in their…
Making Your Cities More Beautiful With Living Heritage
Architects, urban planners and government policymakers often aspire to make Australian cities more like Copenhagen. But, for issues…
The Anti-Patterns Of The Digitally Connected City
Popular visions of the “smart city” promise that with digital technology the power of the city “as a…
Why We Have Ruined Nature In Cities Too Much
The federal environment and acting cities minister, Greg Hunt, on Tuesday pledged to increase the number of trees…
Why Old Ways Of Getting Around Cities Is Clashing With Current Realities
Cities are complex systems. One visible artery of the city is traffic – the cluster of moving people…
Minimum Parking Slot Per Building Is Bad For Cities, Simply Bad
Ottawa’s 90-second PSA concisely outlines the damage of a policy set in the past. Of all the cities…
Why Modern Cities Kills Nightingale’s Song
The Commons apartment building in the inner Melbourne suburb of Brunswick has won swags of awards, including the…