Australia has no policy designating English as the official language, but an explicit ‘English first’ policy for shop signs would treat speakers of every other language as second-class citizens.
Health objectives are at last being integrated into all levels of planning in New South Wales, from cities and towns to local places and buildings.
pisaphotography/Shutterstock
The connections between city planning and health are many and varied, but getting health objectives integrated into all aspects of planning in New South Wales has been a long struggle.
Inclusionary planning has increased the share of affordable housing in San Francisco, even in areas which are gentrifying.
Alex Proimos/Flickr
Changes under Queensland’s recently instituted Planning Act give councils much more leeway in their decision-making, which makes it harder for appeals against decisions to succeed.
The city of Vancouver is set among a beautiful background, but the scenic wonder masks other problems.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Vancouver may be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but the president of Emily Carr University says the city could benefit from the discipline of design.
Traditional urban planning is being stretched by the pace at which renewable energy systems are being installed. New codes and guidelines are needed to manage emerging conflicts over land use.
Bottleshops affect the health and well-being of people across the suburb, not just the health of people who buy the alcohol.
from www.shutterstock.com
Australians are losing the backyards that once served as retreats from the stresses of city living. Our health is likely to suffer as cities become less green and much hotter.
People look out over an ornamental lake from behind a wrought iron fence at the Carlton Gardens.
State Library of Victoria
Melbourne is a product of British colonial planning policies to control public access and movement in Australian cities. This legacy still influences the use of public spaces today.
The goal of healthy built environments has been missing from the NSW planning agenda for too long.
from www.shutterstock.com
The health impacts of urban and regional planning are undisputed. So why did the NSW government adopt and then discard health objectives as part of state planning legislation?
When can I pencil you in?
'Clock' via www.shutterstock.com
As Election Day approaches, candidates in races across the country will be doing everything they can to get out the vote – including turning to behavioral science.
Research shows people don’t trust planning decisions if it seems central government or energy companies have had too much influence.
The closure of the Myer store would once have been a crippling blow for Fremantle, but now it is a site of new activity and possibilities.
City of Fremantle
The rise in temporary use of urban space requires a looser planning vision that can draw on this new type of city-making to inform longer-term developments.
The time savings calculated in road project planning are based on incorrect assumptions about driver behaviour.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Projects like Sydney’s WestConnex and Melbourne’s Western Distributor don’t account for real world evidence of driver behaviour in estimating travel time savings.
A metropolitan government’s essential features would be democracy, autonomy and accountability.
AAP/David Crosling
The role both state and federal governments play in Australia’s urban regions is often incompatible with effective metropolitan governance.
A prehistoric scene showing ancient penguins, elephant seals and giant marsupials. A rich diversity of both marine and land creatures once lived at Beaumaris, Melbourne, about 7 million years ago.
Peter Trusler, Monash University
Palaeontologists say it’s rare to find a rich fossil site in an urban area. That’s why they’re worried such a site near Melbourne could be threatened by proposed development.
Just how quickly are those thoughts bouncing around in there?
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Sensory information comes into the system, and we initiate actions in response. Quantifying how quickly that happens is tricky – especially since our own perceptions of the timing aren’t quite right.
Community protests ensure urban planners pay attention to the politics of their work, while research evidence can more easily be neglected.
AAP/Courtney Biggs
Urban planners tend to be attuned to council and community politics. They are less well informed when it comes to applying the findings of research to improve the quality of their work.
Intern at the Centre for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2), Santiago, Chile; Research Assistant, Centre for Resources Energy and Environmental Law, The University of Melbourne