Cities relied entirely on conserving and recycling water to get through the last big drought. We now have desalination plants, but getting the most out of our water reserves still makes sense.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Analysis and Comment
Sydney and Melbourne are bringing desalination plants back on stream and Adelaide plans to increase its plant's output. Perth depends on desalination. But is it the best way to achieve water security?
Urban farming can make it easier for city residents to obtain healthy, affordable food. But to raise big yields from small pieces of land, farmers need training and support.
The Star Trek formula for sustainable urban innovation: collaborate, share, use technology for the greater good and invest in people.
The risks of combustible cladding on high-rise buildings have long been known. And audits have identified hundreds of Australian buildings with this cladding. Delay in replacing it is inexcusable.
Minorities are driving the bicycling boom, but bike infrastructure investments often neglect their needs. A new study explores what riders in low-income and minority neighborhoods want.
Targeted health campaigns can actually leave local people with a greater sense of shame – without helping them kick unhealthy habits.
As more and more Australians live and work in high-rise buildings, their responsibilities and roles in ensuring all occupants' safety must not be neglected.
Smart city planning raises concerns with citizens regarding privacy and the use of their data.
If we recognised social housing as infrastructure as essential as transport links, schools and hospitals, not properly investing in it could become unthinkable.
Buildings are responsible for 40 per cent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Efforts to reduce emissions should no longer be voluntary.
While Opal Tower residents are more badly affected than most, up to 80% of multi-unit buildings have serious defects. Here's what government can do right now to fix the industry.
I live where I want to live and I work where the work is. I don’t understand people that go “this is where I’ll work [and] this is where I’ll buy a house” because it might not be the area they want to…
Selfies document women's struggles and accomplishments, as they step out from their traditional roles in the home, into the male-dominated public realm of the city.
Affordability is a problem across Sydney for prospective home buyers. But if they are able to become owners, new research shows affordability becomes much less of a problem over five to ten years.
It's easy to scorn the gentrifying hipster stereotype, but many inner-city neighbourhoods benefit from the distinctive mix of businesses and activities they pursue. So why should the suburbs miss out?
Air conditioning changed both building design and people's active management of home temperatures. A return to houses designed for our climate can keep us comfortable and cut energy use and emissions.
Tiny houses aren't for everyone, but most people who live in them are positive about the experience. Yet planning laws still make this way of life harder and less secure than it could be.
CASA says we could have flying taxis operating in Australia within five years. But there are a few hurdles to clear before we see ride sharing happening in the air rather than on the ground.
If you want to really learn your way around a new place, paper maps still trump digital options.
For the first time a state government housing agency has effectively contracted out all its operations in some regions, but will this improve and add to the total social housing stock?
In 1910, along one 45-block stretch of New York City's Fifth Avenue, there were only 13 trees.
Researchers looking at Australia's first trial of e-scooter sharing find the Brisbane public has embraced this mode of transport. They make five recommendations to deal with issues that have emerged.
Think moving won't change you? You might want to rethink that. To feel 'at home' you need to accept the new place where you live as part of your changing identity.
It's now clear that a single American company, Airbnb, has upended local housing markets, pushed rental prices skyward and could be contributing to poverty, especially in cities popular with tourists.
Urban planning should be long-term and visionary, but the public must have a say, too – that's where urban rooms come in.
By adapting the charter city model to create a new city on the northern coast, Australia could be the world’s great 21st-century refuge.
Big lines and long distances to walk have plagued airports since the dawn of the jet age. New designs and technologies haven't helped much, even if they're visually impressive.
For all the attractions of little dwellings, there are some drawbacks that need to be factored in.
Cities around the world are redeveloping their waterfronts to be accessible and resilient to the effects of climate change. Here's where Sydney's Darling Harbour went wrong and what we can do better.
Building defects in apartment blocks are far from unusual. We need to identify the systemic flaws contributing to them.
Building standards
The risks of combustible cladding on high-rise buildings have long been known. And audits have identified hundreds of Australian buildings with this cladding. Delay in replacing it is inexcusable.
As more and more Australians live and work in high-rise buildings, their responsibilities and roles in ensuring all occupants' safety must not be neglected.
Moving the masses
Collisions at intersections between motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians cause many deaths and injuries. Design that considers how each group approaches intersections improves everyone's safety.
Businesses are weighing up the costs of queuing and using innovative ways to minimise these costs by doing away with queues.
Australian cities in the Asian Century
This is the first article in our series, Australian Cities in the Asian Century, which looks at the impact of the rise of China and Chinese migration on our cities.
China-born migrants in Australia's capital cities are becoming more suburban, but there are differences in settlement patterns between the biggest cities and smaller cities.
Sustainable cities
Buildings are responsible for 40 per cent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Efforts to reduce emissions should no longer be voluntary.
Air conditioning changed both building design and people's active management of home temperatures. A return to houses designed for our climate can keep us comfortable and cut energy use and emissions.
Research and Expert Database
Tiny houses
Tiny houses aren't for everyone, but most people who live in them are positive about the experience. Yet planning laws still make this way of life harder and less secure than it could be.
Moving house
Think moving won't change you? You might want to rethink that. To feel 'at home' you need to accept the new place where you live as part of your changing identity.
Apartments
Building defects in apartment blocks are far from unusual. We need to identify the systemic flaws contributing to them.
Mining towns
The industrial patterns of mining shaped many Australian towns, which found varied uses for disused mine sites. The mining boom ensures the challenges these sites present will be with us a long time.
Urban heat
Darwin's climate is getting even hotter and it's one of the main reasons people leave the city. A lot more can be done, though, to make our tropical cities safe, cool and enjoyable.
Share houses
While share houses are more a matter of financial necessity than choice, many older Australians are discovering it has unexpected social benefits for them.
Social housing
A tenfold increase in building is needed to overcome the current social housing shortfall and cover projected growth in need. But it can be done, and direct public investment is the cheapest way.
Rental housing
Short-term letting via digital platforms benefits some in the market at the expense of others. Closer regulation might be needed in Melbourne and Sydney, where a permissive approach prevails.
Seachangers
Once seen as being driven mainly by retirees, migration out of of our biggest cities to less crowded coastal regions is now being led by younger Australians.
Public transport
For 40 years the author has argued that trains and trams are better than buses. New 'trackless trams', which take innovations from high speed rail and put them in a bus, have changed his mind.
Housing
Until now most people have eventually owned a home. But two trends – falling ownership and a growing aged population – will put the budgets of retirees and government under real pressure.
Disadvantaged neighbourhoods
Children growing up in the most disadvantaged suburbs also lack the social opportunities to develop skills and aspirations that would improve their prospects in life.
Public toilets
Men spend, on average, around 60 seconds in a toilet, while women spend 90. This is for many reasons, including biology. This leads to a bottleneck that keeps women waiting around to use the loo.
Road safety
Australia has had an 80% increase in cyclist deaths in 2017-18. With drivers at fault in most collisions, their attitude and behaviour should be the main targets for change.
Parking
There are thousands of empty parking spots in cities. So what can we do to make better use of this space?
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Most Read past week
- Cities turn to desalination for water security, but at what cost?
- When water is scarce, we can’t afford to neglect the alternatives to desalination
- Cladding fire risks have been known for years. Lives depend on acting now, with no more delays
- Grey nomad lifestyle provides a model for living remotely
- Head start for home owners makes a big difference for housing stress
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