Buyers and renters are very rarely told the energy rating of housing, but don’t blame the agents. As it’s voluntary for existing homes, very few are rated, so it’s not a big factor in the market.
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If we’re to get more people walking and cycling in our cities, then we need to make it easier for people, and we can learn from others overseas.
When thinking about better uses for temporarily vacant buildings caused by the pandemic, Australia can learn much from the UK.
Most aged care homes are designed to be naturally ventilated. But when windows are closed to keep out the cold, poor ventilation appears to be common – and that’s a problem for infection control.
Fewer weekly commutes means many will be willing to commute further. The effects on urban growth of working from home pose serious challenges.
Australia lacks a coherent national approach to planning where settlement and growth happens. It’s time to take stock of our cities and regions and work together to improve outcomes across the nation.
Latin America now has about 6 million COVID-19 cases – 30% of the global total. But some cities have fared much worse than others, largely due to the quality of government and community responses.
Of the students with jobs, 60% lost them and and two-thirds of the rest had hours cut. As they struggled, and often failed, to get rents and tuition fees reduced, precarious lives became even harder.
The redevelopment of public housing and the introduction of private accommodation can leave the original tenants feeling worried they’ll be living in a neighbourhood they hardly recognise.
Accommodation providers are reporting huge increases in the numbers of people coming to them for help. They’d love to be able to use newly vacant rental housing, but it’s not a lasting solution.
Melbourne’s stage 4 lockdown forbids residents travelling more than 5km from home during their daily hour of exercise. Fine for those in leafy suburbs, but not for those with less greenery nearby.
Ghettos of crime, drugs and vice? Full of people bludging off the state? That’s typical of the unfair stigma attached to public housing, and it distracts us from more fundamental issues.
High rents and insecurity are constant sources of financial and emotional stress for low-income women. They describe what it’s like struggling to survive and being one step away from being homeless.
Older women have been the fastest-growing group of homeless people in recent years. New research shows about 240,000 women aged 55 or older and another 165,000 women aged 45-54 are at risk.
The inner suburbs are home to large numbers of workers in jobs vulnerable to the pandemic. If they’re forced to seek cheaper housing in outer suburbs, the urban divide will widen.
Not everyone has a job they can do from home. Mapping the patterns of occupations across Melbourne’s suburbs against COVID-19 cases strongly suggests why some parts of the city are more vulnerable.
If more people work from home and shop online, many commercial buildings won’t be needed any longer. What will be needed is affordable housing, and these buildings can be converted to meet this need.
Voters who own housing are strongly invested in increasing the value of their wealth-generating assets. And they strongly favour the Coalition, which knows to protect their interests.
The hard lockdowns of whole blocks have been challenging for many residents due to their histories of trauma, their housing conditions and a lack of communication and understanding from authorities.
Investing more in cycling and walking would boost both physical and economic health, with a typical return of $5 for every $1 spent on cycling infrastructure.
The council, developers, architects and the local community got together to set the principles of what they consider good design in this fast-growing region.
Car use and cycling have soared to above pre-pandemic levels in our biggest cities (Melbourne is an obvious exception). Walking is not far behind, but public transport is being shunned.
We might have had a glimpse of new ways of urban living, but history offers a note of caution. Lasting change depends on us applying technology and taking deliberate action to seize this opportunity.
A high-speed rail network in Australia would create many benefits by reshaping cities and regional communities along its route.
The Gender Equality Act in Victoria creates an obligation to understand how gender affects needs and experiences, and to design, assess and manage public spaces so women feel safe in those places.