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This former school site in Dallas, Melbourne, is one of many sites suitable for public housing that are being prepared for sale in areas with high housing need. Roland Postma

Public land is being sold exactly where thousands on the waiting list need housing

Of 2,646 hectares of public land being prepared for sale in Victoria, 24 sites are suitable for building high-quality public housing in places of high need. Why isn’t the land being used for this?
Melbourne is one Australian city that’s moving to improve its waste management and reduce its reliance on trucks to collect waste. TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock

As cities grow, the Internet of Things can help us get on top of the waste crisis

Cities around the world are struggling to manage their mountains of waste. We can use the Internet of Things for smart waste systems that collect, sort, reuse and recycle most of what is thrown out.
Demonstrations against freeway construction in Melbourne included a street barricade erected in protest at the F19 extension of the Eastern Freeway. Barricade! – the resident fight against the F19

We’re still fighting city freeways after half a century

Public protests eventually forced the scrapping of some proposed freeways in 1973. Today, we have another round of projects and people are protesting again, with good reason. Government should listen.
The Melbourne Transportation Plan included every freeway and major arterial road built in the city since 1969. Shuang Li/Shutterstock

50 years on from the Melbourne Transportation Plan, what can we learn from its legacy?

While called a transportation plan, it was heavily skewed towards roads. We need the type of city-shaping thinking that underpinned the plan, but today’s plans must match 21st-century priorities.
Telstra’s new digital advertising payphones can be found at Melbourne’s Bourke Street Mall. In this photo, the older centre booth sits between two of Telstra’s larger high-tech booths. City of Melbourne

Telstra’s new high-tech payphones are meeting resistance from councils, but why?

The new payphones have Wi-Fi, mobile charging and transport information. But city councils are concerned they’re digital billboards for Telstra, which could cost billions in lost productivity.
The evidence shows permanent housing, like the Fitzroy housing estate, is the best and most cost-effective way to reduce homelessness. Kate Shaw

Shh! Don’t mention the public housing shortage. But no serious action on homelessness can ignore it

It’s time to tackle the shortage of public housing head-on, rather than skirt around the problem. Public housing is the single most cost-effective way to turn around the rise in homelessness.
The benefits of ‘superblocks’ for Barcelona include better health, access to green space and other public space, and more transport-related physical activity. Orbon Alija/iStock

Superblocks are transforming Barcelona. They might work in Australian cities too

The Spanish city is remaking urban neighbourhoods by limiting through traffic in superblocks that give priority to pedestrians and street activities, not cars.
Sunburnt Victorian fields are set to become more common under climate change. Fir0002/Flagstaffotos/Wikimedia Commons

2°C of global warming would put pressure on Melbourne’s water supply

Hitting the Paris targets will go a long way to securing Melbourne’s water supply against future pressure.
In low-rent outer suburbs, almost one in six households could not afford to keep their house cool and went without meals. ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock

Private renters are doing it tough in outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne

While politicians ignore calls to raise Newstart, alarming levels of financial stress among private renters, particularly in low-rent outer suburbs, show why current welfare payments are too low.
The clearest change following the introduction of 24-hour public transport was that people were observed to be getting more intoxicated. bbernard/Shutterstock

All-night public transport hasn’t reduced alcohol-related harm in Melbourne

A program aimed at getting people home safely has cost A$300 million but has had little impact, aside from increased intoxication in CBD venues. Rates of assaults and road crashes are much the same.

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