The energy-intensive process of producing cement and concrete contributes significantly to global warming while depleting resources. Much more sustainable alternatives are being developed.
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New research shows discrimination against Aboriginal Victorians in the private rental housing market is systemic, but there are solutions.
The first chief heat officers appointed in Australia are part of a global partnership that’s responding to the dangers of rising city temperatures and the need to manage the risks.
While the Productivity Commission’s critique of the national housing agreement is justified, its faith in the market is not. The Albanese government is right to invest in building social housing.
City planning needs up-to-date data on where people work, how they get to work and how far they travel. Normally the census provides that, but this time round our biggest cities were in lockdown.
Residential ‘stroads’ – neighbourhood streets that have become rat runs for through traffic – can be turned back into safe, mixed-use streets that put residents’ and children’s needs first.
The zoning policies that planners introduced to create vibrant and resilient mixed-use neighbourhoods have had the opposite effect, as services and residential developments crowd out light industry.
The shift to remote work has led to a population boom for towns close to Australia’s major cities. That boom threatens to change what makes those towns so appealing.
Growing fresh produce on the outskirts of a city reduces food miles and increases food security. But the foodbowls next to our our big cities are fast losing their land to urban growth.
Urban plantings are part of the solution to living in warmer cities, but most tree and shrub species in the world’s cities will struggle too. The impacts on liveability could be huge.
UK supermarket chains have dropped the use of “best before” date labels to reduce the amount of food being thrown out when it’s still perfectly edible. It’s just as big a problem in Australia.
Air pollution from traffic causes the deaths of thousands of Australians. A swift transition to electric vehicles will save lives – and save households and businesses money in the long run.
The city is a A$725 billion wall-like structure running for 170km across the Saudi Arabian landscape. Can it live up to its huge ambitions?
We’ve heard all the concerns about switching to electric cars before. But California, a market with many similarities, shows why Australia is well placed to accelerate its transition.
Past claims about the costs of 5-star and then 6-star home energy ratings were overblown. We are hearing similar claims about the new 7-star standard, but good design makes it a good deal for owners.
Heat pumps use a fraction of the energy of traditional electric or gas heaters, which means they slash both energy costs and emissions.
It’s impossible to escape exposure to microplastics and a new study confirms they’re in household dust around the world. But the health risks appear surprisingly low, and vacuuming makes a difference.
The proportion of housing that’s unoccupied has actually fallen since the last census, but the key issue is most of these dwellings are not in the areas where the need for housing is greatest.
Electric vehicles were around long before their fossil fuel rivals. They are also set to outlast them because of advantages their advocates noted as early as a century ago.
Australian politicians have a history of opting for high-cost, high-emissions desalination projects. The Queensland government is still wary of using the largely untapped resource of recycled water.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Innovation, College of Design & Social Context, RMIT University
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Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of Technology
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Honorary Professor of Planning, The University of Queensland
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Adjunct Research Fellow, The University of Western Australia
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Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing, University of Tasmania
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Professor of Housing Research, University of Adelaide
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Alan Morris is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor, Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
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Research Associate, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology
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Lecturer in Planning and Human Geography, La Trobe University
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Adjunct Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney
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Professor of Housing & Social Policy, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology
