Seattle City Council tried raising taxes to help the homeless, and now it faces a political firestorm. There are better ways to fight the good fight.
You can see koalas at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, but the city council has won a planning battle to preserve their wild population too.
Dave Hunt/AAP
Local planning rules have prevailed in a long-running dispute over a proposed Gold Coast quarry that threatened the amenity of nearby residents and koalas.
The risk of urban flooding is rising. Overall, residents and municipalities are ill prepared, but there are steps homeowners can take to protect themselves.
Governments have all but abandoned the commitments made a decade ago when Kevin Rudd launched a national campaign to reduce homelessness.
Dean Lewins/AAP
A decade after the launch of a national campaign against homelessness, the trends are all going the wrong way. A new annual report highlights what’s gone wrong and what must be done.
Victoria has led the way in upgrading intercity rail services with medium-speed VLocity trains that have a cruising speed of 160km/h.
Joe Castro/AAP
High-speed rail for Australia has been on the drawing boards since the mid-1980s but has come to nothing. Three states are developing medium-speed rail with federal funding, but NSW is missing out.
Chinatown Haymarket has emerged as an evolving site where Asian urban modernity is introduced into Sydney.
In the 1980s, Australian geographer Maurice Daly exposed the urban planning system as a policy toolkit developers could capitalise on to drive subdivision and speculation – an insight that remains true even today.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Essays On Air: Australia’s property boom and bust cycle stretches back to colonial days
The Conversation, CC BY58.7 MB(download)
Australia's property market is slowing and many are contemplating a possible bust. But today's episode of Essays On Air reminds us that since colonial days, Australia's property market has had its ups and downs.
Have Australian commuters really enjoyed gains in quality of life that would justify all those billions of dollars spent on transport infrastructure?
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Ultimately, most regulatory interventions in nightlife precincts are about imposing particular ideas of social and moral order not only within these spaces but also in the city more broadly.
‘The Block’ in Redfern has been a site of struggle and activism for Indigenous inclusion in planning processes.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
While planning policies and practices have contributed to marginalising Indigenous people, planners can now work with them to ensure they have their rightful say in shaping Australian communities.
Being in a park tends to make people feel more positive, although the time of day and the season also affect their moods.
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The positive mood of tweets varies with time of day and season, but it’s consistently higher in parks than in built-up areas, where people are more likely to express anger and fears.
The NDIS is set to reshape Australian cities. But to achieve meaningful participation of people with disabilities, urban communities and services will also need to take action.
When the city centre was revitalised in the 1990s, homeless people were pushed out. With homelessness rising today, it’s important to recognise the links between urban development and displacement.