As cities get smarter, we need to examine carefully who gets our data and what it is used for.
Health objectives are at last being integrated into all levels of planning in New South Wales, from cities and towns to local places and buildings.
pisaphotography/Shutterstock
The connections between city planning and health are many and varied, but getting health objectives integrated into all aspects of planning in New South Wales has been a long struggle.
Jayanth Narayanan, International Institute for Management Development (IMD)
If you live in a diverse neighbourhood, you’re more likely to identify with a whole range of different people – and to lend a helping hand.
Good Shepherd Chapel (c.1969, architect: A. Ian Ferrier) in Mitchelton, Brisbane, was demolished in 2004.
Ferrier Slide Collection, used with permission
Of the thousands of churches erected to serve the fast-growing communities of post-war Australia, very few are protected. Are we happy to lose buildings that are so much part of our modern heritage?
The main winner of Commonwealth Games 2018 is … the City of Gold Coast.
The familiar images of high-rise development, looking north here from Surfers Paradise, tell only one part of the story of the Gold Coast.
Andrew Leach
Behind the built-up glitz of Surfers Paradise lies a deep history that has been written and overwritten in successive layers that have become thinner and thinner as time goes on.
Will Gwynne walks through one of the nine Melbourne estates that is being sold in the public housing ‘renewal’ program.
David Kelly
The problem with most public housing ‘renewal’ programs is that the residents have the least say in what happens to the places they call home. The evidence of housing research is also being ignored.
‘Soft fall’ surfaces are widely used in play areas where children might fall, but can also get very hot in the sun, which undermines this safety benefit.
Brisbane City Council/Flickr
Commonly used surfaces in play areas, such as “soft fall” materials and Astroturf, can heat up to 80-100°C in the sun. This makes them a hazardous design choice, especially as the climate gets hotter.
Researchers are installing sensors to collect data about the use of public spaces. This can improve the management and public amenity of these places, but will users see the technology as intrusive?
Very wet weather is likely to persuade many regular cyclists and walkers to travel instead by car if they can. This is Bondi Junction after a storm hit Sydney.
David Moir/AAP
The relationship between weather and our travel choices is complicated. We can’t change the weather, but, with many other factors in play, good policy and design can reduce its impacts.
The Coomera Indoor Sports Centre, one of only two new Gold Coast venues built for the Commonwealth Games, has been open for community use since its completion in 2016.
Ed Jackson/AAP
The Gold Coast is mostly relying on existing assets, and most refurbishments and extensions were completed long before the Games, meaning the community has been able to use these facilities.
Historic investments in green open space along the Yarra created a legacy of liveability in Melbourne.
Ispas Vlad/Shutterstock
Australian cities are experiencing the third big wave of growth in their history. The response in the past was planning and investment in green infrastructure, and it’s time to do the same again.
A rendering of Quayside, a neighborhood designed by Sidewalk Labs.
Sidewalk Labs
When building a smart city, it’s vital that governments and citizens know up-front who will control the collected data.
The research shows that barring people with a history of drug offences from public housing won’t reduce the risks of harm as NSW minister Pru Goward argues.
Chris Pavlich/AAP
The evidence is clear on the sort of support that is needed to reduce the harms of drug use. A punitive approach that denies people a second chance makes it more likely they will reoffend.
Many more people experience World Heritage sites like the Sydney Opera House in digital form than physically visit them.
Many more people experience World Heritage online than in person. While that further elevates the status of iconic sites like the Sydney Opera House, it has other more complicated consequences too.
Exordium Apartments at Zetland, built by City West Housing, provide affordable, high-quality housing to key workers within the City of Sydney.
Alan Morris
If local government is to deliver affordable housing, state and federal governments must assist. Even councils as powerful and well resourced as the City of Sydney cannot do it by themselves.
Fallen trees and power lines are two of the main hazards that could have been reduced with better planning for cyclones.
Geoff Whalan/Flickr
After Cyclone Tracy, you’d expect Darwin of all cities to be ready for the next one. But as the clean-up after Cyclone Marcus continues, it’s clear more must be done to increase the city’s resilience.