Children hold signs at the C40 Mayors Summit in December 2016. Coalitions of local government are increasingly playing a significant role in combating climate change.
REUTERS/Henry Romero
As the US leaves the Paris accord, how much faith should we put in international treaties? States, cities and local movements are increasingly important players in the fight against climate change.
Neglected and sub-par facilities are one of many barriers to youth participation in sport.
tup wanders
The first step in reviving a lost sporting culture is to involve young Australians in working out why sport has lost its appeal and how to reverse the decline in youth participation.
Sydney’s bus services are a mix of public and private-operated routes, which complicates any estimates of potential cost savings.
Dean Lewins/AAP
Estimated cost savings for rail and bus franchising from Infrastructure Australia and PwC will have government treasurers salivating. Problem is, the figures are almost certainly far too high.
The national broadband network promised by the incoming Rudd government was politicised from the start.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The highly politicised nature of the NBN has led to a lack of transparency that makes it even harder to fix the mess that has been made of this vital national infrastructure.
The flat white experience is so ubiquitous that it could be anywhere.
mavo from www.shutterstock.com
A new study shows what growing local inequality in American cities looks like and asks what that means for people who live in them.
Of those who have experienced homelessness, 62% cite family breakdown or conflict as the main reason for becoming homeless for the first time.
shutterstock
Parental separation substantially raises the risk of homelessness by the age of 30 for girls and boys, but only boys are affected by a break-up after the age of 12.
Central Queensland University and James Cook University are part of the Townsville City Deal signed by three tiers of government in December 2016.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Universities can lead the way in creating opportunities for the economic development of regional cities and outer metropolitan areas under new City Deals.
Most Sydneysiders are concerned about the effects of foreign investment on the local real estate market.
Dave Hunt/AAP
Only 18% of Sydneysiders think foreign investors should be able to buy property. They simply don’t accept arguments that this investment improves housing affordability by increasing supply.
The light rail project pushed up property values within 800 metres of the stations by over 30% from 1996 to 2016. Gains on this scale offer a potential source of finance for public transport.
Sydneysiders’ view of their city’s liveability is very different depending on whether they live in the east or west.
Sam Mooy/AAP
Justifying Sydney’s ranking as a liveable city requires greater recognition of the inequality of Sydneysiders’ access to jobs, wealth, transport and housing.
Providing green space can deliver health, social and environmental benefits for all urban residents – few other public health interventions can achieve all of this.
Anne Cleary
Urban green spaces are most effective at delivering their full range of health, social and environmental benefits when physical improvement of the space is coupled with social engagement.
Driven by higher returns on their equity, debt-financed investors are dominating the housing market and shaping its growth.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
New research shows the actual returns on equity for housing investors are higher than most people realise. This helps explain why investors are able to out-compete other home buyers.
Households are not competing on equal terms in the private rental market – their perceptions of insecurity vary according to their means, location and reasons for renting.
April Fonti/AAP
Private renters’ security of tenure in Australia has less legal protection than in other countries with high private rental rates. A new study reveals mixed responses to this state of uncertainty.
The person using this shelter in New South Wales certainly meets the official definition of homeless, but how they see themselves is important.
Bidgee/Wikimedia Commons
People who self-identify as ‘homeless’ have poorer wellbeing than others in the same circumstances, yet that’s the label they must adopt to qualify for help.
The village bell was once a powerful symbol of sonic identity. Living in the noise of today’s global cities, what sounds exist that express our communal identity?
Eric Fidler/flickr
Sound, as a still relatively unexplored medium of urban design, provides an obvious starting point in the search for new relationships and identities in the contemporary city.
Noise transformation and community-led design projects are reclaiming unwanted spaces that lay adjacent to motorways.
rogiro/flickr
Communities have an increasing desire to be informed and included in local art, design and infrastructure projects. This has inspired new ways of dealing with noise-afflicted areas.
People look out over an ornamental lake from behind a wrought iron fence at the Carlton Gardens.
State Library of Victoria
Melbourne is a product of British colonial planning policies to control public access and movement in Australian cities. This legacy still influences the use of public spaces today.