The Mary Cairncross Rainforest Discovery Centre respects and incorporates the local landscape.
Guymer Bailey/Scott Burrows/Norman Richards building design + interiors
The council, developers, architects and the local community got together to set the principles of what they consider good design in this fast-growing region.
Most local councils, developers and nonprofit providers want mandatory affordable housing requirements applied to all development. The current system of voluntary negotiations just isn’t working well.
Digital communications could be a force for greater local democracy in urban planning and development, but many councils use the technologies in ways that mirror traditional consultation.
Do we really want to go back to daily commuting as the default way of working?
David Moir/AAP
The change in our behaviour in response to COVID-19 has created an opportunity to build on this moment and transform our local neighbourhoods into vibrant mixed-use centres of activity.
How many of us have recently wished we could partition parts of our home, even to have a small second house? Being able to do this on existing blocks would help meet the many needs of families today.
Distancing rules will make life very difficult for smaller bars, cafes and restaurants. Our streets can be modified quickly to help save an important part of the life of cities and their economies.
Long before a fire season that destroyed 3,500 homes, more than 100,000 Australians were homeless. If only we showed the same urgency and innovation in housing them as we did for bushfire victims.
Body temperature being checked at the exit of a railway station in Fuyang, Anhui province, China, January 29 2020.
AN Ming/EPA
China’s strategy to contain the coronavirus just might work because of the way cities and infrastructure have been developed.
One nine-year-old chose his local supermarket as a place he valued because he could “spend time with mum and help decide what goes in our trolley”.
Shutterstock
When primary school children in a disadvantaged part of Sydney were asked to map what they valued in the area, their choices were revealing and sometimes surprising.
It doesn’t take much to get us walking more.
Flickr/alina gnerre
The UK government has been trying to hand planning power over to local people for 50 years – but research reveals it has fallen far short of its goals.
Urban planning that provides green space and cycling and walking infrastructure promotes better health for all.
Mat Connolley/Wikimedia
Planners understand the key elements of urban communities that will improve residents’ health and well-being. They also need to be able to convince others to create such communities.
Show Works, based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, makes dance floors, dance equipment and theatre scenery.
Andrew Warren, used with permission
Rezoning to mixed-use residential development drove small manufacturers and creative producers out of the inner city. The result is less diversity of land uses, jobs and services where we most want it.
Examples from Leeds of 1920s spacious semi-detatched homes built after the Addison Act to replace crowded slum housing.
Chemical Engineer
The seemingly ad hoc collection of nine City Deals announced so far falls short of a national settlement strategy that finally gets to grips with where our growing population might live and live well.
Dalian is an emerging city and tourist destination in China, but its urban spaces could be improved in many ways.
Paul J Martin/Shutterstock
Australia has well established urban design guidelines, whereas many Chinese cities don’t have any – and it shows. But Australia can also learn from China.
Residents play Pimp my Suburb, an exercise in engaging the community in achieving higher density while preserving what they love about their neighbourhood.
Anthony Duckworth-Smith
Faced with local planning changes like infill development people often fear they could lose the neighbourhood they love. But serious games are proving effective in giving locals a say in their future.
Cairns Lagoon: as a good response to the tropical climate, it’s a very active place but with little business activity.
Silvia Tavares
Good urban design and walkability boost local economic activity by increasing public activity, but cities need to pay more attention to the effects of microclimates on streets and public spaces.