Constructing and running buildings accounts for roughly a third of global energy use and emissions. So it’s alarming that a report to COP27 shows the sector is veering off course for net zero by 2050.
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Articles on Better Cities
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The layouts of our cities and their transport systems were not planned with women in mind. Inflexible services and inconveniently located schools, childcare and workplaces pose daily challenges.
Australia now has a target of protecting 30% of its land and sea area. But the challenges of conserving urban biodiversity illustrate why it’s a much more complex task than a simple target suggests.
Australian plumbing standards require apartment buildings to have systems designed for three times their actual peak water use. This can lead to costly water damage on top of inflated building costs.
A study of 85 policies at all levels of government shows the focus in Australia is on residential care homes. Most older people are not in care, but their need for age-friendly cities is overlooked.
Foods stir up river sediments and can spread contaminants across the floodplain. It’s a risk in areas with a history of industrial pollution, like Maribyrnong, but EPA test results are reassuring.
Targets of 50,000 new homes for rent at below-market rates and 1 million homes to improve affordability in general are positive steps, but the budget neglects the need to reform an ailing system.
Our heavy reliance on sandbagging suggests we really don’t understand the river landscapes we inhabit. We must learn from communities that have developed better solutions to living with floods.
It’s easy to spot the similarities in how this first Labor budget and its Coalition predecessors approached transport projects. Their eye-watering spending isn’t supported by proper assessments.
Local councils are on the front line in a planning system that lacks an up-to-date planning framework to properly assess flood risks and prepare responses.
The energy-intensive process of producing cement and concrete contributes significantly to global warming while depleting resources. Much more sustainable alternatives are being developed.
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.
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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Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of Technology
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Neil G Sipe is a Friend of The Conversation.
Honorary Professor of Planning, The University of Queensland
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Louise Grimmer is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing, University of Tasmania
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Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Innovation, College of Design & Social Context, RMIT University
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Research Associate, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology
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Adjunct Research Fellow, The University of Western Australia
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Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
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Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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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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Professor of Housing Research, University of Adelaide
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Professor of Housing & Social Policy, 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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Senior Industry Fellow, RMIT University
