Cleaning up and reusing contaminated sites, known as brownfields, can create jobs and promote economic growth. But it also can drive gentrification that prices out low-income residents.
The uniquely weak regulation of high-rise, high-density development exemplifies the market-driven growth of Australian cities.
Julian Smith/AAP
More than 50 million birds, mammals and reptiles are thought to be killed each year in New South Wales and Queensland by the removal of native vegetation, and planning laws are failing to protect them.
Malcolm Turnbull has made clear his apparent enthusiasm for a rail line to Melbourne Airport – with or without state government support.
AAP/Julian Smith
A rail link is a big step towards transforming transport access and land use in ways that will enable a much bigger city to remain liveable. And Melbourne can learn from Sydney about this.
The Airds Bradbury residential development has open spaces but these lack the amenities of public parks.
New research shows many good intentions for creating urban environments that promote good health were not carried through. The solutions start with engaging more closely with residents themselves.
The closure of the Gatwick Hotel means those most in need of shelter have lost another place they could stay.
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When wealth accumulation becomes the driver of urban regeneration, residents who already have little or no say in the future of our cities are further marginalised by gentrification.
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.
In Maboneng, bikes and bistros abound. In adjacent inner-city Johannesburg, people struggle to survive.
South African Tourism/Flickr
Maboneng in Johannesburg represents one strand of the type of urban “development” that’s advocated for by the proponents of “global cities”.
When public investment in a development like Sydney’s Northern Beaches Hospital boosts land values, who should reap those gains: the community or individual owners?
NSW Premier's Office/AAP
Who is entitled to the increase in value created by planning approvals, new infrastructure, population growth or urban development? For John Stuart Mill, the answer would have been the community.
The vast majority of cranes are used to build apartments.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
About 84% of cranes in Australia are used on residential sites, with commercial projects making up 5% of crane activity. Health, education, infrastructure and recreation projects make up the rest.
We need to find new ways to deal with the complexity of modern cities and make them better.
from www.shutterstock.com
There are very few approaches that examine all aspects of the complexity of urban design and development. Ergonomics, human factors and sociotechnical systems methods offer a way forward.
Less than four years after Detroit filed for bankruptcy, boosters say a revival is underway in the Motor City. But two scholars say new growth has not spread yet to neighborhoods that need it.
This transit-oriented development in Oakland, California, combines residential housing with easy access to local transport options and amenities.
Eric Fredericks/flickr
A combination of transit-oriented centres, inclusionary zoning and a special rate on land instead of stamp duty could make housing more affordable by cutting congestion, development and travel costs.
Protesters gather on the National Mall for the Women’s March on Washington during the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency.
John Minchillo/AP Photo
The Melbourne suburb of Richmond is prime inner-city real estate, but the community is paying a price for redevelopment that jars with the existing neighbourhood.
China is ramping up its low-emission transport game – so will the rest of the world follow suit?
The draft regional plan, ShapingSEQ, released by Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, has been influenced by ‘stakeholders’ rather than representative community input.
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The draft plan for Southeast Queensland largely takes a ‘provide land for the predicted demand’ approach, which assumes regional planning is a type of technical process best left to the experts.
The problem with the current rezoning approach is that it leads to huge windfall profits and developments aimed at the upper end of the market.
AAP
The community needs affordable housing and that requires meaningful targets for new developments. The only ones who will lose out are landholders who make windfall profits from rezoning.
PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania, and Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney