The new cities minister apparently shares the Property Council and KPMG’s enthusiasm for the UK ‘City Deals’ model, but he should look more closely at this ‘tried and tested’ model before adopting it.
Consumers lose out when a real estate agent acts fraudulently – be that false advertising, deceptive conduct or misusing trust funds. Research shows a link between such misconduct and lower regulatory and educational standards.
If forced amalgamations proceed, we may well see hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer and ratepayer funds squandered simply because policymakers preferred dogma to empirical evidence.
The Barnett government’s plans to sell ports, including the last capital city port slated for privatisation, appear to have been torpedoed by the WA Nationals’ change of heart.
The challenges we face demand profound changes in our thinking and priorities. Replacing the Productivity Commission with a National Sustainability Commission would help us make this paradigm shift.
The ‘30-minute city’ goal is about more than urban rail and other transit projects. It means transforming our cities into centres of activity where work, study and services are all close by.
Without the public mobilising over inequalities that are so ingrained in its psyche, Sydney is unlikely to see its nightlife reflect true social inclusion and diversity.
Effective development planning must anticipate where growth might occur and its wider impacts. So, if the federal government is serious about cities policy, it needs a proper settlements plan.
Under pressure to be a global city, market-led infrastructure provision is shifting the focus from public to private interests, from government as promoter to government as client, with mixed results.
The default position for politicians is to sound concerned about housing affordability, but do nothing. This can be explained by the idea of ‘policy capture’, in this case by industry interests.
Speaking with: Lucy Turnbull on the Greater Sydney Commission
CC BY-ND31.4 MB(download)
Dallas Rogers speaks with Lucy Turnbull about the new Greater Sydney Commission, its structure, plans and mandate, and the criticisms of what some see as a "top-down" approach to urban planning.
It seems like a ‘no brainer’ to use urban greening to help cities adapt to increasing heat, but the uptake of green infrastructure, such as trees and vegetated roofs, surfaces and walls, is slow. Why?
Curbing negative gearing will help get empty housing onto the market. This could go some way to bringing life back to relatively dense urban centres that are oddly lacking intensity of public life.
As consumption has soared and prices have fallen, the realities of industrial chicken farming often clash with the values of people who live on the urban fringes where broiler farms are sited.
Australian cities should be made to work for all inhabitants. This involves evenly spreading the disadvantages of industrial and commercial activities as well as the advantages of good access to services.
Where you live affects your health and life expectancy. This makes it possible to map health outcomes against train stations, so that you can readily see the inequalities across cities like Melbourne.