Hosting the Games has seem Birmingham dotted with new infrastructure and amenities. But the city’s pioneering transformation began over a 100 years ago.
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Articles on Liveable cities
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Australia’s big cities have grown rapidly and strains are showing. Yet the state of the urban environment has been rated good and stable due to local and state responses to these challenges.
Two reports — from think tank A New Approach and ex-Grattan Institute director John Daley — say Australian art and culture hasn’t advocated for itself effectively. But we need to try something new.
Auckland has risen to the top of a global liveable cities survey on the back of the country’s pandemic response. But that’s not the full picture.
A global study of 117 cities finds Australian capitals have fairly poor access by car. Public transport, cycling and walking access is better than in the US, but not as good as in Europe and China.
Cities around the world are reducing traffic speeds and improving access to local services and activities by public transport, cycling and walking. They are now reaping the many ‘slow city’ benefits.
The push for 30km/h speed limits is not about revenue-raising or anti-cars. Even a seemingly small decrease from 40km/h to 30km/h makes a huge difference to the safety and liveability of local streets.
The pervasive impacts of infrastructure projects on public health are often overlooked. New research is teasing out the many ways Melbourne’s level-crossing removals will affect people’s health.
Walking all parts of Melbourne before and after the pandemic hit was eye-opening. It brought home just how much change is possible if we wish for a better, more sustainable way of living.
If Australia created more age-friendly neighbourhoods — which really are more liveable for everyone — then we wouldn’t have to rely so heavily on underfunded, substandard aged-care homes.
The differences in sentiment in areas of high and low neighbourhood amenity have been clear under Melbourne’s tough COVID restrictions. It’s further evidence of the impacts of inequity on well-being.
Proposals to improve the capital’s urban design and density must also take account of the city’s unique streetscapes.
Australia lacks a coherent national approach to planning where settlement and growth happens. It’s time to take stock of our cities and regions and work together to improve outcomes across the nation.
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.
Before the pandemic, the country was making great strides towards creating more compact, sustainable and liveable cities.
We are all finding out about neighbourhood liveability as we stay home for the coronavirus lockdown. What we learn about local strengths and weaknesses can help us improve our communities in future.
The neighbourhoods of Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam with densities 3-5 times those of Melbourne and Sydney offer an insight into how we could transform our cities for the better.
The Spanish city is remaking urban neighbourhoods by limiting through traffic in superblocks that give priority to pedestrians and street activities, not cars.
Trees and the shade they provide are one of the best ways of cooling cities. But they also present challenges that are best resolved by managing this shared resource as part of an urban commons.
The world’s fastest-growing cities are in the tropics. They are highly exposed to climate change, especially as urban heat island effects and humidity magnify the impacts of increasing heatwaves.
Top contributors
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Distinguished Professor and Director, Urban Futures Enabling Capability Platform, and Director, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, RMIT University
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Associate Professor, Director Australian Urban Observatory, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
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Senior Research Fellow, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, RMIT University
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Research Officer, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
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Senior Research Fellow in Urbanism, University of Sydney
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Adjunct Associate Professor, South Western Sydney Local Health District
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Director, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, The University of Melbourne
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Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
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Paul James is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor of Globalization and Cultural Diversity, Western Sydney University
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Patrick Harris is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Research Fellow, Acting Director, CHETRE, UNSW Sydney
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Adjunct professor, School of Media and Communications, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer in Environmental Management, University of Tasmania
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Deputy Director, Centre for Urban Research; Principal Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
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Research Fellow in Social Epidemiology, The University of Melbourne
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Research Fellow in Urban Resilience and Innovation, The University of Melbourne
