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News from the front, issue 515: Planning minister Rob Stokes released a lovely new human-centred planning policy last week. But two weeks before another change to the planning controls went unannounced. Few people outside the inner circles of planning knew what was going on. The first SEPP (state environmental planning policy) last week was loudly […]
According to the people who specialise in these fields the future of the NSW economy is not in the CBDs. It’s in the industrial and light industrial zones that can generate technology centred innovation such as bio tech, med tech, robotics and so on. Perhaps like Professor Veena Sahjwalla’s green ceramic micro factory that’s supplied […]
Senior citizens need help and encouragement to remain active as they age in their own communities. Given the choice, that’s what most would prefer. The smart city can provide the digital infrastructure for them to find and tailor the local neighbourhood information they need to achieve this. Australia has a growing population of older adults, […]
It’s good news that so many people are proposing solutions for the crises in climate and nature. Bill Gates is one among many, and with so many contenders, what criteria will help us prioritise investment choices?
OPINION: Why don’t these billionaire philanthropists like Gates just stop their foundations and pay their fair share of taxes The media everywhere has been fawning over Bill Gates and his new book, How To Avoid A Climate Disaster. But should we really be listening to the world’s third wealthiest man for advice? If his suggestions […]
The Murdoch empire is like Covid spreading misinformation in an anti-climate agenda. But things are changing. And in the UK it’s following competitor Daily Express in a campaign to green the UK. The Murdoch empire “This guy is one of the greatest enemies of climate change action on the planet,” Kevin Rudd recently told the […]
Here’s a cynical take on recent announcements concerning the Parramatta Powerhouse. It’s getting sillier… Just as advertising has become the product – rather than the thing promoted – we recently learned that the newly approved Powerhouse is set to become Australia’s very own Smithsonian, as though this potential equates to its delivery. This is magical […]
It’s widely understood that rivers, wetlands and other waterways hold particular significance for First Nations people. It’s less well understood that Indigenous peoples are denied effective rights in Australia’s water economy. Australia’s laws and policies prevent First Nations from fully participating in, and benefiting from, decisions about water. In fact, Indigenous peoples hold less than […]
New Zealand agricultural co-operative, Fontera, has collaborated with Royal DSM to produce and test a food additive for ruminants that consistently reduces the methane emitted by cows by over 30 per cent.
Can the impact and premium of the agglomerated knowledge economy of a CBD really be replicated in the disaggregated city? Follow the money. While we can all imagine better ways to understand what’s going on in our towns and cities, you won’t go far wrong if you know what’s going on in the economy and […]
American urbanist Richard Florida expects the Covid-recovering 2020s to mimic the “Roaring 20s” that marked the recovery from the Spanish Flu.
Last year wasn’t an easy time to start a national “Declare” movement but that didn’t stop a small group of dedicated planners joining forces to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency. The group of about 15 planners has spent the past year coordinating the movement via video conference, with the most pressing task developing an […]
Ebikes are flying off the shelves in Australia, with sales doubling in 2020.
Let’s hope the rush to the regions doesn’t mean duplicating the urban planning mistakes we’ve made in our cities.
Emissions from shipping, buildings and transport are to be drawn into the EU ETS as a result of Europe’s new net zero target
Is it time to consider “un-building” and “non-building” in urban design projects, such as the revival of Sydney’s Parramatta Road?
The NSW Productivity Commission in November released its final report on the Review of Infrastructure Contributions in NSW (PC Review). It controversially ruled out capturing a share of windfall gains made from rezonings or the granting of additional development, even though this is widely used in voluntary planning agreements (VPAs) and state infrastructure contributions (SIC). […]
The kerbside, that humble bit of concrete between buildings and the road, is “failing our local places” according to a new report by WSP and Uber.
Booming populations and increasing floods are overburdening urban stormwater systems, so why not lighten the load by collecting rainwater for household use?
Here’s an alternative way to protest by the creative community the area around Bell Station in Preston in Melbourne’s inner north suburb of Preston.
Urban consolidation policies to contain development within existing urban areas are creating poor development outcomes in Australian cities. In Brisbane, our newly published research shows this means the low-density housing character of the city is being retained at the expense of backyards.
Praise for investigative journalists like Marian Wilkinson who have a way of joining the dots without taking detours in diplomacy.
A couple of years ago I decided to leave Sydney and find refuge in a remote valley from what’s coming. This is the story of that failed escape and the refuge I find in gardening, still living in the city.
Here at The Fifth Estate we’re keeping an eye on New Zealand. It’s started to become a standout regional leader on climate action, especially with its legislated net zero emissions target by 2050.
The urban landscape is plagued by a commitment to growth at all costs, write University of Melbourne academics Brendan Gleeson and Samuel Alexander in their latest book. The following extract was published with their permission.
Australia’s summer officially begins on December 1, but climate change observes no calendar. And even as another summer is almost upon us, memories of last summer’s ferocious fires still linger on the minds of those devastated by all manner of loss. For weeks on end, the residents of many towns and cities not directly threatened were […]
A border tax on high carbon imports, and a list of which economic activities to bankroll, are some of the tasks in hand by the European Union’s Platform on Sustainable Finance.
The South Australian and Victorian governments have announced, and New South Wales is considering, road user charges on electric vehicles.
City of Sydney councillors have been locked in an increasingly tense political stalemate over a “scrappy” community garden in the city’s inner west as the matter boils down to green space versus affordable housing.
The lack of trees in around two-thirds of Australian suburbs is intensifying extreme heat effects, which could make these cities almost unliveable in the coming years according to new report. The new RMIT and Greener Spaces Better Places Where Will All the Trees Be? report aims to understand to what extent urban density, population growth, […]
