Benjamin Kaufman, Griffith University Long-term planning has delivered mass transit systems to cater for high-patronage, hub-and-spoke transport systems. Unfortunately, this has left many city residents without basic access to public transport services. And we could never have planned for the impacts of COVID-19. Our previous plans were based on the best available data at the
Simon Kingham, University of Canterbury Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz Q: Does building and expanding motorways really reduce congestion and emissions,
Wendy M Stone, Swinburne University of Technology; Amity James, Curtin University; Sharon Parkinson, Swinburne University of Technology, and Steven Rowley, Curtin University New research released today asked Australians how well current housing met their needs and their ideals, both in the short and longer-term. We found safety and security was the main aspiration of householders
Lois Towart, University of Technology Sydney and Kristian Ruming, Macquarie University Some operators have predicted manufactured home estates will be the most popular type of retirement living in the near future, surpassing retirement villages. But enthusiastic development of manufactured home estates as retirement communities is creating future problems for the older Australians who call them
Hal Pawson, UNSW; Bill Randolph, UNSW; Chris Leishman, and Duncan Maclennan, University of Glasgow A new report from the New South Wales Productivity Commission (NSWPC) announces that “[higher] housing costs […] impose broader economic costs”. That chimes with our own newly published research. The implication is that Australia’s heavily capitalised housing market will weigh down
Irene Håkansson, University of Melbourne and Kathryn Davidson, University of Melbourne In the face of the global health and climate crises, we look at our cities both anxiously and hopefully. We deviate from our normal patterns of behaviour to avoid close physical contact and suffer associated emotional and practical losses. At the same time, we
Matthew Mclaughlin, University of Newcastle and Trevor Shilton, Curtin University What do bike paths and walk-friendly streets have to do with economic recovery from a pandemic-induced recession? How could removing a car parking space benefit a local business? Instead of considering such questions, building roads for cars is often seen as the obvious answer to
James Lennox, Victoria University For most of us the experience of working from home this year has, on balance, been positive – enough that it may well become the norm after the COVID-19 crisis ends. But modelling by Victoria University’s Centre of Policy Studies shows there will be costs alongside the personal benefits, with more
Cathy Smith, UNSW The COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily shut down cities across the globe, resulting in abandoned buildings and deserted streets. How might we better use our own vacant buildings during the crisis and beyond? We can learn from the benefits and challenges of the UK’s “meanwhile” building use sector. Sometimes referred to as meanwhile
