Barriers and Facilitators of Neighbourhood Networks and Cohesion. Neighbourhoods are critical contexts for health, safety and well-being. In the face of significant urban growth, understanding and enhancing neighbourhood networks and cohesion are high priorities in Australia and internationally. Drawing on longitudinal survey data from 148 Brisbane suburbs combined with census and spatial data, this project will be the first to examine how a neighbourhood's physical and socio-structural context ....Barriers and Facilitators of Neighbourhood Networks and Cohesion. Neighbourhoods are critical contexts for health, safety and well-being. In the face of significant urban growth, understanding and enhancing neighbourhood networks and cohesion are high priorities in Australia and internationally. Drawing on longitudinal survey data from 148 Brisbane suburbs combined with census and spatial data, this project will be the first to examine how a neighbourhood's physical and socio-structural context influences neighbourhood networks and cohesion over time and across the landscape of an entire city. The project aims to advance scientific understanding of neighbourhood networks and cohesion, provide unique insights into its underpinning drivers, and inform urban policy.Read moreRead less
The financialisation of older persons residential parks and rental villages. The project aims to explore and explain contemporary change in the residential parks and communities (PC) and rental villages (RV) sectors, and to set out policy implications, including for housing affordability; housing legal rights; ageing support and care; and financial services consumer protection.
Pitched to older persons as affordable alternatives to homeownership and to retirement villages, PCs and RVs are chang ....The financialisation of older persons residential parks and rental villages. The project aims to explore and explain contemporary change in the residential parks and communities (PC) and rental villages (RV) sectors, and to set out policy implications, including for housing affordability; housing legal rights; ageing support and care; and financial services consumer protection.
Pitched to older persons as affordable alternatives to homeownership and to retirement villages, PCs and RVs are changing, with new large corporate proprietors introducing new business models and housing offers. Financialisation perspectives offer new critical insights into the sectors, including their relations to wider housing and economic dynamics, the strategies and operations of sector organisations, and the everyday lives of residents.Read moreRead less
The long-term effects of autonomous cars on land use, access and travel . Historically new transport technologies have significantly changed urban form in Australian cities with important business, economic, congestion, social and environmental impacts. Autonomous cars are said to revolutionise tomorrows transport but no research has yet considered long term impacts on land use and city structure. This project explores how land use and travel will change adopting innovative land use and transp ....The long-term effects of autonomous cars on land use, access and travel . Historically new transport technologies have significantly changed urban form in Australian cities with important business, economic, congestion, social and environmental impacts. Autonomous cars are said to revolutionise tomorrows transport but no research has yet considered long term impacts on land use and city structure. This project explores how land use and travel will change adopting innovative land use and transport models. Outcomes will better prepare Australia for an autonomous travel future.Read moreRead less
Responsible Urban Innovation with Local Government Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only becoming an integral part of urban services, but also impacting and shaping the future of cities and societies. However, the current AI practice has shown that urban innovation without responsibility generates more problems than it solves. Especially, the absence of a deep understanding of the costs, benefits, risks and impacts of deploying government AI systems creates negative e ....Responsible Urban Innovation with Local Government Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only becoming an integral part of urban services, but also impacting and shaping the future of cities and societies. However, the current AI practice has shown that urban innovation without responsibility generates more problems than it solves. Especially, the absence of a deep understanding of the costs, benefits, risks and impacts of deploying government AI systems creates negative externalities and serious concerns in the society. This project will generate new knowledge on the most appropriate approaches for local governments to engage with AI to achieve responsible urban innovation. The project outcomes will include responsible AI adoption and implementation pathways for Australian local governments.Read moreRead less
Universities as entrepreneurial urban actors. This project aims to critically analyse the role of universities in shaping Australian cities. By mobilising a detailed case study approach, the project expects to generate new theoretical and applied knowledge about how universities influence the planning, built form and social and economic functioning of our cities. Anticipated outcomes include a clearer understanding of how universities configure their local environment, how they are mobilised wit ....Universities as entrepreneurial urban actors. This project aims to critically analyse the role of universities in shaping Australian cities. By mobilising a detailed case study approach, the project expects to generate new theoretical and applied knowledge about how universities influence the planning, built form and social and economic functioning of our cities. Anticipated outcomes include a clearer understanding of how universities configure their local environment, how they are mobilised within planning documents to achieve urban objectives and how land development is now a core activity for universities. This will bring significant benefits to urban planning and communities via policy recommendations outlining social and economic improvements related to university development.Read moreRead less
Locating jobs to improve urban sustainability: investigating the Transport Impacts of Employment Decentralisation in Australian Cities (TIEDAC). This project investigates how the relocation of public sector employment to suburban nodes can improve the efficiency of Australian cities. The project will identify transport efficiencies from employment decentralisation that can reduce infrastructure costs for governments and reduce commuting distances for Australian urban residents.
Attraction and retention: the role of mobility in educational pathways and human capital development. This project will examine the factors that attract and retain school leavers and tertiary graduates in cities, towns and rural areas of non-metropolitan Victoria. It will increase understanding of how spatial mobility shapes young people's transition through higher education to adulthood and guide regional development policy to enhance human capital.
Improving Sub-national Population Forecasts. The aim of this project is to make significant advances in two related areas of regional, council area and local population forecasting, namely improving accuracy, and providing an indication of forecast uncertainty. Population forecasts often turn out to be far more inaccurate than users realise and fail to come with any information about reliability. Every year forecasts inform a wide variety of planning and policy development activities and influen ....Improving Sub-national Population Forecasts. The aim of this project is to make significant advances in two related areas of regional, council area and local population forecasting, namely improving accuracy, and providing an indication of forecast uncertainty. Population forecasts often turn out to be far more inaccurate than users realise and fail to come with any information about reliability. Every year forecasts inform a wide variety of planning and policy development activities and influence investment decisions worth billions of dollars. In order to increase the value of forecasts to users, this project aims to combine methods from a range of disciplines to devise more accurate ways of forecasting populations, and provide accompanying information on their likely error.Read moreRead less
Modelling and evaluating the joint access mode and train station choice. This project will study park-and-ride (PnR) as an alternative travel mode, reducing car use and increasing transit ridership in low-density cities. The potential impacts of parking charges and high petrol price are central issues. Choice modelling and spatial analysis will be used to assess the value of PnR and aid decisions on PnR location and pricing.
Urban greening to protect vulnerable people and promote thermal equity. This project aims to create, test and apply new knowledge to promote thermal equity in Australian cities. Climate change is increasing heatwave frequency and intensity as our cities are becoming denser and their populations growing older. Many older people have heightened vulnerability to extreme heat due to income constraints, medical conditions, physical frailty, and reduced mobility. Outputs will include a heat vulnerabil ....Urban greening to protect vulnerable people and promote thermal equity. This project aims to create, test and apply new knowledge to promote thermal equity in Australian cities. Climate change is increasing heatwave frequency and intensity as our cities are becoming denser and their populations growing older. Many older people have heightened vulnerability to extreme heat due to income constraints, medical conditions, physical frailty, and reduced mobility. Outputs will include a heat vulnerability assessment index for identifying at-risk places and vulnerable people, urban tree canopy maps, urban planning policy guidelines for creating cooler cities, and a toolkit for identifying appropriate green infrastructure treatments. Benefits include avoidance of heat-related deaths and improved liveability in cities.Read moreRead less