Strengthening Australia's suburbs: advancing urban planning knowledge to limit oil vulnerability and build household resilience. The vulnerability and resilience of Australian suburbs to declining petroleum security and climate change is a national issue because half of Australia's population lives in suburbs. This project will advance national knowledge of the challenges facing Australian suburbs. This includes supporting National Research Priority 4: Protecting Australia's Infrastructure by ad ....Strengthening Australia's suburbs: advancing urban planning knowledge to limit oil vulnerability and build household resilience. The vulnerability and resilience of Australian suburbs to declining petroleum security and climate change is a national issue because half of Australia's population lives in suburbs. This project will advance national knowledge of the challenges facing Australian suburbs. This includes supporting National Research Priority 4: Protecting Australia's Infrastructure by addressing the vulnerability of suburban transport systems and infrastructure to declining global petroleum security. The project will strengthen community capacity to cope with these challenges through improved planning understanding that can support new measures to overcome oil vulnerability and build suburban resilience.Read moreRead less
Achieving urban vitality: skills & employment development in shrinking cities. The study will provide a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of shrinking cities, its typology, and the trajectories of these cities in Australia, Europe, USA and Japan. The study questions traditional paradigms of growth and decline and demographic change.
At a policy and strategic level, the project will provide a review and assessment of policies, programs and regeneration strategies in areas in de ....Achieving urban vitality: skills & employment development in shrinking cities. The study will provide a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of shrinking cities, its typology, and the trajectories of these cities in Australia, Europe, USA and Japan. The study questions traditional paradigms of growth and decline and demographic change.
At a policy and strategic level, the project will provide a review and assessment of policies, programs and regeneration strategies in areas in decline in Australia as well as a database of best practices in terms of skills and employment programs in shrinking cities as per the typology developed in the study. The study will provide an international environment for research students to participate in a highly innovative transnational debate.
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Community vulnerability and extreme events: Developing a typology of coastal settlement vulnerability to aid adaptation strategies. Despite uncertainty regarding the manifestations of climate change there is widespread agreement that any impacts will be unevenly shared. The costs to individuals and communities of these uneven outcomes are significant. Crucially, adaptation policy must understand the multi-dimensional nature of these uneven outcomes so as to ameliorate negative costs. In its inte ....Community vulnerability and extreme events: Developing a typology of coastal settlement vulnerability to aid adaptation strategies. Despite uncertainty regarding the manifestations of climate change there is widespread agreement that any impacts will be unevenly shared. The costs to individuals and communities of these uneven outcomes are significant. Crucially, adaptation policy must understand the multi-dimensional nature of these uneven outcomes so as to ameliorate negative costs. In its integration of a multi-method approach to understanding adaptation to extreme weather events in coastal settlements, this project aims to advance understanding of well targeted and effective interventions. It combines the skills and knowledge of researchers trained across a range of disciplines to address these important real world issues.Read moreRead less
Involving local communities in defining town character in Victorian coastal towns. Many Australian coastal towns are experiencing rapid growth from tourism. In such places it is common to hear residents complain that the ?character? of their town is being lost due to inappropriate development. Local planning authorities are now attempting to respond to these concerns by undertaking studies to define what it is people feel is being lost. This project will involve local communities in defining tow ....Involving local communities in defining town character in Victorian coastal towns. Many Australian coastal towns are experiencing rapid growth from tourism. In such places it is common to hear residents complain that the ?character? of their town is being lost due to inappropriate development. Local planning authorities are now attempting to respond to these concerns by undertaking studies to define what it is people feel is being lost. This project will involve local communities in defining town and neighbourhood character in affected rural coastal areas of Victoria. Questions concerning residents' conceptualisation of town character and relationships between psychological and biophysical attributes associated with the notion of town character will be explored.Read moreRead less
Understanding Sydney's changing role as a global city in the Australian urban and regional network. In recent decades Sydney has changed from being a capital city linked mainly to a hinterland of NSW towns and regions, to a global city with a 'blizzard' of linkages in new sectors involving cities and territories around Australia and across the globe. As yet we know little about this blizzard apart from what can be inferred from the global cities literature and from minimal evidence that is large ....Understanding Sydney's changing role as a global city in the Australian urban and regional network. In recent decades Sydney has changed from being a capital city linked mainly to a hinterland of NSW towns and regions, to a global city with a 'blizzard' of linkages in new sectors involving cities and territories around Australia and across the globe. As yet we know little about this blizzard apart from what can be inferred from the global cities literature and from minimal evidence that is largely selective and anecdotal. This Project will produce a detailed profile of Sydney's linkages - locally, nationally and internationally. Better data and analysis on Sydney's place in the global economy is a critical issue for government and corporate planning especially in and around the Sydney basin where growth pressures are intense.Read moreRead less
The production and contestation of airport territory. The restructuring of Australian airports has become a major issue of public interest in recent years, given their status as 'critical infrastructures' (a National Research Priority). The project places the Australian experience in comparative context. It will provide an informed contribution to a range of groups affected by airport restructuring, from private enterprise, through to Commonwealth, State and local councils, and community groups ....The production and contestation of airport territory. The restructuring of Australian airports has become a major issue of public interest in recent years, given their status as 'critical infrastructures' (a National Research Priority). The project places the Australian experience in comparative context. It will provide an informed contribution to a range of groups affected by airport restructuring, from private enterprise, through to Commonwealth, State and local councils, and community groups who seek to respond to the challenges of airport expansion. It will provide a strong empirical and theoretical framework that will further the understanding of the impact of airports on urban governance and theory worldwide.Read moreRead less
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
CATCH: Children, Active Travel, Connectedness and Health. This project will explore built and social environmental influences on children's independent mobility, active travel and health. The research will provide necessary evidentiary support to justify government and development industry policy supportive of healthy and child-friendly environments.
Redesigning the Suburb: A Landscape Architectural Inquiry. A Perth-based multi-disciplinary design project is to seek out ways in which new practices in suburban development can improve a sense of place in new suburbs in accord with community aspirations. Current development codes will be explored and challenged, focussing on infrastructure and ecology. Perth is a city in the bush, eating into its famous flora, but the outcomes of this project will just as easily apply to Queensland or Tasmania ....Redesigning the Suburb: A Landscape Architectural Inquiry. A Perth-based multi-disciplinary design project is to seek out ways in which new practices in suburban development can improve a sense of place in new suburbs in accord with community aspirations. Current development codes will be explored and challenged, focussing on infrastructure and ecology. Perth is a city in the bush, eating into its famous flora, but the outcomes of this project will just as easily apply to Queensland or Tasmania in regard to improving biodiversity, maintaining a sense of original topography, improving wise water use, and influencing the conception and construction of new suburban areas by the development industry.
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The Demand for Higher Density Housing in Sydney and Melbourne. The research will support the development of more socially sustainable approaches to the planning of higher density housing in Australian cities. The project will improve our understanding of the processes driving higher density urban change (and therefore the risks of such development), inform better land use outcomes, assist in reducing potential community conflict over development proposals, and enhance wider social sustainabilit ....The Demand for Higher Density Housing in Sydney and Melbourne. The research will support the development of more socially sustainable approaches to the planning of higher density housing in Australian cities. The project will improve our understanding of the processes driving higher density urban change (and therefore the risks of such development), inform better land use outcomes, assist in reducing potential community conflict over development proposals, and enhance wider social sustainability of urban areas, thereby strengthening the social fabric of Australian cities. The research will also add to academic debates surrounding the benefits (or non-benefits) of building higher density cities and on the structure of spatially segmented urban housing markets. Read moreRead less