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
Evaluation of Performance-Based Planning under the Queensland Integrated Planning Act 1997. The project will undertake an evaluation of performance-based planning in Queensland, examining the application since introduction of the Integrated Planning Act in 1997. The project aims to assess how performance-based planning has been adopted in Queensland; evaluate national, international literature and empirical experience with the application of this planning method; develop a set of measurement cri ....Evaluation of Performance-Based Planning under the Queensland Integrated Planning Act 1997. The project will undertake an evaluation of performance-based planning in Queensland, examining the application since introduction of the Integrated Planning Act in 1997. The project aims to assess how performance-based planning has been adopted in Queensland; evaluate national, international literature and empirical experience with the application of this planning method; develop a set of measurement criteria drawn from policy and scholarly literature that have evaluated performance-based systems; contribute to the international social scientific understanding of performance-based planning; and enhance the partner organisation's ability to assess its key policy and regulatory frames to improve their data handling and analytical capacities.Read moreRead less
Urban Accessibility Re-Shaped - Transport disadvantage and urban socio-spatial change. The project directly addresses 'National Research Priority 2: Promoting and Maintaining Good Health - Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric' by assisting governments to solve problems of communities' poor access to employment and services. Good urban accessibility is crucial to achieving good economic, social and environmental outcomes from land-use and transport planning in Australian cities. ....Urban Accessibility Re-Shaped - Transport disadvantage and urban socio-spatial change. The project directly addresses 'National Research Priority 2: Promoting and Maintaining Good Health - Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric' by assisting governments to solve problems of communities' poor access to employment and services. Good urban accessibility is crucial to achieving good economic, social and environmental outcomes from land-use and transport planning in Australian cities. The project will assist state and local government's to address unmet and often unidentified community needs. The project will be of immense national importance in providing new methodologies to assess urban access employment and services. Internationally this project will mark Australia as a producer of high quality urban research.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
People and Parks: The Real Value of Open Space in Western Sydney. The Western Sydney Parklands (WSP), a corridor of 5500 contiguous hectares, will be the largest urban park in the southern hemisphere - an extraordinary open space resource. This study uses quantitative and qualitative research techniques to gauge 'imageability' and feelings of 'attachment' and 'connectedness' to the Parklands experienced by residents of Western Sydney. We will construct new thematic layers for an existing Geograp ....People and Parks: The Real Value of Open Space in Western Sydney. The Western Sydney Parklands (WSP), a corridor of 5500 contiguous hectares, will be the largest urban park in the southern hemisphere - an extraordinary open space resource. This study uses quantitative and qualitative research techniques to gauge 'imageability' and feelings of 'attachment' and 'connectedness' to the Parklands experienced by residents of Western Sydney. We will construct new thematic layers for an existing Geographic Information Systems database that incorporate subjective values about open space. This expanded understanding of feelings of connectedness will reveal shared community values and enhance future planning and design of urban parklands.Read moreRead less
Evaluating Community Consultation: Criteria and Tools for Assessing Processes and Outcomes. Planning agencies are expected to include community consultation as an element of the decision-making process. Past research has focussed on developing effective consultation techniques. Little research attention has been given to guidelines for evaluating consultation activities. The proposed project will contribute fundamental knowledge on evaluation of consultation programs. It will do this through ....Evaluating Community Consultation: Criteria and Tools for Assessing Processes and Outcomes. Planning agencies are expected to include community consultation as an element of the decision-making process. Past research has focussed on developing effective consultation techniques. Little research attention has been given to guidelines for evaluating consultation activities. The proposed project will contribute fundamental knowledge on evaluation of consultation programs. It will do this through assessing a major regional planning exercise (SEQ 2021). It will develop and test comprehensive evaluation criteria and tools. The project will result in ready-to-use evaluation materials for SEQ 2021, and for other planning and decision-making authorities in Australia, representing a significant breakthrough in evaluation research and practice.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