Urban Design Australia Blog

Telework Week to showcase benefits of working from home

2012-01-23T16:47:00.002+10:00

The Australian Government wants more employers and employees to reap the many social,
economic and environmental benefits of telework, the Minister for Broadband,
Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, said today.

Announcing Australia’s first National Telework Week that will be staged in November,
Senator Conroy said the opportunities presented by increased telework were exciting for both employers and employees.

“An increase in telework can lead to benefits across the economy and community, from big business through to individual workers and families as well as the environment,” Senator Conroy said.

“These benefits include cost-savings and productivity gains, increased workforce flexibility, expanded supply of skilled labour, reduced impact on the environment, reduced stress from
traffic congestion and increased time available to spend with family and the community.

“For our next generation of employers and workers, IT connectivity will need to be seamless to allow work from any location, be it at home, in the office or at their local cafe.

“The rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN) is the game changer that will make this an everyday reality for Australians wherever they live.”

National Telework Week will be convened by the Australian Government in partnership with a range of organisations and its purpose will be to encourage as many employers and employees as possible to trial teleworking.

Senator Conroy said the NBN would also assist in increasing Australia’s level of telework. “The NBN will allow Australians to interact more easily from home with their workplaces and with clients through high-definition multi-party video conferencing. They will be able to quickly transfer large files and use real-time collaborative business tools,” he said.

“Australia currently lags well behind the leading nations for telework rates and the Government, in our Digital Economy Strategy, has set a goal to double Australia’s telework rate by 2020.

“Cultural barriers by employees and employers are some of the factors contributing to our poor telework rates, so it is important to address those through education and awareness of telework’s benefits.”

Initial partners in National Telework Week include the Australian Human Resources Institute, Australian Industry Group (AIG), Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), the Australian Network for Disability and the Local Government Managers Australia. Cisco, the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Unity4, Telstra, Blackberry, Polycom, Infrastructure Australia and the Green Building Council of Australia have also agreed to become partners.

Broadband Champion, Jon Dee, Managing Director of advocacy group Do Something!, said teleworking could have a tangible benefit on the environment, particularly air quality.

“I look forward to more teleworking reducing traffic pollution in Australia’s major cities. Fewer cars commuting daily will bring a range of environmental and health benefits as well as reduce the economic cost of congestion,” Mr Dee said.

Mr Andrew Stevens, Managing Director of IBM Australia and New Zealand, said that during the past decade IBM had fostered a culture of flexibility.

“Flexibility is a core part of IBM's retention and engagement strategy for all employees. Telework is viewed as an important aspect of that flexibility, a positive work choice with individual, team, organisation and client benefits,” Mr Stevens said.

Cisco Systems’ Vice-President Asia Pacific, Mr Les Williamson, said Cisco was reaping the cost-saving, productivity, work life balance and environmental benefits that telework delivers. “The future workplace is in the home and the ongoing rollout of high speed broadband will allow more employers and their employees to experience telework, regardless of their size or their business,” he said.

Philip Cronin, General Manager of Intel Australia & New Zealand, said ubiquitous and affordable high-speed broadband would mean many Australian workers will have the potential to become just as effective at home as they are in the office.

“Teleworking has the potential to save Australian businesses millions of dollars, offer greater flexibility to the workforce and open up new job opportunities for rural and regional communities," he said.

Registrants will receive regular updates on preparations for National Telework Week which will also be posted to the website LinkedIn (search for Telework2020). Discussion on Twitter will use the hashtag #telework2020.

Organisations interested in partnering with the Australian Government to promote telework are encouraged to make contact via telework@dbcde.gov.au. For more information on telework visit www.nbn.gov.au/telework

OPPORTUNISTIC URBAN DESIGN - The Conference, Melbourne 2012

2011-10-28T13:38:00.001+10:00

The 5th International Urban Design Conference will be held at the Hilton on the Park in Melbourne from Monday the 10th to Wednesday 12th of September 2012

If the act of planning is to legitimise 'what should be done', opportunistic design thinking seeks to action 'what can be done'.

Indeed, the focus of planning may enable it to be read as one form of catalyst for thinking opportunistically. That is, a process of creative thinking leading to more flexible, more inventive and more contextually responsive strategies of intervention into the urban environment.

City leaders in Australia and internationally are , to varying degrees, endeavouring to respond to the aftermath of the GFC, effects of climate change, dramatic population movements, peak oil speculation, emerging social media and the influences on how we socialise and connect with each other, and a search for meaning (to name a few !).

Growth, flux, and decay are inherent aspects of urban systems. As changing financial, political, environmental, technical and social conditions influence urban life, it is apparent that urban design will have to become increasingly opportunistic and creative in approach, formulation and delivery.

This trend is manifesting itself across a broad range of disciplines, scales and intents. It is most popularly evident in innovative place making projects and strategies such as the High Line in NYC, tactical urbanism, a multiplicity of fluid uses of public spaces (eg pop ups).

The conference will focus on ideas and projects that are visionary despite, or maybe because of, the current context.

David Baker: Champion of Green Urban Density

2011-10-10T19:16:00.000+10:00

David Baker: Champion of Green Urban Density is one of a series of eight "pocket documentaries" commissioned by Dwell magazine to showcase design leaders from the world of architecture and related fields. In it David speaks about matters close to his heart: urban infill, public art, vibrant cities, and how we're all going to have to work together to solve our planet's problems.

5th International Urban Design Conference heads to Melbourne in 2012

2011-10-06T10:12:00.003+10:00

The Department of Planning and Community Development - Victorian Government confirmed as Platinum sponsor for the 5th International Urban Design Conference to be held in Melbourne at the Hilton on the Park, 10th to 12th of September 2012. www.urbandesignaustralia.com.au

The 2012 committee includes:

VIC, Sue Wood, Co-Chair, Assistant Director Urban Design, Department of Planning and Community Development
VIC, Kelvin Walsh, Director City Sustainability, Hume City Council
ACT, Gay Williamson, Manager, Design Policy, Planning Services Branch , ACT Government
SA, Darren Bilsborough, Managing Director, Cminus Sustainable Spaces
WA/NT, Geoff Barker, Managing Director, PM+D ARCHITECTS P/L
NSW, Michael Neustein, Director, Neustein Urban
NZ, Alistair Ray, Associate Principal - Head of Urban Design, Jasmax, New Zealand
QLD, Peter Sugg, Urban Design Australia Conference

Where will we live in the future?

2011-10-06T09:35:00.002+10:00

Terry Kirby - The Guardian

Will innovation in urban development change the face of our cities?

The return of high-rise living, homes built as part of working film sets, new public open spaces in reclaimed retail malls and a dramatic re-evaluation of the relative merits of slums and suburbia. These are just some of the challenging concepts now being canvassed among those developing new ideas about the future of our urban landscape.

It is a landscape where designers and planners take the advantages of modern technology as a given, where a city's "smartness" is expected and where sustainability is built into the system, leaving only one big question: what will our future look like?

And it is not, according to most thinkers, a science fiction fantasy where everyone behaves like robots in eco-friendly but featureless buildings, despite the move towards these developments.

For some, it is a world where the latest technology, such as energy monitoring "smart meters", is introduced in venerable urban buildings, sustainably reused, thus combining the best of old and new. "People want good quality of space – high ceilings, big windows, interesting architecture. I'm not a great fan of building over-insulated homes on eco-suburbs on greenfield sites, miles from anywhere,'' said Tom Bloxham, of developers Urban Splash, who specialise in elegant urban conversions and regeneration projects in cities such as Manchester and Birmingham. "Sustainability is as much about re-using old buildings and working on brownfield sites."

Read the full article here

Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster - Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

2011-10-06T08:16:00.000+10:00

"No elected official or planning professional should miss this book. Birch and Wachter have collected essays spanning every dimension of rebuilding. From historical lessons to cutting-edge practices, there is so much to learn."—Brent Warr, Mayor, City of Gulfport, Mississippi

"A remarkable collection of essays."—Journal of the American Planning Association

"Disasters—natural ones, such as hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes, and unnatural ones such as terrorist attacks—are part of the American experience in the twenty-first century. The challenges of preparing for these events, withstanding their impact, and rebuilding communities afterward require strategic responses from different levels of government in partnership with the private sector and in accordance with the public will.

Disasters have a disproportionate effect on urban places. Dense by definition, cities and their environs suffer great damage to their complex, interdependent social, environmental, and economic systems. Social and medical services collapse. Long-standing problems in educational access and quality become especially acute. Local economies cease to function. Cultural resources disappear. The plight of New Orleans and several smaller Gulf Coast cities exemplifies this phenomenon.

This volume examines the rebuilding of cities and their environs after a disaster and focuses on four major issues: making cities less vulnerable to disaster, re-establishing economic viability, responding to the permanent needs of the displaced, and recreating a sense of place.

Success in these areas requires that priorities be set cooperatively, and this goal poses significant challenges for rebuilding efforts in a democratic, market-based society. Who sets priorities and how? Can participatory decision-making be organized under conditions requiring focused, strategic choices? How do issues of race and class intersect with these priorities? Should the purpose of rebuilding be restoration or reformation?

Contributors address these and other questions related to environmental conditions, economic imperatives, social welfare concerns, and issues of planning and design in light of the lessons to be drawn from Hurricane Katrina.

Eugenie L. Birch is Professor and Chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. Susan Wachter is Richard B. Worley Professor of Financial Management and Professor of Real Estate and Finance at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Together, they direct the Penn Institute for Urban Research.

Take a greenfield, add a dash of infill and there'll be room for everyone

2011-10-01T10:24:00.005+10:00

RECENTLY, self-appointed planning "experts" have criticised the performance of planning systems that have shaped suburbs and cities, denigrating governments that delivered the homes of millions of Australians.

The critics say such communities and suburban development are unsustainable and have called for government, in the name of sustainability, to choose high-density development over greenfield development, often labelled "sprawl". To them, density is good and suburban development is bad.

But the simple fact is we need to meet dwelling demand, achieve housing affordability and provide much-needed community services and infrastructure.

Across the country, notwithstanding the growing trend to inner-city living and more infill development, demand continues to be for detached houses in greenfield locations, and the strongest population growth continues to be in outer suburbs.

Bear in mind those suburbs will become tomorrow's middle or inner-ring suburbs of emerging cities - Logan, Ipswich and the new cities of Ripley, Yarrabilba and Caloundra South.

While dwellings produced through options such as infill and redevelopment do meet a need for housing in particular urban locations, such consolidation will not, in reality, preclude the need for continuing greenfield development to meet the overwhelming bulk of dwelling demand.

"Brian Stewart is the chief executive of the Urban Development Institute of Australia"
Source: The Courier Mail Brisbane... full story here

Carrot City: Creating Places for Urban Agriculture

2011-09-30T15:40:00.002+10:00

Source: Ryerson University

Everyone knows they should eat lots of fruits and vegetables. But the produce we eat doesn’t have to come from distant farmlands; it can be cultivated in the heart of the city. A new book by three Ryerson University researchers shows that urban agriculture can lead to visually striking and artistically interesting design solutions which in turn help foster communities and provide residents with immediate access to fresh, healthful ingredients.

Carrot City: Creating Places for Urban Agriculture (The Monacelli Press), which was released this month, is one of the first books of its kind to study the complementary relationship between urban agriculture and design. The book, intended for architects, design students and food-policy makers, presents strategies to enable sustainable food production and reintroduce urban agriculture to cities.

Carrot City was written by Mark Gorgolewski, professor of architectural science and director of the Canada Green Building Council; June Komisar, professor of architectural science and a member of the Toronto Food Policy Council; and Joe Nasr, an instructor in the certificate program in food security offered by Ryerson’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, and a co-ordinator at MetroAg: Alliance for Urban Agriculture. All three authors are associates at Ryerson’s Centre for Studies in Food Security, which promotes food security through research, dissemination, education, community action and professional practice.

“Urban agriculture provides city-dwellers with easy access to fresh veggies and cultural foods,” says Komisar. “It also teaches children about the importance of eating vegetables, and provides more nutritious food than the produce that is trucked in from great distances.”

While agriculture was once part of the urban landscape, it was eventually pushed out by municipal governments and the globalization of food production. Gorgolewski notes that a shift is underway. “In the late 20th century, people began to take notice of food issues and the growing importance of agriculture in urban design. Now, people ask ‘why don’t we create a green roof?’”

Showcasing the best in current design, Carroty City features more than 40 innovative projects, both conceptual and realized, that explore creative approaches to making space for urban food production. Ranging from ambitious urban plans to simple measures for growing food at home, the projects demonstrate what happens when city planning and architecture consider food production a requirement of design. The spectacular results include more community gardens, greenhouses that are tucked under raised highways, walls that bring greenery into dense city blocks, and green roofs on schools and large apartment buildings that can be tended and harvested by students and residents alike.

Carrot City grew out of an ongoing collaboration among Gorgolewski, Komisar and Nasr. With their overlapping interests in urban agriculture and sustainable design, the trio eventually came together and developed a 2008 Ryerson symposium on the role of food and agriculture in the design of buildings and cities.

A Tale of Two Cities - Contrasting Challenges for NZ's Two Largest Cities

2011-09-16T09:15:00.000+10:00

2010/2011 saw contrastingfortunes for New Zealand’s two largest cities.

For Auckland, the amalgamationof 7 small local authorities into one “super-sized” Council, making it one ofthe largest city councils in the world, has finally given the city theopportunity to comprehensively and holistically plan for its future. The new“super-city” mayor has set out on an ambitious journey to prepare a 30 year“spatial plan” with the intention of making Auckland the world’s “most liveablecity”.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s second largest city faced a completelycontrasting scenario – one of grief, loss and devastation following two majorearthquakes. The soon to follow Japanese disaster simply added to the emergingdebate over what constitutes an appropriate 21st Century New Zealand urbanism.

Each of these cities is having to recognise the fragile nature of our planet,whilst under pressure to create a resilient, sustainable and adaptable city,one that is able to deal with issues such as population change (either rapidgrowth or potential decline), economic prosperity, safe location, foodproduction, water conservation, energy, transportation – and the impact of allthese issues on our patterns of behaviour.

This presentation will look forlessons learned from the approaches each of these cities is taking in dealingwith extremely topical and pressing global and national issues, but faced withvastly contrasting circumstances.

Mr Alistair Ray,Associate Director, Senior Urban Designer, JASMAX New Zealand, a presentation at the International Urban Design Conference in 2011

Making the Pea Change

2011-09-16T09:06:00.006+10:00

The overlapping trends of population growth, rezoning of agricultural land and fresh food price increases will be a national crises by 2050 unless comprehensive action is taken today.

Our challenge is increasing local agricultural productivity efficiently and without further compromising the natural environment or encouraging sprawl. By designing communities with the capacity to produce fresh food we are future- proofing the community from a reliance on external food sources and the insecurity associated with that.

The inherent ability for communities to contribute to fresh food production will counteract not only the rising cost of food as a consequence of fuel or freight, but will also contribute to healthier people and reduced medical costs. Our efforts over the past decade to create new, compact, sustainable development on the fringe has robbed the Australian farmer of his workplace.

Historically, food production has been limited to rural agricultural lands. Alternatively, this presentation will explore how the low-tech, original green solution of designing food producing neighbourhoods must be part of the solution. This productive overlay can be applied at varying levels; from urban agriculture where cities are retrofitted to grow food, through to agrarian urbanism where an entire society is dedicated to growing food.

We can no longer afford to develop under the guise of smart growth while depleting our most valuable natural resource- agricultural land. Understanding the various models for neighbourhood food production contributes to a community’s resilience toward the effects of climate change, issues of food security and affordability, depleting land supply and health on a physical and social scale.

Ms Angela Koepp, Senior Urban Designer, Roberts Day - a poster presentation at the International Urban Design Conference 2011

Future Urban Water Security

2011-09-16T08:52:00.003+10:00

Sustainable Water Supply and Sewage collection is one of the most significant services and needs careful planning and management, not only in terms of infrastructure development, but also to maintain the minimal standard and continuity of the service.

Water scarcity facing many regions around the world is also critical to Australia. With rapid population growth and resulting urbanization, water demand is on rise, hard pressing the available resources.

Climate change adds further complexity by reducing the water quantity and accessibility and therefore increases the energy inputs and associated emissions to access and treat water. As Melbourne expands and existing areas are redeveloped, energy consumption associated with water distribution will also increase.

In the past decade, the stream flows supplying water to Melbourne have reduced by 40 to 60%. This trend is expected to continue for most major cities in Australia. Action is being taken to counter such changes. For example, the Australian Government recently committed to reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent below 2000 levels by 2050. However, solutions will require much thought, smarter design and innovative implementation.

Therefore, the water authorities need to re-evaluate the traditional approach which considers water supply, sewage disposal and stormwater drainage separately and to seek alternative ways to minimise the impact of urban planning on environment. This can be achieved by a more holistic view allowing all three components of water cycle, energy usage & GHG emissions and their interactions to be considered together throughout the various stages of urban water cycle. Recycling and reuse is the key to future proof our urban water security.

Dr Meenakshi Arora, Lecturer, University of Melbourne

Active Reform: improving opportunities for cycling in Perth, Western Australia

2011-09-16T08:45:00.004+10:00

Many Australian cities are currently pursuing policies and strategies to increase rates of cycling.

This is in response to a transport reform agenda given increasing concern about fossil fuel dependence, greenhouse gas emissions and the quality (or lack thereof) of the urban environment. Moreover, there is growing understanding that increased rates of cycling could make a significant contribution to the public health agenda as a form of preventative treatment.

This is because cycling stimulates all major muscle groups, promotes good cardiovascular health and can treat health risk factors such as overweight/ obesity. However, while there is significant discussion around possible health benefits, there is inertia in actually delivering ‘cycleable’ environments.

This paper is arranged in three parts. First, it outlines the opportunities for promoting public health through cycle planning and facilitation. Second, it examines the current debate regarding the suitability of different cycling infrastructure including on-street lanes, shared paths, shared urban boulevards and Copenhagen-style paths. Tt identifies that while ‘no one approach fits all’, a relatively dense network plan that can link origins and nearby destinations (including transit stations), makes users feel safe, is legible and supported by good route information and end-of-trip facilities is likely to be the most successful.

Third, it discusses some current examples of where comprehensive cycle networks are being developed as part of integrated land use and transport plans in Perth, Western Australia.

Dr Ryan Falconer, Senior Transport Planner, Arup, at the International Urban Design Conference in 2011

Embodied Carbon of Commonly Specified Materials in Architecture

2011-09-16T08:31:00.001+10:00

Buildings consume 50% of the world’s energy resources. Much attention has been devoted to operational energy use in buildings with increasingly stringent legislation, guidance and standards over the last two decades. Energy efficiency is a commonly used term which is now familiar to most home owners.
Less well understood is the concept of Embodied Energy (EE); the energy needed to transform raw materials in the ground into a completed building, including raw material extraction, processing and manufacturing, transportation, and construction.

It is the energy which has been constructed into a building and which cannot be recovered during the lifetime of the building, regardless of operational efficiencies. Architects and designers are currently handicapped by a lack of usable information in the right form, which can be used to quickly and effectively assess the energy, carbon and/or environmental impact of materials specified. As progress is made towards zero carbon buildings, research shows that the embodied energy of a building will increase both in absolute and percentage terms.

By 2019 embodied carbon, in theory, will make up 100% of a building’s footprint. This paper describes the status quo in embodied energy of materials: its research, policy status and application within the built environment. The paper also describes how the authors adapted current published embodied energy and carbon values, materials ratings and environmental product information into a useable set of pro formas for architectural specification in new build and retrofit projects. A number of commonly specified materials are discussed, and examples of how low carbon design information can be used to inform projects are given.

To advocate truly sustainable and low carbon architecture requires skilled designers to champion low carbon building design issues, and ensure that data is easily applied and information presented in a useable format.

Dr Gillian Menzies Lecturer - Environment and Climate Change Michael Laird Architects - speaker at the International Urban Design Conference in 2011

4th International Urban Design Conference 2011

2011-08-17T16:41:00.007+10:00

The 4th International Urban Design Conference 2011
21st to 23rd of September, Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa, Queensland

Full program now available on the conference website

Resilient Cities will need to address density, flexibility, and diversity in building types, and public spaces.

Our cities will need to engage communities by encouraging walkable streets that are supported by innovative and energy efficient public transport.

Resilient Cities protect and enhance their natural and urban resources while managing the impact of climate change and population growth.Â This also translates to promoting the local economy,Â resources and products.

Our cities' infrastructure, transport, construction, and communication systems must evolve to become more adept at being energy efficient and carbon neutral, to reduce the impact of climate change, adverse weather conditions and rising sea levels.

Resilient Cities need to have effective measures in place to mitigate natural disasters and implement effective recovery plans.

Our cities need to recognise the need for flexible urban growth to create resilient vibrant communities, which also promote a city's sense of place through the retention of cultural and historical markers unique to each locality.

Resilient Cities will do all this while absorbing the impact of rapidly increasing populations.

Is the City you live in killing you?

2011-07-24T20:14:00.002+10:00

Sheldon Jacobson

A new study by Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois looks at the connection between automobile use and obesity.

Here is excerpt:

If a causal link could be established, the association between driving and obesity may provide opportunities to reverse their rise. Achieving such a goal would require transportation and public health experts to look at these problems through a collaborative lens and recognize that problems in one ﬁeld may be best addressed through the skills from another, just as Gawande (2007) notes several medical problems that arise out of non-medical issues and have non-medical solutions.

"The time may be ripe to recognize that it may be impossible to treat one problem without considering the other. Government agencies and private foundations in the United States are making substantial investments to reduce obesity rates by promoting healthy food choices and more physical activity. While personal choices—such as replacing the choices to drive to nearby locations and using elevators with healthier activities such as walking and cycling, and climbing stairs—certainly play a part, realizing a meaningful impact on both obesity and energy consumption will require a societal shift in how we arrange and operate our lives.

A better strategy to curb both energy consumption and obesity rates may be to carve out a national energy policy, a national transportation strategy, an urban planning strategy, and a national public health obesity strategy using the same stroke of the pen."

Michael A. Cohen, Speculating on Change: Four Paradoxes of Our Urban Future

2011-07-06T12:21:00.000+10:00

Is it time? A National Policy on Architecture and Urban Design

2011-06-26T10:58:00.000+10:00

Smart nations are recognising the role of national architecture and built environment policies as fundamental instruments in securing a better future. Statements of intent and actions are guiding decisions that shape the cultural, social, environmental and economic quality of life for their citizens. Surprisingly, in Australia we don’t have a unifying national policy, however the debate about the role of a national design agenda is progressing. The time is right to explore the how, what and why of architecture and built environment policies to inform the Australian debate.

It will include discussion on:
_Leadership and delivery;
_Education, skills and advocacy;
_Sustainability, accessibility and inclusive design; and
_Cultural context and built heritage.

This paper will outline:
_The role and importance of architecture and built environment policies at a national level;
_An analyses of international case studies; and
_Explore a theoretical framework and case for the adoption of an Australian policy on architecture and the built environment.

Mr Adam Davies, Principal, HASSELL

The 4th International Urban Design Conference 2011
21st to 23rd of September, Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa, Queensland

Towards Fire Resilience in Suburban Morphology

2011-06-19T14:34:00.001+10:00

Dr Alan March

Australian settlements have a long history of interactions with the natural processes of bushfire.

However, fires are highly variable in terms of their direction, intensity and impacts due to variations in weather, vegetation, terrain and other local circumstances such as active defence. Further, the nature of fires’ interactions with human settlements are impacted upon significantly by the nature of settlements themselves. Accordingly, it is not surprising that core principles of urban morphology relating to bushfire attack have not been developed.

This paper will report the results of analysis into urban morphology factors relating to the impacts of fire in suburban edge settings. A methodology for analysing key built form elements relating to bushfire is established, with reference to extant design principles in Australia and overseas. A brief overview of the Bendigo 2009 fire is then provided to illustrate the broader features of the ways fire commonly interacts with the urban edges.

Based on case study and statistical analysis of key urban form features, results are then set out, arguing that density, site coverage and settlement form have influenced outcomes relating to house loss in bushfire events. It is argued that particular forms of settlement may significantly increase the risks associated with exposure to wildfire interface areas, although caution is required to ensure that the site specific nature of fire risks are taken into account.

The paper draws conclusions to consider the results’ in terms of urban design principles for residential subdivisions in bushfire-prone areas. This appraisal has considerable implications for the design of residential subdivisions in bushfire-prone areas, as well as the potential for remedial actions to improve bushfire risks in existing areas

Dr Alan March, Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne

The 4th International Urban Design Conference 2011,
21st to 23rd of September, Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa, Queensland

Integrated Approach of Sustainability and Climate Change Adaptation in a Metro Project

2011-06-03T20:51:00.000+10:00

Designing a metro system in the age of climate change provides the opportunity to go way beyond standard specifications and compliance, creating exceptional sustainable and climate resilient design outcomes.

This paper will review the methodology used to integrate environmentally sustainable principles and climate change adaptation designs, within the concept development phase of the Melbourne Metro Underground Rail Project.

The initial brief requested that all aspects of work should give consideration to the minimization of environmental and social impacts of construction, operation and maintenance, and that the design needs to consider future impacts of climate change.

The problem here was that the technical advisory team were asked to provide solutions within the project for an issue that had no clear definition. The team could have addressed minimal requirements for the sake of policy, however the team chose a more comprehensive impactful approach, and in so doing set new industry benchmarks.

Plus, to address all the sustainability opportunities in a job of this magnitude it is important to consider the broader impact on communities, using the triple bottom line approach as a fundamental principle, because in reality this is not just an underground rail project connecting the west of Melbourne to South Yarra Station. It impacts the cityscape, social activities, economy and urban development, businesses and the quality of ambient environment space around stations. There is also the positive legacy for the life of the network to be considered, 100 years hence, for future generations.

There were a number of challenges. Challenges where changed into opportunities, and the sustainable design outcomes are unprecedented in any previous metro, underground or infrastructure projects in the world. Achieving this outcome required a totally new innovative way of thinking, making sure that consideration was given to sustainable design and the resilience to climate change.

Mr Phillip Roös, Sustainable Design Practice Leader, Sinclair Knight Merz

The 4th International Urban Design Conference 2011
21st to 23rd of September, Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa, Queensland

The resilience of our major cities in the national context

2011-05-20T10:02:00.000+10:00

Since the establishment of the Major Cities Unit three years ago, the Australian Government has become increasingly involved in cities. What impact will its policies have on planning and urban design in Australia, and what is the role of urban design professionals in this context?

The centrepiece of the Australian Government’s contribution is the National Urban Policy, which establishes a national approach to urban development and investment in our cities. The central premise of the policy is the need to address complex challenges such as population growth and demographic change; the security of our water, energy and food; keeping up with advances in technology and communication; maintaining our productivity and prosperity within the global-socioeconomic context; and reducing our vulnerability to environmental hazards, climate-change and human-induced events.

We need to continually work to maximise the opportunities our cities present, and to also adapt and minimise the exposure of our cities and regions to risks. The National Urban Policy sets out the framework for addressing this within the national context. The Council of Australian Governments, which is made up of the Australian Government and each of the State and Territory governments, has agreed that by 2012 all capital cities will have nationally-agreed strategic planning systems in place.

The objective of these reforms is ‘to ensure Australian cities are globally competitive, productive, sustainable, liveable and socially inclusive and are well placed to meet future challenges and growth.’ The report is due to be submitted to COAG in December this year. One of the nine criteria agreed to by COAG is that the strategic planning systems must ‘encourage world-class urban design and architecture.’ As part of the Commonwealth’s contribution to this criterion, it has been developing an Australian Urban Design Protocol in partnership with government, industry professionals, academics and community stakeholders.

Ms Sara Stace, Director National Urban Policy, Major Cities Unit

4th International Urban Design Conference
21 - 23 September 2011 - Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa

Building the World's first 100% Sustainable Global Infrastructure

2011-05-04T14:31:00.000+10:00

We are on the brink of a mandatory paradigm shift in everything we do, provoked by the imminent disappearance of petroleum and the requirement that we slow and reverse global climate change! We must convert from petroleum to 100% sustainable and renewable energy sources, starting with our cities, which will rapidly die without the food sourced by the 95% petroleum inputs that our current system requires! Why not consider linear cities that provide a far greater perimeter than our roughly circular cities, which have the minimum that is mathematically possible. These differences are compounded when you stack floors on top of each other to create vertical cities, which become impossible when all their inhabitants must walk into fields to grow their own crops because there is no more petroleum to produce the food and bring it to where people can eat it! Linear Cities can be built at right angles to prevailing wind directions, where everyone can walk into fields to grow their own food, and to supply those who are still stuck in existing cities, and towers! They can both power, and be supplied by high-, medium and low-speed speed rail, which are the only form of transportation outside of ships and electric vehicles that can be driven by wind, and which use only about 1/3 of the energy/passenger mile of cars and aircraft. Wind turbines along the top edge of the north to south linear city capture the energy of the wind that has accelerated as it passes over its 3 – 5 stories. Our current motorways can be used to deliver building materials to the cities just alongside them, and we can start by installing conventional wind turbines first, followed by both high-speed rail and a “high temperature” superconducting induction track/grid in the roadway to drive electric vehicles.

Mr Kim Gyr, Green Millennium, United States of America
4th International Urban Design Conference - 22 - 23 September 2011

Local Ecommerce & the Shape of Places

2011-04-21T15:47:00.000+10:00

2011 may be remembered for some dramatic natural disasters and their impacts on our urban environments but, another tipping point is underway that may well be even more dramatic as it provides a ‘once in a generational’ opportunity to transform regional settlements.

Local Ecommerce has arrived and it is driven by the passionate embrace of all consumers (city & bush) of purchasing goods and services over the internet.

The remarkable and unheralded penetration of smart phones and social media has created a new consumer force that is reshaping the sustainability of urban communities. This is a verdant expression of the new power of consumers as we move from a transactional economy to one of relationships and reputation. Businesses who miss this trend will fail and urban design that ignores this shift will provide urban form that is irrelevant to the future and condemn communities to economic and social decline.

This paper will draw from current practice to explore and reveal the latest insights to how urban design needs to respond and shape places to nurture a new economy based on knowledge and experience.

Robert Prestipino,Director, Vital Places
The 4th International Urban Design Conference 2011 - Resilience in Urban Design
22nd and 23rd of September, Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa, Queensland