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Category Archives: Urban Design

Liveable Communities Through Engagement, Culture & Connection

It is every conservationist’s goal to bring nature back to urban areas. Life begins with nature, yet sometimes it needs a little help to keep thriving. Our current economic crisis is not deterring organisations in continuing vital conservationist work, and many are teaming up together to push forward with finding the best ways to achieve environmental and cultural sustainability. Webinar 3 of the Liveable Cities Conference: Webinar Series 2020 will take this focus on Tuesday 23rd of June, with three keynote speakers delivering an incredible line-up. CLICK HERE for the program details and read below for a glimpse of what …

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Long Term Planning with Liveable Communities in Mind

Long-term community planning is vital for our liveable cities to prosper. Organisations involved in their community’s infrastructure must be able to look ahead and construct plans where anticipated. Change is not only considered but prepared for in advance. We cannot always know what the future holds, as we have recently discovered through unanticipated change and subsequent adaptation. However, the last few months have not deterred Australians from continuing to practice and strive for the future of the sustainable movement. New bike paths have already been put into future planning, due to increased demand. Transport Secretary Rodd Staples mentioned in an …

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Architectural Design Making a Positive Impact on Sustainability in your Liveable City

If you are faced with the question; “Are you part of a liveable city”, would you know how to answer? Many would consider any city that they live in as a liveable city, but what does that really mean? The answer revolves around a few simple words that some of us are well versed with, while others are not. – sustainability, conservation, environmentally friendly, eco-friendly and carbon friendly (to name a few). Creating a more liveable city comes down to several factors, beginning with residential and commercial designs that offer sustainable features. Modern technology is now proving that there are …

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Is it time to move beyond the limits of ‘built environment’ thinking?

The constructed world around us provides the stage for our daily life. The term “built environment” is in the past tense, describing a scenario after the fact. What does it actually mean beyond the obvious connotation of buildings and parks? Yet when we pay respect at a formal occasion to the traditional peoples of Australia it is generally referred to as Acknowledgement of Country. Here we acknowledge the environment (country) first and then the custodians of it. Today we are at pains to integrate environmental concerns into our building efforts. We are discussing how to meet climate targets, reduce heat island …

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New developments in Victoria to harness photovoltaic glass, battery power

Melbourne will be home to not one but two Australia-first initiatives to make living in an apartment cheaper and more environmentally sustainable. Tenants in apartment buildings could soon have access to solar power and battery storage if a new government-funded initiative is successful. Energy company Ovida will use $980,000 from the state government to retrofit three yet-to-be-selected buildings with solar panels on their roofs and connect extra power-infrastructure like batteries. That would produce power they would sell back to residents for a cheaper rate than grid power. The service would have no upfront cost, and the body corporate could buy the …

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Making a global agenda work locally for healthy, sustainable living in tropical Australia

Life in the tropics is often seen as “living in paradise”, a place where everything grows and flourishes. This picture-postcard environment is not the year-round reality. At certain times of year, intense heat, humidity and the wet season affect liveability, making outdoor activity unattractive and thereby reducing social cohesion. Urban living can already be pretty insular these days. People move from temperature-controlled houses to temperature-controlled cars to temperature-controlled offices, and vice versa. There’s no need to talk to anyone really. And exercise? It’s something you try to fit in if you can – but you probably don’t. An ideal city …

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Locals call for a ‘High Line’ on Sydney’s north shore

Residents of the Sydney suburb of Lavender Bay are pushing for a linear park to be developed along side a historic rail line that would provide a pedestrian link between Lavender Bay and Waverton Station. Established in 2016, the Sydney Harbour High Line Association describes itself as “a group of like-minded people that sees the importance of building on the amenities to support the huge growth in the number of people living in Sydney in general and the lower north shore in particular.” According to the Mosman Daily, earlier in April the association met with a State Government committee, where it presented its detailed plans …

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Urban Runoff and Water Sustainability in Urban Design

The issue of conserving our environment is a complex one. While reducing our material usage, reusing what already exists and recycling other products are all valuable steps towards reducing the impacts of climate change, they cannot be the only strategies adopted in an integrated approach. Sustainability is not just a matter of products. A holistic approach must also encompass how the built environment responds to its context and to its inherent natural processes. This is more important than ever, as extreme weather events become more frequent, placing extra stress on – and accelerating the degradation of – both our natural …

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How to include physical activity related health benefits in the economics of urban planning

Belen Zapata-Diomedi, Lennert Veerman. Attributes of the built environment, such as street connectivity, diversity of land uses and transportation infrastructure can positively influence physical activity of urban populations, which results in health and economic benefits. However, decisions within the built environment are usually made without a full consideration of health outcomes. While health effects related to road trauma and exposure to poor air quality are included in the appraisal process in the transport sector, physical activity is not assessed on a routine basis. This incomplete picture may result in a bias towards built environments that are not supportive of physical …

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Transformative Urban Development Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Marc Bartsch BTRP M.L.Arch RPIA RLA Since the delivery of the presentation ‘Public Transport Revolution: The Making of Place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’ in Brisbane in 2015, work on the Riyadh Metro has continued at a rapid pace, and by early 2017 most of the required tunnelling is complete. At the surface, throughout the city there are numerous access shafts and structures which will provide for station access. The disruption to the already chaotic traffic of testosterone fuelled Riyadh (remember only men can drive, badly) is not really evident. A few advertisements in the city newspapers was the sum of …

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