Archive for September, 2007

New Urbanism, an urban design concept that began in the United States over 20 years ago, has created ripples and division of opinions there and in many developed worlds over the years, including Australia. It has also found favour in certain parts of UK, Australia and United States, with New Urbanism principles found in urban […]

The current local government & planning reforms in Queensland are designed to shift planning to a new ‘regional’ level through the amalgamation of many local Councils into regional ‘communities of interest’ (http://www.strongercouncils.qld.gov.au/Home.aspx), with increased planning controls at state government rather than local government level, & water resources brought under state control (http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/water/reform/pdf/info_paper2.pdf).
Debate still rages over […]

One would have to be living under a rock to not have noticed the incredible shift in public appreciation and understanding of the reality of climate change and push towards sustainability, at both a community and government level. Yet despite this swing in attitudes, getting renewable energy developments “across the line”, to combat one of […]

Liveable neighbourhoods are based on new urbanism principles and have innovative design to improve residents’ lifestyles and building the community. They promote ‘nodal’ development; support the use of public transport, and walkable neighbourhood clustering. Transit-oriented development (TOD) is an important component, as are main street commercial and medium density residential developments.
Lots are orientated […]

In a recent international poll as part of the 2007 World Environment review, 86.4% of Australians were concerned about climate change (GMI: 2007). There is now a high level of acceptance that ‘climate change is real’ and to ensure our own survival, we need to do something about it. The strong […]