News

August edition of The Urban Observer – a new magazine by CUR

18 August 2017

Welcome to the second issue of the Centre for Urban Research Urban Observer magazine.

Blog

What the baby bonus boost looks like across ten years

15 August 2017

The baby bonus did its job, encouraging people to have more children at a time when fertility rates were low, our research finds. Given Australian men and women desire 1.5 more children than they actually have, it might be time to consider policies like this again.

Blog

‘Smart home’ gadgets promise to cut power bills but many lie idle – or can even boost energy use

14 August 2017

“Smart” home control devices promise to do many things, including helping households reduce their energy bills. However, our research published today suggests that these devices are not the “easy” answer to energy management.

News

Smart home control – is the reality as bright as its promise?

14 August 2017

A new RMIT study finds that ‘smart home’ devices may not be as bright as we thought.

Media

Smart home technology: not the brightest way to save energy

14 August 2017

A new study by RMIT University has found smart home control devices may actually increase energy use rather than cutting it, with households using them more for lifestyle benefits than to save power.

News

New study exposes the sacrifices families make to pay energy bills

11 August 2017

A new report by the Victorian Council of Social Service and the RMIT Centre for Urban Research shows the struggles and sacrifices Australians on low-incomes are making to stay connected to power.

Blog

This is how regional rail can help ease our big cities’ commuter crush

07 August 2017

In Sydney and Melbourne, the squeeze is on. Population is booming; house prices are still rising; roads and trains are congested. Australian governments generally have ignored the benefits of relating metropolitan and regional planning.

News

Cultivation of a food sharing culture in Barcelona

24 July 2017

RMIT and Trinity College Dublin researcher Dr Ferne Edwards has spent the past few months harvesting food, distributing organic goods and joining strangers around communal dinner tables.

Blog

The National Electricity Market has served its purpose – it’s time to move on

21 July 2017

Despite the creation of a new Energy Security Board to try to hold regulators and policy makers to account, the ability of the present structure to deliver is uncertain.

Blog

Low-energy homes don’t just save money, they improve lives

21 July 2017

Household energy use is a significant contributor to global carbon emissions. International policy is firmly moving towards technology-rich, low- and near-zero-energy homes.

Blog

Five lessons from Tokyo, a city of 38m people, for Australia, a nation of 24m

11 July 2017

The release of 2016 Census data provides a good opportunity to reflect on the future growth of Australian cities. And what better example of the future to use than Tokyo?

Blog

Australians are working longer so they can pay off their mortgage debt

29 June 2017

Rising mortgage debt is affecting everything from employment to spending, as Australians approach retirement, our study finds. Higher levels of housing debt among pre-retirees are linked to them working for longer.

Blog

Airport rail link can open up new possibilities for the rest of Melbourne

29 June 2017

Melburnians have been talking about a train to Tullamarine Airport since well before it opened. Now Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made clear his enthusiasm for an airport rail line, with or without state government support.

News

RMIT inspires Bangkok city planners tackling livability issues

26 June 2017

RMIT has hosted delegates from Bangkok Metropolitan Government, with the University’s urban experts helping guide innovative solutions for livability challenges facing the Thai capital.

Blog

Who’s responsible? Housing policy mismatched to our $6 trillion asset

22 June 2017

Does the Australian government have the policy, organisational and conceptual capacity to handle the country’s A$6 trillion housing stock?

Media

New study urges for housing to be better recognised in economic policy

21 June 2017

A new study led by RMIT researchers calls for stronger coordination between governments on housing policy to better understand the $6 trillion sector’s contributions to national economic productivity.

Blog

Climate change – an opportunity to rethink, restore and reboot

16 June 2017

While climatic changes can be hard to put a finger on, many farmers agree that their rules of thumb for how weather behaves and seasons unfold increasingly feels a bit wobbly.

Blog

Three charts on: Australia’s declining taste for beef and growing appetite for chicken

09 June 2017

Australians were once world champion beef-eaters but now you’re much more likely to find chicken than steak on Australian dinner tables.

Blog

When will the democracy deliver ‘car independence’ day in Yangon

08 June 2017

At the dawn of the 21st century, planners around the world will consider a new agenda for cities. They would shrug off the dimly remembered nightmare of snaking concrete highways and smog-occluded horizons.

News

New study suggests financial wellbeing policy design needs overhaul

06 June 2017

As financial inequality worsens in Australia, a new study suggests that the ways to measure and understand what impacts individuals’ financial wellbeing must adjust to focus beyond their circumstances.

News

No dress rehearsal: why we must act now to save our cities

30 May 2017

Billie Giles-Corti knows what makes cities liveable. And she says we need to work together to design better urban spaces for everyone.

Blog

Get used to your commute: data confirms houses near jobs are too expensive

26 May 2017

Australia’s capital cities are getting more and more units, that are largely concentrated and come with a hefty price tag, a new report shows.

News

RMIT leads the conversation on climate change and the future of cities

25 May 2017

RMIT is teaming up with industry in Europe to plan for the impacts of climate change on cities, such as droughts and flooding, and to take stock of what city leaders around the world are doing.

News

Urban researchers shape Federal Budget plans for affordable housing

23 May 2017

Research to help reduce the financing costs for community housing providers by RMIT and the Australian Housing for Urban Research Institute (AHURI) is shaping national plans to improve housing affordability.