News
18 August 2017
Welcome to the second issue of the Centre for Urban Research Urban Observer magazine.
Blog
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
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
14 August 2017
A new RMIT study finds that ‘smart home’ devices may not be as bright as we thought.
Media
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.