Working out what makes a good community where young children can thrive

23 October 2018

Stimulating and positive environments early in life provide optimal foundations for children’s ongoing development into adulthood. This in turn makes a difference to the productivity of society at large.

One reason people install smart home tech is to show off to their friends

26 September 2018

Ever wondered what all the fuss is about when it comes to smart homes? You’re not alone.

When falling home ownership and ageing baby boomers collide

25 September 2018

Until now, the majority of older people in Australia have achieved the goal of owning their own home outright. Hence, policymakers have typically shown little concern about the size and budget costs of rental housing assistance programs for seniors.

Business as usual? The Sustainable Development Goals apply to Australian cities too

19 September 2018

We are still settling Australian cities on unceded Aboriginal lands. With the global agreement on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, development has finally come home to the developed world.

Melbourne or Sydney? This is how our two biggest cities compare for liveability

09 September 2018

The question of which city is the most liveable is an annual hot topic. Competition is fierce, especially between Melbourne and Sydney.

How liveable is Melbourne really? New report settles the score

A new report measuring Melbourne’s liveability progress calls for a redistribution of employment across the city to reduce commute times, ease traffic congestion and encourage more physical activity.

RMIT research inspires community gardening for wildlife state-wide

04 September 2018

The new community initiative Gardens for Wildlife, based on RMIT research, will serve as a role-model across Victoria to encourage gardening to support local wildlife.

Researchers inviting participants for transport project

22 August 2018

A team of researchers at RMIT University are seeking interview participants for the project “Early delivery of equitable and healthy transport options in new suburbs: Critical reform and tools”.

Tokyo’s heatwave suggests risky temperatures for the 2020 Olympics. Here’s what the city can do

21 August 2018

The Northern Hemisphere is currently suffering an unprecedented heatwave. In Japan, more than 100 people have died and tens of thousands more are in hospital due to heat-related illness.

The world’s ‘most liveable city’ title isn’t a measure of the things most of us actually care about

15 August 2018

These rankings are based on The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index, which “assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions”.

Buy, protect, resell: Revolving natural heritage protection?

10 August 2018

Finding ways to conserve and protect heritage assets on privately owned and managed property is an ongoing challenge for policy makers.

Rethinking ‘place’ in more-than-human cities

Connecting people with place is a popular and appealing pursuit in Australian cities.

Creating healthy cities for all needs collaborACTION

There is over 30 years of research on how aspects of the built environment can be shaped to support health and wellbeing. Despite knowing better, we are still building neighbourhoods without public transport, good parks and footpaths.

Why public Wi-Fi? The rise of public networks in Australia

Investment in public Wi-Fi provision by Australian local government authorities (LGAs) has surged in recent years. But why do LGAs choose to operate public networks, and what are these networks used for?

Informal greenspaces: Values, perceptions and use

Apart from formal parks and gardens, street verges and other planned greenspaces, most cities have pockets of unplanned vegetation and leftover open spaces, including vacant lots, railway verges and drainage channels.

Filling the space between trams and place

How is movement and place represented across Melbourne’s tram network?

Implementing sustainability in the built environment

09 August 2018

Why we should be challenging the status quo to increase the role and effectiveness of the building and planning system in delivering sustainable cities

Ask not what nature can do for you

In our recent paper, we ponder whether the increasingly prevalent trend for framing nature in terms of ecosystem services is actually helping to build public engagement in conservation.

August 2018 edition of The Urban Observer out now

With Australia’s population reaching 25 million this month, the liveability of our cities has become critically important for our national prosperity and sustainability.

How many people make a good city? It’s not the size that matters, but how you use it

08 August 2018

Australia’s population clock is, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, steadily ticking away at an overall total population increase of one person every 1 minute and 23 seconds.

Embracing the chaos

06 August 2018

By transcending disciplinary boundaries researchers can reconceptualise human-nature relations. Issues of the scale of mass species extinctions or climate change are never going to be solved by a single discipline acting alone. 

Sydney liveability scorecard reveals urban wins and fails

24 July 2018

A new report measuring Sydney’s liveability progress has found that the city is struggling to meet its public transport targets, but other Australian capitals should aim to replicate its ambitious policies.

Empty car parks everywhere, but nowhere to park. How cities can do better

20 July 2018

It’s a familiar story in Australian cities: a new apartment building is proposed, and debate soon follows about whether the new residents will have enough public transport or coffee shops. Just kidding.

Urban researcher wins Graduate Women Victoria scholarship

18 July 2018

RMIT PhD student Ani Landau-Ward has been awarded the prestigious William and Elizabeth Fisher Scholarship for her research on property registration for marginalised communities.