Professor Marco Amati

Marco Amati is a Professor in International Planning. He teaches and coordinates “The Urban Age” course (HUSO2341) and History of Planning (ARCH1412), for the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies.

While mainly focusing on trees and green spaces within urban environments, Marco is also interested in e-planning, urban agriculture, planning history and Asian cities.

Marco was Chief Investigator with Rob Freestone (UNSW) on an ARC Discovery Grant: DP120101732 (2011-2013). $152,000 Exhibitionism: codifying and communicating planning culture in Australia 1913–1951.

He is currently leading an ARC Discovery Grant: DP 150103135 “Seeing the good for the trees: remotely sensing the urban forest” with Cris Brack (ANU) and Steve Livesley (University of Melbourne)

He has supervised four Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students to completion and has been involved in the supervision of many other students. He was in charge of the administration of the ~70 HDR student experience for students in the Department of Environment and Geography (Macquarie University) 2009–2013.

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Urban planning history, ageing and planning, e-planning and the internet, Urban green spaces, Urban trees, Urban forest, Land reform in developing countries, Community planning and gambling, Eye-tracking and urban spaces.

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Projects

Regional Liveability

2018 (ongoing)

This project investigates the impacts on the lived experience of people in major Australian cities, focusing on the effects of land-use, diffuse air pollution, transport, urban heat and the interconnections between them.

Improved Urban Systems for Liveability

2016–2021

This project investigates how major cities function and the effects of their land-use, housing and infrastructure systems on the humans that live in them.

The Benefits of a Walk in the Park: eye-tracking participant views of films of parks

2014–2016

What do office workers in Melbourne look at when going for a walk in the park? This study examines the differences in what men, women and people with different levels of nature appreciation look at in films of walks through Melbourne’s parks.

Seeing the good from trees: remotely sensing the urban forest

2015–2017

We are trying to understand how to efficiently measure the benefits of the urban forest in Australian cities.

News & Blog

News

How can urban and environmental planning shape a post-pandemic future?

04 October 2020

The adversities of COVID-19 have no doubt changed the way we think about our environments. Here, our teachers discuss the role urban, regional and environmental planning has in shaping a post-pandemic future.

News

Celebrating our deep-rooted love for trees

30 July 2020

Givers of oxygen, providers of shade and shelters to our native wildlife – reasons to love trees never grows old.

News

Smart city tech keeps Bendigo residents cool by mapping hot spots

11 December 2019

A new smart technology platform launched today in Bendigo will help residents keep cool this summer by mapping the location of urban hot spots in the city to avoid on hot days.

News

Tackling urban heat

13 August 2019

Students on an RMIT Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) study tour in Barcelona have developed strategies to tackle urban heat – a growing challenge for cities around the world as urban populations increase.

Blog

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.

Blog

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.

News

New plant app a force of nature at international internet awards

03 May 2018

A new virtual greening app, based on research from RMIT and the University of Melbourne, has won both the People’s Voice and the Judge's Webby Award – the ‘internet’s highest honour’.

Blog

We’re investing heavily in urban greening, so how are our cities doing?

28 September 2017

Governments at all levels invest a lot in greening Australian suburbs. Yet, in a recent report, we show that the greening efforts of most of our metropolitan local governments are actually going backwards.

Media

Urban hotspots: why poorer suburbs can be 10C hotter

26 September 2017

Poor and disadvantaged Australian suburbs risk having urban hotspots that are more than 10 degrees higher than those found in greener, wealthier areas, an RMIT University study has found.

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

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.

Blog

The Panopticons are coming! And they’ll know when we think the grass is greener

22 August 2016

Does a walk in the park during your lunch break make you feel relaxed? Does lush greenery or a glint of sunlight on running water catch your eye and allow you to stare and rest your brain?

Publications

The city and the super-organism: A history of naturalism in urban planning

Offers a timely contribution building on recent works that demonstrate the power of ‘biological thinking’

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Urban Vegetation Cover Change in Melbourne 2014-2018

Professor Joe Hurley, Mr Alex Saunders, Dr Alan Both, Dr Chayn Sun, Dr Bryan Boruff, Dr John Duncan, Professor Marco Amati, Dr Peter Caccetta

RMIT Centre for Urban Research

View Publication

The seven lamps of planning for biodiversity in the city

Kirsten M. Parris, Professor Marco Amati, Professor Sarah Bekessy, Danielle Dagenais, Ole Fryd, Amy K. Hahse, Dominique Hes, Samantha J. Imberger, Stephen J. Livesley, Adrian J. Marshall, Jonathan R. Rhodes, Caragh G. Threlfall
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