Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Author is External News’ Category

Sep 13

Google architecture and what do you see? And what’s a building without people?

The Conversation, 13 September 2017
Think about where you spend most of your day – home, your office, or university. How does this space make you feel? What do you love (or hate) about it? Our buildings can help or hinder our health and productivity. For example, we can be affected by daylight access, air quality, connection to nature and acoustics. Most complaints about a space – about temperature, noise, odd smells or even how exposed we feel – relate to these factors.

Read more

Aug 28

Renewable energy generates enough power to run 70% of Australian homes

The Guardian, 28 August 2017
Australia’s renewable energy sector is within striking distance of matching national household power consumption, cranking out enough electricity to run 70% of homes last financial year, new figures show. The first Australian Renewable Energy Index, produced by Green Energy Markets, finds the sector will generate enough power to run 90% of homes once wind and solar projects under construction in 2016-17 are completed.
Read more

Aug 28

Green for wellbeing – science tells us how to design urban spaces that heal us

The Conversation, 28 August 2017
One in five Australians will suffer from a mental health issue this year and living in a city makes it far more likely. Research shows that city dwellers have a 20% higher chance of suffering anxiety and an almost 40% greater likelihood of developing depression. Promisingly, however, research has also found that people in urban areas who live closest to the greatest “green space” are significantly less likely to suffer poor mental health.
Read more

Aug 28

Why trams on Sydney’s booming inner west light rail aren’t running more often

Sydney Morning Herald, 27 August 2017
Commuters wondering why trams aren’t running more frequently on Sydney’s inner west light rail line during peak hours despite a boom in passengers can now blame “capacity constraints”. Internal government documents obtained by Fairfax Media show constraints such as “power supply, stabling facilities, single track near Dulwich Hill and fleet size” are limiting a significant increase in services on the line from Central Station to Dulwich Hill during the morning peak, when overcrowding is at its worst.

Read more

Aug 17

Cars, bicycles and the fatal myth of equal reciprocity

The Conversation, 17 August 2017
Any public conversation about on-road cycling in Australia seems to have only one metaphor for the relationship between drivers and cyclists: equal reciprocity. An utterance like “Drivers must respect cyclists’ space on the road” must inevitably be followed by something like “For their part, cyclists must ride responsibly and obey the road rules.”

Read more

Aug 15

Pace of renewable energy shift leaves city planners struggling to keep up

The Conversation, 15 August 2017
Renewable energy is driving profound changes in cities. It’s happening much more quickly than was expected even five years ago. Responding to climate change, networks of decision-makers, such as the C40 collective of major cities, have begun adopting strategies to promote the uptake of renewable energy. Yet land use planning has seemingly begun to lag behind.
Read more

Aug 8

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

The Conversation, 8 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. However, some state governments are now investigating more integrated sectoral and spatial planning strategies, initially through shifting public sector jobs to regional centres.

Read more

Jul 19

Memo to COAG: Australia is already awash with gas

The Conversation, 14 July 2017
Federal, state and territory energy ministers are gathering today in Brisbane for the tenth meeting of the COAG Energy Council. In the wake of the Finkel Review, and against a backdrop of rising electricity and gas prices, they have much to discuss. Some of the focus will certainly be on gas policy and prices. Earlier this week, the federal energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, argued that state governments should develop their onshore gas reserves to relieve pressure on the gas market.

Read more

Jul 18

Gender makes a world of difference for safety on public transport

The Conversation, 18 July 2017
Urban environments are not gender-neutral. Architects and urban designers are increasingly seeking to understand how gender-sensitive design can combat the spatial inequities faced by those who identify as women and girls of all demographics, races and socio-economic groups. Public transport spaces, for instance, incubate many systemic issues. The observable differences between how men and women travel around cities can be attributed to the gendered power hierarchies entrenched in our society. As suggested by a University of California study, this may stem from our long history of gender inequality, which reinforces rigid binary definitions of femininity and masculinity.

Read more

Jul 12

Explainer: what can Tesla’s giant South Australian battery achieve?

The Conversation, 11 July 2017
Last Friday, world-famous entrepreneur Elon Musk jetted into Adelaide to kick off Australia’s long-delayed battery revolution. The Tesla founder joined South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill and the international chief executive of French windfarm developer Neoen, Romain Desrousseaux, to announce what will be the world’s largest battery installation. The battery tender won by Tesla was a key measure enacted by the South Australian government in response to the statewide blackout in September 2016, together with the construction of a 250 megawatt gas-fired power station.
Read more

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
css.php