
Implementation of the New Urban Agenda on a local level: An effective methodology for human-centred urban design
In 2018 David Sellars and I, along with Planz Town Planning, Milford Planning, Cairns Regional Council, Townsville City Council, Richard Briggs, and Chuck Wolfe, as our Fulbright expert, organised and hosted an Urban Thinkers Campus, a UN-Habitat World Urban Campaign initiative (I wrote about it here and here).
We recently reported our engagement method in a publication in the Journal of Urbanism, as per abstract below.
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BASC Lab on the news
USC has recently published a media release about the Bioclimatic and Sociotechnical Cities (BASC) Lab which is led by Dr Nicholas Stevens and myself, and is part of the university’s School of Law and Society and the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems.
The BASC Lab is focused both on teaching and research, and will help us to enhance a human-centred approach to urban design and town planning by considering the many factors of the physical environment that impact on people.
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Australian Urban Design Guidelines: What do we know and what can we learn?
I have recently co-authored an article focused on existing Urban Design Guidelines in Australia. The article has been recently published in the Australian Planner.
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Urban Heat: Mapping temperature in Ipswich
Professor Karine Dupré and I are undertaking a survey to enhance the understanding of Urban Heat Islands (UHI) on the Ipswich (Queensland, Australia). The information provided about local areas within Ipswich will be considered in steps to reduce UHI through urban design and other methods.
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Why isn’t New Zealand part of Australia anyway?
This is a very interesting short video about why New Zealand is (not!) a State of Australia… Read more…

The Integration of Safety Values and Measures in the Design of Resilient Public Spaces / A Integração de Valores e Medidas de Segurança no Projeto de Espaços Públicos Resilientes
For a few years now I’ve had the goal of publishing at least one article per year in Portuguese, my mother tongue. In 2020 I had the great pleasure of publishing an article in the Projectare journal, which is published in my alma mater UFPel. Read more…
Urban design policy recommendations for mitigating the human health risks associated with heatwaves
Ryan McNeilly-Smith and I are undertaking a research project on how urban design solutions can assist in mitigating the human health risks associated with extreme heat events. Read more…

‘Urbanismo’ in Australia and Brazil: Differences and opportunities
I would like to start this text by clarifying, as Michael Hebbert did in one of my favorite articles on this topic: ‘urban planning is Anglo-Saxon, urbanism is Latin’. Australia follows the Anglo-Saxon model, Brazil follows the Latin model. Urban planning is process and regulation, urbanism is physical space. Read more…
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
A little snippet of beautiful Brisbane’s central area. Read more…

Good morning…
Just breathe…. Read more…