CfP – SI on Public health and well-being in public open spaces through climate responsive urban planning and design
I have been co-editing a special issue (SI) for the Journal of Public Space on Planning and Design for Public Health and Well-being through climate responsive design. The intention is to have this SI published in December 2019. Read more…
Thinkers in the Tropical Shade: Empowering Lessons for Livable Places
Last June, Chuck Wolfe, David Sellars and I published an article on Planetizen about the fundamental relationships at the heart of urban public health and livability, particularly in tropical Australia. In this article we discuss the importance of context, the relevance of the UN-Habitat New Urban Agenda, the Urban Thinkers Campuses recently hosted by JCU (Understanding Cairns and Townsville through the urban diary tool), place-based urban planning and design and the lessons learned so far.
Presentation at the IPWEAQ 2018 Conference
A few weeks ago, on the 19th April, I presented a 3-part project I have been working on at the IPWEAQ 2018 Conference (Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia North Queensland Branch), here in Cairns. Read more…
Urban Thinkers Campus – Cairns and Townsville, Australia
James Cook University‘s College of Science and Engineering and College of Public Health, Medical & Vet Sciences, through myself and David Sellars, with the full support of Nikki Huddy from Planz, have been organising an Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) framed around the topic of urban planning and design and public health. The UTC entitled ‘Urban Health and Livability in Tropical Australia through urban diaries and community engagement’ will take place on the 8th June in Cairns and 15th June in Townsville, and they are both day-long events (see preliminary schedule here). Read more…
Uruguay, or the ‘Switzerland of South America’
On our way to the south of Brazil last November, we flew from Australia to Chile and then to Montevideo in Uruguay. When friends in this part of the world ask me what is the best place in South America I always say the same: Uruguay is its best kept secret. Read more…
Urban Thinkers Campus in Cairns and Townsville
I am very pleased to share the news that our proposal to host two Urban Thinkers Campus in support of the New Urban Agenda at JCU this year – one in Cairns (8th June) and one in Townsville (15th June) – has been approved. Read more…
Urban Comfort: The physical and social landscape as constituent of the climate experience
I recently published a paper entitled “Urban Comfort: The physical and social landscape as constituent of the climate experience” (original in Portuguese: Conforto Urbano: A paisagem física e social como constituinte da experiência climática) in Cadernos do PROARQ. This is a Brazilian journal published in Portuguse by the Postgraduate Program in Architecture at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Read more…
TUDLab Opening Day – 20th October 2017
This is a very exciting week at JCU. A week where our Tropical Urbanism and Design Lab (TUDLab) will come to life. Read more…
A case-based methodology for investigating urban comfort through interpretive research and microclimate analysis in post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand
Simon Swaffield, Emma Stewart, and I recently published in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science a paper titled “A case-based methodology for investigating urban comfort through interpretive research and microclimate analysis in post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand”. Read more…
Melbourne, Victoria
It has been over a month now since we were in Melbourne. I am skeptical of city rankings and have heard a lot about areas of Melbourne that are not that nice, but the city did leave some good impressions. Read more…
