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.
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…
QPIA – 2017 Tropical North Queensland Planning Symposium
The 2017 Tropical North Queensland Planning Symposium took place yesterday (30th May) at JCU. Read more…
For more central cities and downtowns, and less CBDs
CBD is one of those Western World ‘take for granted expressions’. Perhaps because I come from a country where CBDs are uncommon – yes, there are the ‘Brasilias’ and ‘Palmas’ of Brazil, but ‘normal’ cities have city centres, and a lot of people live in these areas. Read more…
“They will be spacious, park-like, and uncrowded. They will feature long green vistas. They will be stable and symmetrical and orderly. They will be clean, impressive and monumental. They will have all the attributes of a well-kept dignified cemetery.”
Sustainability and higher density vs cultural identity in New Zealand
Density has been seen as a good solution for cities. We know higher density saves distances. More people living in the same place implies more environmental, social and economic sustainability. There is also the need to preserve land, and therefore save space. The more the cities grow horizontally, the larger the impact on natural systems. But does this also take into account cultural sustainability? And what is the importance of urban culture after all? Read more…
When informal space appropriation takes the architects’ role
I recently watched Iwan Baan TED Talk entitled Ingenious homes in unexpected places. Iwan Baan is a photographer interested in how we humans appropriate unplanned or unfinished spaces. Read more…
