Urban Design – SILVIA TAVARES

Urban Design Solutions for Ameliorating Urban Heat Island Effect in Townsville, Queensland

Along with Professor Karine Dupre from Griffith University, and in collaboration with Townsville City Council, we are undertaking a research project investigating urban microclimates in Townsville (Queensland, Australia).

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.

Urban design and planning policy to mitigate heat-related health risks

A recent USC media release featured one of my PhD students’ work. Ryan McNeilly Smith has been working in the BASC Lab for just over one semester. He is investigating what urban planning and design policy for heat and urban climates may look like in Queensland.

Integrating Green Infrastructure with Accessible Design to Reduce Heat Stress on Seniors

As part of a project led by Professor Claudia Baldwin which is analysing ways of planning and integrating green infrastructure to mitigate heat stress in aged care facilities located in the Sunshine Coast, we have published a short commentary paper in the Interface section of Planning Theory and Practice.

Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Public Spaces through a Systems Modelling Approach

Even though we have had already a few publications out of our Urban Design and Town Planning in response to COVID-19 project, I realised I failed to publish here about this one. This paper came out a while ago in the Special Issue 2020: A Year without Public Space under the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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.

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.

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.

The adaptive capacity of public space under COVID‐19: Exploring urban design interventions through a sociotechnical systems approach

COVID‐19 had a dramatic impact on public spaces. New approaches to urban design are needed and in this work we provide insights to reestablish access to public spaces while ensuring they remain available under all conditions.

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 designer with a background in architecture, urbanism, and building and city science. Brazilian national. Senior Lecturer in Urban Design and Town Planning at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Affiliate member of PIA and registered architect and urbanist in Brazil.

Passionate about interfaces between urbanism, landscape and architecture. Interested in providing evidence through research to produce public open spaces that are thermally comfortable and economically effective, while promoting the good health of users and the natural environments that surround them.

For more information see the 'about' page on the menu above.

All opinions and points of view expressed in this website are my own and do not reflect employer or colleagues' opinions.