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The Sydney Opera House celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. This Australian icon was, of course, designed by Danish architect <a href="https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/about/the_architect.aspx">Jørn Utzon</a>, as a result of an international design competition held at a time when many Australians still looked to the northern hemisphere for stylistic guidance and direction; a time when we imported European or American culture.
<img src="/images/stories/2013/11/01/sydney-nov-1-one.jpg" alt="sydney-nov-1-one" style="font-size: 0.8em; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" height="230" width="400">
Photo: stock image
Some 40 years on, we are now exporting culture and Australian architects are designing iconic buildings in other parts of the world, such as the <a href="https://populous.com/profile/rsheard/">2012 London Olympic Park and Stadium</a>, and the <a href="https://www.ptw.com.au/ptw_project/watercube-national-swimming-centre/">Beijing National Aquatics Centre (the Water Cube)</a>.
So is there a unique Australian “style” and, if so, where did it come from?
A backwards glance
In 1788, when British settlers first started arriving in Australia, <a href="https://www.vernaculararchitecture.com/">vernacular</a> Australian architecture (based on localised needs and construction materials) consisted of nomadic shelters, designed and built by indigenous Australians.<img src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/33655/width668/7s324jhv-1382581252.jpg" style="font-size: 0.8em; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400">
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Due to the significant numbers of architects who subsequently moved from England to Australia to join the British colonies, 19th-century Australian architecture quickly changed to be largely Eurocentric in focus.<img src="/images/stories/2013/11/01/450px-Royal_Exhibition_Building_inside1.jpg" alt="450px-Royal_Exhibition_Building_inside1" style="font-size: 0.8em; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" height="534" width="400">
Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition building, built between 1878 and 1880. Wikimedia Commons
During the 20th century, however, buildings started to adapt to respond to Australia’s unique climatic conditions, which offer year-round access to the outdoors. The influence of America saw families seeking to own freestanding houses with backyards, to satisfy their increasing desire to fulfil the “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Dream">Australian Dream</a>”.
In the late 20th century, as Australia started to become more multicultural, derivative designs began to be replaced with imported exotic styles, especially those of South-East Asian influence. Freestanding houses started to be replaced with semi-detached and <a href="https://architectureau.com/articles/residential-architecture-multiple/">high density housing</a>, as urban precincts started to develop.
Challenge accepted
Australian architects are now responding to the unprecedented 21st-century challenges of population growth, preservation of the environment and the threats of climate change.
As architects continue to shape urban precincts and their supporting infrastructure, the design of public space has now importantly changed focus to preserving the quality of both the built and natural environments. The sensitive relationship between buildings and the Australian landscape that hosts them is of critical importance, and something for which we are becoming internationally recognised.
While much of the industrialised world has been in recession for the past few years, Australia’s economy has grown, as have neighbouring Asian economies.
<img src="/images/stories/2013/11/01/Chinas_National_Aquatics_Centre.jpg" alt="Chinas_National_Aquatics_Centre" style="font-size: 0.8em; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" height="231" width="400">
China’s National Aquatics Centre, also known as the ‘Water Cube’, was designed by Australian architects. Wikimedia Commons
Currently, Australia has seven of the <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/330759/">largest 100 architecture practices</a> in the world: <a href="https://www.woodsbagot.com/">Woods Bagot</a>, <a href="https://www.hassellstudio.com/">Hassell</a>, <a href="https://www.coxarchitecture.com.au/">Cox Architecture</a>, <a href="https://www.hboemtb.com/">HBO + EMTB</a>, <a href="https://www.ghd.com/australia/">GHD</a>, <a href="https://www.hamessharley.com.au/">Hames Sharley</a>, and <a href="https://thomsonadsett.com/">Thomson Adsett Architects</a>.
For most of these large practices, income from international projects is actually more than the income generated by domestic projects. Across the whole architectural sector the figure for international income is nearer to 10%, but it is clear that we are now exporting much of our talent, skill and cultural expertise rather than importing it.
The architectural Oscars
So how does Australia compare, architecturally, with the rest of the world? How have we fared in international awards, prizes and festivals such as the prestigious <a href="https://goo.gl/lUrd9f">Pritzker Architecture Prize</a>, the <a href="https://goo.gl/usu9Kk">World Architecture Festival</a>, and the <a href="https://goo.gl/fgP3Fh">Venice Architecture Biennale</a>?
There is just one Pritzker Architecture Prize <a href="https://www.pritzkerprize.com/about/purpose">awarded annually</a> to: honour a living architect/s whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.
<blockquote>
<img src="/images/stories/2013/11/01/jamberoo_0000_11.jpg-one.jpg" alt="jamberoo_0000_11.jpg-one" style="font-size: 0.8em; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" height="194" width="400">
The long Glenn Murcutt-designed Fredericks/<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/the-long-glenn-murcutt-designed-fredericks/white-house-in-jamberoo-listed/2013091264996" target="_blank">White House</a> in Jamberoo
</blockquote>
There has been one Australian recipient of the Pritzker prize in its 35-year existence: <a href="https://www.ozetecture.org/2012/glenn-murcutt/">Glenn Murcutt AO</a> in 2002. His award was based on a career that focused largely on designing houses that responded directly to unique Australian conditions.
Indeed, the period of Murcutt’s foundational work in the latter part of last century coincided with growing international recognition of Australian architecture.
Glenn Murcutt grew up in Papua New Guinea, where he developed an appreciation for simple vernacular architecture and a relationship with nature. He practised sustainability long before it became an architectural buzzword. His design philosophy, <a href="https://www.be.unsw.edu.au/profile/glenn_murcutt-ao">“touch the earth lightly”</a>, motivates him to design in response to environmental factors, using locally-sourced materials and to sensitively fit into the Australian landscape.
<figure class="align-centre"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/images/stories/2013/11/01/walshhouse_0000_1.jpg-one.jpg" alt="walshhouse_0000_1.jpg-one" height="243" width="400"><figcaption>A Glenn Murcutt-designed home in Kangaroo Valley – <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/glenn-murcutt-designed-trophy-home-in-kangaroo-valley-listed-trophyhome/2013061362046" target="_blank">The Walsh House</a> </figcaption></figure>This sensitive attitude to the environment and our tin and timber tradition – a history of functional sheds and beach houses – gained Australia international attention.
Now Australian architects are bringing that same sensitive attitude to larger projects in many parts of the world.
International attention
The <a href="https://www.worldarchitecturefestival.com/">World Architecture Festival</a> is an annual program of awards, jury critiques, and international speakers, all celebrating the best architecture of the past year. It was first held in 2008 in Barcelona but for the past two years has been in <a href="https://goo.gl/Yu1gLY">Singapore</a>.
This annual get-together brings more than 2,000 architects from all over the globe, and exhibits short-listed projects from more than 40 nations to compete for awards in 16 built project categories and 11 future project categories.
In 2013, Australian architects achieved unprecedented levels of success in the World Architecture Festival <a href="https://goo.gl/sN7fJ1">awards program</a>, winning the categories of Culture, House, Transport, Future Infrastructure and Competition Entries.
<figure class="align-centre"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/images/stories/2013/11/01/800px-Auckland_Art_Gallery_-_Extension.jpg" alt="800px-Auckland_Art_Gallery_-_Extension" height="225" width="400"><figcaption>Toi o Tamaki in Auckland, New Zealand won the 2012 RIBA International Award for architectural excellence and the 2013 World Architecture Festival Building of the Year Award. </figcaption></figure>Australian architects also won three of the highest awards. It is also worth noting that two of the three winning projects are outside of Australia:
<ul>
<li>
World building of the year: Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tamaki, New Zealand by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorpe with New Zealand architects Archimedia.
</li>
<li>
Future project of the year: the <a href="https://www.archichannel.com/project/national-maritime-museum-of-china/#link">National Maritime Museum of China</a>, by Cox Architecture
</li>
<li>
Landscape category: The Australian Garden, Australia, by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Paul Thompson.
</li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-right"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/images/stories/2013/11/01/800px-RedSandGarden-Pano-RBG-CranbourneVIC.jpg" alt="800px-RedSandGarden-Pano-RBG-CranbourneVIC" height="128" width="400"><figcaption>The Australian Garden, Australia, by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Paul Thompson.</figcaption></figure>Of the <a href="https://www.tcl.net.au/projects/cultural-interpretative/australian-garden">Landscape category winner</a>, the judges noted that the project “stood out with its originality and strong evocation of Australian identity”.
Of the <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/439260/the-left-over-space-house-cox-rayner-architects/">House</a> category winner, a delightful little timber home in Brisbane, they noted “a realness and authenticity to the spirit of the house”.
It seems, then, that there is definitely an identifiable Australian design identity, something for which we can be recognised and rewarded.
Australian architecture has also been recognised at the <a href="https://goo.gl/aeBVHP">Venice Architecture Biennale</a>. The Biennale is a showcase of cutting-edge contemporary architecture and architectural thinking, through the exhibitions by invited architects, and through the self-curated <a href="https://goo.gl/L8dYjL">national pavilions</a>.
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/33476/area14mp/22tbqmqp-1382441475.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/33476/width668/22tbqmqp-1382441475.jpg" width="400"></a> <figcaption>Entrance to the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Dr. Philip Crowther</figcaption></figure>Australia is one of only 30 nations to exhibit in its own pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. We have done so in a temporary pavilion since 1988, but a new permanent pavilion has been designed by Australian firm <a href="https://www.dentoncorkermarshall.com/">Denton Corker Marshall</a> and will be built soon. The pavilion typically attracts around 90,000 visitors during the Venice Architecture Biennale.
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/33478/area14mp/m6nq3qqp-1382441721.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/33478/width668/m6nq3qqp-1382441721.jpg" width="400"></a> <figcaption>Interior of the Australian Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. Dr. Philip Crowther
 <a style="font-size: 0.8em;" href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/33480/area14mp/vsjjhqzq-1382441779.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/33480/width668/vsjjhqzq-1382441779.jpg" width="400"></a>
</figcaption></figure><figure class="align-centre zoomable"><figcaption>Facade of the Australian Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. Dr. Philip Crowther</figcaption></figure>Global shifts
Perhaps our rough-and-tumble early colonial heritage has served us well in developing a resilient approach to the rapidly changing global environment.
Free of the European notion of heritage and the constraints of ancient cities filled with historic buildings, we have engaged with a greater diversity of perspectives, from Australia’s 40,000 year indigenous history, through a sensitivity to the environment, to the realisation that we are part of a 21st-century Asia.
We are no longer operating on the distant fringes of Europe or America, but now firmly at the centre of a global shift in both economic and cultural perspectives.
 


<hr>
Philip Crowther is head of discipline of architecture at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.qut.edu.au/?">Queensland Universtiy of Technology</a>.
Lindy Osborne is senior lecturer in architecture at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.qut.edu.au/?">Queensland University of Technology</a>.
This article was originally published at <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. <img alt="The Conversation" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/19308/count.gif" style="font-size: 0.8em;" height="1" width="1">
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Building a nation: the state of play in Australian architecture

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Living close to a pokie venue is a risky business. This was a key finding from our <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2012.664159">comprehensive 2010 survey</a> of gambling behaviour in the urban centres of the Northern Territory.

Our research found that if you live close to poker machines you are more likely to gamble – and gamble more often – than someone who lives further away. And the more you play the pokies, the greater your risk of developing gambling problems.
This finding, while perhaps unsurprising, is important because few studies have actually directly tested the relationship between residential proximity to pokie venues and gambling behaviour.
We have known for some years that, in Australia, the more pokies there are in an area, the higher the rate of gambling problems in that area. For example, a <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14459790903257981">2009 meta-analysis</a> of 34 studies in Australia and New Zealand estimated that each 100 poker machines are associated with 80 problem gamblers, as per the graph below. This suggests that the residents of areas with a higher density of pokies are more likely to suffer from the ill-effects of gambling.
 
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36112/area14mp/cqbqdpd2-1385432191.jpg"><img src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36112/width668/cqbqdpd2-1385432191.jpg" width="300"></a> <figcaption> Adapted from https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14459790903257981</figcaption></figure> 
What we haven’t known until now is the specific effect of residential distance from pokie venues on the frequency of visitation, gambling participation, and gambling-related harm. For example, if someone lives 500 metres from a pokie venue, are they actually likely to gamble more – and more likely to develop gambling problems – than someone living ten kilometres away? If so, how much more would they gamble?
At what point, specifically, do venues become “too close to home”?
Methods
To measure the effect of residential proximity to pokies on risk of gambling harm, we sent a questionnaire to every household in the NT to which Australia Post would deliver mail.
We asked over 7000 people which pokie venue they visited most frequently, how often they gambled, and a <a href="https://www.problemgambling.ca/en/resourcesforprofessionals/pages/problemgamblingseverityindexpgsi.aspx">standard set of questions</a> used to measure problem gambling. We then calculated the travel distance by road from each household to all 64 visited pokie venues in our study area.
Because gambling venues tend to <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8470.00127">cluster in poorer suburbs</a>, we adjusted for individual and neighbourhood socio-economic status in all our analyses.
Frequency of venue visitation and distance
We found that the closer you live to a gambling venue, the more often you visit – as per the figure below. Specifically, people who lived 100 metres from their favourite venue visited an estimated average of 3.4 times per month. This compared to an average of 2.8 times per month for people living one kilometre away, and 2.2 times per month for people living ten kilometres away.
This distance effect applied to both casinos and pubs/clubs, although casino patrons tended to visit less frequently than other venue-goers, regardless of the distance to the venue.
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36113/area14mp/hhq38q3g-1385432480.jpg"><img src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36113/width668/hhq38q3g-1385432480.jpg" width="300"></a> <figcaption>Respondents who live closer to their favourite pub or club visit it much more frequently.  </figcaption></figure> 
Gambling participation and distance
Residential distance to venue also plays a significant role in gambling participation. The figure below shows that, for pubs and clubs, the estimated average probability of playing the pokies drops from 31% for someone living 100 metres away from their venue, to 21% for someone living one kilometre away, and down to 14% for someone ten kilometres away.
Put another way, gamblers are more likely to visit venues closer to their homes than non-gamblers.
This distance effect was not evident for casino-goers. While distance played an important role in predicting gambling participation at pubs and clubs – especially within the first five kilometres travelled to the venue – people were just as likely to gamble in a casino regardless of how far they travelled to get there.
 
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36115/area14mp/3fv62nks-1385432808.jpg"><img src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36115/width668/3fv62nks-1385432808.jpg" width="300"></a> <figcaption>Respondents whose favourite venue was close to their home were much more likely to play the pokies on their last visit.</figcaption></figure> 
<h2>Lessons</h2>
The burden of gambling harm falls most heavily upon people who live close to a gambling venue or who visit casinos. The rate of gambling harm in our study among those living within 100 metres of any gambling venue was over 50% higher than among those living ten kilometres from a venue.
The spatial distribution of pokies does impact actual gambling behaviour and therefore gambling harm at the local level. A policy free-for-all that allows the introduction of a greater number of poker machines into more locations is likely to increase the overall rates of problem gambling.
For regulators, more stringent licensing policies which limit the travel distance between pokie venues and residential areas, particular low-income ones, could reduce problem gambling. The Victorian government has suggested <a href="/news">destination-style gambling</a> (that is, concentrating gambling in fewer, larger venues), but in 2008 <a href="/news">discarded the notion</a> on the grounds that problem gambling would not be reduced.
Our research challenges this assumption. Our findings suggest that the removal of pokies from residential areas may decrease gambling harm in the long-run, although as we have <a href="https://theconversation.com/size-really-does-matter-big-pokie-venues-are-the-most-dangerous-16350">noted elsewhere</a>, implementing a destination-style gambling strategy may entail other risks, such as higher rates of problem gambling in large venues.
 
<figure class="align-centre"><img src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36348/width668/2p42hfz9-1385596335.jpg" width="300"><figcaption>Gambling in casinos is less influenced by distance travelled compared to clubs and pubs. AAP/David Crosling</figcaption></figure> 
Our finding that gambling in casinos is less influenced by distance travelled compared to clubs and pubs is significant in the current political climate of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-odds-new-casinos-lead-to-social-harm-19161">intense casino liberalisation</a>. We already know that large venues like casinos are <a href="https://theconversation.com/size-really-does-matter-big-pokie-venues-are-the-most-dangerous-16350">more dangerous</a> than smaller ones. Our current study makes clear that they also have much greater pulling power than smaller venues.
This means that casinos, rather than locating close to low-income suburbs, can rely on their superior attractive power to pull in punters from tens of kilometres away. To attract more gamblers they focus on <a href="https://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2012/01/11/hotel-refurbishment-market-continues-boom-phase/">upgrading their facilities</a>, frequently competing for pokie dollars with hotels and clubs rather than with interstate or international casinos.
And being strategically located, casinos can harvest substantial pokie takings from an entire city. A proliferation of new casinos is likely to lead to an intensified burden of gambling harm across an urban area.
However, for pubs and clubs, our findings suggest that gambling harm can be influenced by their location. Gambling participation can be reduced by keeping pokie venues further away from residential areas, particularly poorer ones. And this is something that, at least in theory, can be influenced by regulators.
Ultimately, for those concerned with limiting the community fallout from poker machines, both increases in the size of venues and their continued dispersal into new venues should be resisted.


<hr>
Martin Young is the lead investigator on ARC Linkages Project LP0990584: Gambling-Related Harm in Northern Australia. In addition to his SCU position, he is an Honorary Fellow at the Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, and a Visiting Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU. 
Bruce Doran was part of a research team that was given funding from Australian Research Council for a project looking at remote area gambling impacts (ARC Linkages Project LP0990584: Gambling-Related Harm in Northern Australia)
Francis Markham does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
This article was originally published at <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/too-close-to-home-people-who-live-near-pokie-venues-at-risk-20771">original article</a>.
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Too close to home: people who live near pokie venues at risk

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Want to help raise the roof on one of Australia’s most iconic assets? Look no further than the Sydney Opera House’s latest public appeal, <a href="https://ownourhouse.com.au/">Own Our House</a>, which launches today.

The Sydney Opera House is undertaking a major fundraising campaign as part of its 40th-anniversary celebrations and wants to use the opportunity to build a “partnership with the community”. For amounts upwards of A$100 benefactors can sponsor a tile on the structure’s tallest “sail”. In return they receive a customisable virtual tile (valid for ten years) and a digital certificate to share on social networks.
The Opera House’s ambitious gambit is the latest line in the burgeoning ledger of postmodern public financing. After all, it’s worked well for filmmakers, musicians, real estate developers and researchers – so why not public infrastructure?
Crowdfunding public infrastructure
The funding of iconic cultural assets is not altogether new.
Joseph Pulitzer famously organised <a href="https://www.libertystatepark.org/statueofliberty/sol3.shtml">a micro-donation campaign</a> to build the Statue of Liberty, for example.
But the introduction of specialised online crowdfunding platforms – more than 500 of them at last count – has spurred a dramatic new era of financial innovation which has now extended to civic projects. Sites such as <a href="https://www.citizinvestor.com/">Citizinvestor</a>, <a href="https://neighbor.ly/">Neighbor.ly</a>, and, in the UK, <a href="https://spacehive.com/">Spacehive</a> allow crowdfunding for community improvement projects.
<a href="https://projexity.com/">Projexity</a> is an urban improvement platform that enables communities to propose, design, determine and fund new neighbourhood projects. And government organisations are also turning to crowdfunding to create opportunities for community change, such as New York City Council’s <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/NYC">Kickstarter initiative</a>.
Among the flagship infrastructure projects supported in large part by online crowdfunding are <a href="https://www.luchtsingel.org/en/">a network of pedestrian bridges</a> in Rotterdam (“the more you donate the longer the bridge”) and most improbably, a <a href="https://www.bdbacata.com/">66-story skyscraper</a> in Bogota, Colombia.
Communal urban development
<a href="https://vimeo.com/42372905#at=0">Described</a> by its architects as “the biggest product in the world” and by crowdfunding commentators as the <a href="https://inhabitat.com/worlds-largest-crowdfunding-campaign-makes-columbias-tallest-building-bd-bacata-a-shimmering-reality/">largest communal real estate campaign</a> in the world, the first skyscraper to be constructed in Bogota in 40 years is now under construction.
More than 3,800 “common Colombians” were enticed by an extensive media campaign inviting them to purchase shares called FiDi’s which entitle them to a portion of ownership and profits. Altogether more than US$170 million was raised (of a required A$240m), all of it possible because of a little known Colombian financial mechanism which allows individual investment in real estate developments and which has in turn created a secondary market for share resale.
 
<figure class="align-centre"><img width="300" src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/37668/width668/m47j5hsm-1386897611.jpg"><figcaption>The first skyscraper to be built in Bogota in 40 years will be communally funded. thaiz_mm</figcaption></figure>With those developments in mind, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently published <a href="https://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiab097668.pdf">a report on Crowdfunding Architecture</a> which examines the feasibility of crowdfunding residential, commercial and industrial infrastructure projects.
In the US the passing of (most of) the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/jobs-act.shtml">JOBS Act</a> (Jumpstart our Business Startups Act) means that crowdfunding can now be used as equity to fund private startups and, theoretically, to resource public-private partnerships.
Untested waters
As a relatively recent phenomenon, online civic crowdfunding is a highly entrepreneurial and largely untested space proposing as many questions as it does answers.
Will the crowdfunding of infrastructure primarily privilege wealthy neighbourhoods or cities or nations?
Can the public be convinced to pledge support to “unsexy” infrastructure such as water or sewerage provision? Or will only the most iconic investments motivate their monies?
What about the question of sustainability once the campaign is over? Who pays for the ongoing running costs of funded projects and initiatives?
Are <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.pozible.com/blog/article/index/13">emerging subscription crowdfunding initiatives</a>, where funds are collected on a regular (weekly, monthly, annually) basis a feasible solution?
The new philanthropy
There are as many versions of civic crowdfunding as there are models of public participation. But buying a virtual roof tile is really not very far removed from existing models of philanthropic conduct in arts organisations.
 
<figure class="align-centre"><img width="300" src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/37665/width668/r9vcbv6x-1386897125.jpg"><figcaption> Photo Mojo Mike</figcaption></figure>Think of how many theatres “sell” naming rights to auditorium seats. Ultimately these are arrangements that position the public as invested spectators, but spectators held at bay nevertheless.
Programs such as the Sydney Opera House’s Own Our House campaign are knowingly designed to sequester donor involvement from decision-making and any other direct form of participation in what happens under the hood. You might “own” (part of) the house but you will always be a temporary and virtual guest, never a tenant – let alone a resident.
Or a new model for urban policy-making?
On the other hand, the busy emergence of civic crowdfunding initiatives promises a new approach to public involvement in the planning process, a type of engagement-led urban policy-making.
Non-experts not only participate in planning processes through the provision of funds, they actually initiate them by pinpointing community needs and then assisting in promoting possible solutions. These programs offer a platform for people to determine, invest in and build the infrastructure of their local communities.
In contrast to the abstractions of many investment practices (superannuation, to take one example) civic crowdfunding affords us an opportunity to actually see where our investments are located and the many benefits they yield above and beyond our own bank accounts.
Encouraging members of the public to virtually purchase a piece of the ceiling might solve an immediate resource problem for the Sydney Opera House but it’s not necessarily a dilemma the public has chosen to prioritise and the broader community benefits are not well articulated.
Conversely, emerging civic crowdfunding practices have the potential to really lift the lid on conventional models of community investment, by simultaneously democratising both philanthropy and public infrastructure investment.
Deb Verhoeven does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
This article was originally published at <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/shelling-out-for-tiles-at-the-sydney-opera-house-21470">original article</a>.
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Shelling out for tiles at the Sydney Opera House 

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Last month Chinese leader Xi Jinping set out his top reform agendas for China’s next decade, setting out important policies, ranging from political reforms, social policy and market reform, to a commitment to encourage innovation.

One important change is China’s intention to move away from a GDP-oriented, at-the-cost-of-everything development model, in favour of a move towards pollution control, energy efficiency and debt reduction.
In the midst of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, China needs a strong political will and commitment to move away from its current growth model to a green/low carbon development model.
Given the scale of the environmental challenge and the complexity of China’s decentralised governance system, China needs to find a new path for growth, navigating between the Western lifestyle of over-consumption, and China’s “business as usual” model (high-resource utilisation, high emission and low energy efficiency).
As with every developing country, there will be resistance to a transition that will potentially slow the Chinese GDP growth rate, and as such, if China can implement a more green-focused model, it could make a significant contribution to the world community.
The achievement of a green/low-carbon China (or the Chinese term of “Ecological Civilisation”) is a part of Xi’s “Chinese dream” and will benefit both China and the rest of the world by contributing significantly towards global emissions reduction. The immediate benefit to China will be an overall increase in the quality of life for Chinese citizens: being able to see blue skies more often, breathe and drink cleaner air and water, as well as create greater demand for research and technologies from developed countries. If implemented, its focus on local officials’ performance will also change the mentality of Chinese leaders.
Furthermore, “Made-in-China” products would be produced with lower emissions and under more standardised working conditions and fairer income levels.
For Australia economically, this is a double-edged sword: China’s demands for Australia’s natural resources (such as coal and minerals) will inevitably diminish, but at the same time, Australia has the chance to invest in China’s green development, and maintain strong trade relations despite the decrease in demand for our natural resources.
As China is linked closely to us, rapid urbanisation in China means an increase in demand which could also benefit Australia’s economy. We should take advantage of the potential gains flowing from the reforms to Australia’s resource, retail, education and business sectors.
How is change to be implemented? By two interrelated processes: the first involving centralisation of political power, to provide leadership in strategic issues and continuation of market reform; and the second by reducing rich-poor gaps and creating a fair society.
The first process embodies the “top-down reform design” approach, where strategic agendas will be initiated, carried out and managed by the central government.
Xi does not believe the market can effectively implement change and accordingly, China’s next stage reform requires a top-down push. As part of this process, China will establish two new powerful government bodies: the Central Leading Team for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, and the State Security Committee.
Interestingly, this top-down approach is not intended to inhibit the decentralisation or development of China’s private economy. Xi will abolish the government’s control over the price of utilities, and will also allow private capital to invest in state-owned firms and government projects, giving the market a more decisive role to play.
 Reducing the rich-poor gap 
The second process is designed to address polarisation and unfairness issues and to promote good governance. China’s rich-poor gap has reached an alarming level and social unrest threatens the Party’s power. Unfortunately, China has not provided specific policies to reduce the rich-poor gap, but the reform agenda includes a few issues which are of general concern:
<ul>
<li>
Giving the rural population more rights to move to small-medium cities and access the same entitlements as urban citizens.
</li>
<li>
Giving farmers better land rights. Currently land acquisition in China’s suburban areas has generated conflict due to local governments and developers combining in their efforts to reduce farmers’ land compensation benefits.
</li>
<li>
Education reform: primary and secondary school students will not be segregated as accelerated or normal, no preferential treatment will be given to certain public schools and headmasters and teachers will be rotated among public schools.
</li>
<li>
Abolishing the controversial re-education labour camps.
</li>
<li>
Various measures to enhance good government including strengthening anti-corruption measures and reducing the local government’s power over the court system.
</li>
</ul>
These agendas are ambitious, however the key lies in their implementation. The worst scenario is that power is centralised, but Xi fails to implement the reforms outlined above. If this occurs, he risks leaving China polarised and increasing the domination of the central government, at the cost of the environment and health of its citizens.
 
 
<hr>
 
Mark Wang received funding from the Australian Research Council in relation to the Discovery projects (ARC-Discovery) “The geography of labour market dynamics: competition between new migrants and laid-off workers in China’s urban labour markets." (2008-2011) and “Configuring low carbon cities: an exploration of the role of spatial parameters in monocentric and polycentric examples in China (2010-2013). 
 
This article was originally published at <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-change-chinas-reform-agenda-shuns-growth-at-any-cost-20562">original article</a>.
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All change: China’s reform agenda shuns growth at any cost

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Consumer Sentiment <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.com/miaesr/publications/indicators/csi">fell</a> by 4.8% in December, but despite the drop other indicators still point toward a robust Christmas period for retailers.

Retail trade <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8501.0">recorded</a> its strongest result for three consecutive months to October, with Queensland and Western Australia leading the way.
A closer inspection of ABS Retail <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8501.0">figures</a> indicate six consecutive months of positive results and this suggests consumer confidence has finally returned to the market.
The Commonwealth Bank surveyed 1000 of its customers and <a href="https://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/news/media-releases/2013/festive-spending-to-peak-as-four-million-consumers-plan-to-hit-the-shops-this-weekend">estimates</a> we will spend at least A$2.2 billion more this Christmas than we did last year, and the Australian National Retailers Association has predicted we will splurge close to A$30 billion over this Christmas period.
But it may not be a rosy outlook for all retail sectors. Overall we are spending more, but not where we once traditionally did.
Department store sales were down (0.3%) and household goods were flat. In fact Westpac’s Consumer Sentiment report noted a 2.3% decline in shoppers suggesting it was now a good time to buy a major household item. But we are eating out more, with cafes, restaurants and take-away up. Clothing, footwear and accessories also produced a positive result.
Online shopping hoopla
The way we shop at Christmas has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. Where once we battled the car parks and crowds, venturing into the large department stores, many of us are choosing more efficient ways to shop this Christmas.
Shopping from the office, in our lounge rooms and on the way to work on tablets and mobile phones is now an easy option. And it would appear three quarters of us are shopping locally online.
But the impact online retailing has had on traditional bricks and mortar retail has to some extent been exaggerated. Australian online retail sales grew to A$14.4 billion to October this year, representing 6.4% of total traditional retail spending. Of that A$14.4 billion, Australian retailers continue to <a href="https://business.nab.com.au/online-retail-sales-index-indepth-special-report-october-2013-5126/">capture</a> the majority of online sales at about 74%.
Online shopping remains at an embryonic stage in Australia at 6.4% of total retail spending. In the United States and the United Kingdom it’s closer to 10% and this suggests significant opportunities for Australian retailers to bolster sales through online platforms.
So are Australian retailers finally catching up, responding to changes in consumer shopping patterns by implementing multi-channel approaches, including online?
Deloitte’s <a href="https://www.deloitte.com/view/en_AU/au/industries/consumerbusinessandtransport/97254c9cc50c1410VgnVCM3000003456f70aRCRD.htm">Christmas Retailers' Survey</a> suggests Australian retailers continue to lag behind the rest of the world and are not responding fast enough to leverage these opportunities.
Shoppers are predictable
For some however, the traditions of Christmas shopping are hard to break.
Christmas shopping is steeped in consumer ritualism. Just as football fans paint their faces, wear their favourite jerseys and engage in the atmosphere of the game, shoppers do the same things. Stocktake sales, Black Friday (US), Boxing Day shopping, and lining up for seafood at Easter are all examples of consumer ritualism. It is a rite of passage.
Christmas shopping is a deeply entrenched, family shopping ritual. Parents bring their kids to the Myer/David Jones windows. We battle the traffic, hunt for a car parking space, push through the crowds, run all over town at Christmas time, because that is what our parents did, that is what we have always done. For this group of shoppers, online shopping at Christmas is just not “kosher”, and telling people how much effort they went through to get the gift simply adds to the sentiment.
NAB’s measure of online retail spending is growing at 0.3% a month, its slowest pace in the three-year history of the <a href="https://business.nab.com.au/online-retail-sales-index-indepth-special-report-october-2013-5126/">index</a>. At the same time, bricks and mortar retail trade grew by 0.5%. This slow down in online sales growth has been attributed in some way to the slump in the Aussie dollar, which has fallen from more than US97¢ to under US90¢. With about a quarter of our online spending going to overseas stores, a fall of that size makes imported goods noticeably more expensive.
A weakening in daily deals sites may also account for this slowdown, as retailers tire of selling their goods and services at deep discounts.
A slowdown in online shopping will be even more pronounced as we lead up to Christmas, and so I predict a strong Christmas for retailers this year.
 
Gary Mortimer does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
<img alt="The Conversation" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/21510/count.gif" height="1" width="1">This article was originally published at <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-retailers-should-get-their-christmas-wish-this-year-21510">original article</a>.
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Aussie retailers should get their Christmas wish this year

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The sudden <a target="_blank" href="https://www.treasury.gov.au/Policy-Topics/PeopleAndSociety/completed-programs-initiatives">dismissal</a> of Australia’s National Housing Supply Council last month suggests we may be entering a new housing policy vacuum. This is bad news for aspiring first home buyers, whose numbers have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/5609.0">slipped</a> to record lows (now just 12.5% of all buyers).
At a time when major intervention will be needed to correct Australia’s systemic housing affordability problems, how are other nations addressing this issue?
We could do worse than look to China, where the government has committed to deliver an extraordinary 36 million affordable homes between 2011- 2015.
This target is being addressed through an eclectic range of projects run by local government authorities, such as the City of Beijing.
Beijing’s population is growing rapidly, nearly doubling from 10.8 million people in 1990 to 19.6 million in 2010, plus a mobile population of a few million more.
This massive population growth had been fuelled by an internal migration of 7 million people from other parts of the country to Beijing, inevitably leading to housing shortage and affordability problems, with house prices climbing at an alarming rate. The worst affordability problems have been felt by the migrant population moving to Beijing from other urban and rural parts of China, and <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08111146.2012.737578" target="_blank"> has affected both skilled and unskilled migrants</a> alike.
Due to cultural factors and the government’s policy of eliminating visible homelessness, the affordability problem is somewhat hidden within overcrowded and substandard housing in “urban villages”, where low income migrant workers seek accommodation. Unlike the fashionable “urban villages” of Sydney or Manhattan, China’s urban villages are the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08111146.2012.744681" target="_blank">new slums</a>.
These villages are usually characterised by illegal extension or unregulated infill development to meet demands for low cost accommodation and to create income for rural communities under <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00891.x/abstract">economic transition</a>.
Housing affordability a middle class problem
Housing affordability problems for the upwardly mobile middle class is a relatively new phenomenon in China, as it is in Australia.
Prior to 2000, housing reforms implemented by the Chinese government enabled occupants of state rental housing to purchase their homes at very low prices. But at the conclusion of the reform, all employees had been expected to rent or buy housing from the market directly until the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08111140802301740#preview" target="_blank">change in housing policy</a> in 2011.
When house prices escalated in the major cities it stifled the housing aspirations of educated young entrants to the workforce, and brewed social discontent. The high housing price also weakened the competitiveness of large Chinese cities such as Beijing to attract skilled and experienced workers.
This led to the announcement in 2011 of a bold <a href="https://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-03/16/c_121193916.htm">target</a> for providing 36 million affordable homes over the next five years.
The target is to be achieved through a combination of direct and indirect government subsidy, new regulatory controls on housing provision, as well as increased redevelopment efforts. Municipal governments – such as the City of Beijing – are charged with designing their own schemes under the general directives mandated by the central government.
<img style="font-size: 0.8em;" src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36654/width237/scbczk5g-1385959408.jpg">
Subsidised rental housing for low-income earners in Guangzhou Rebecca L.H. Chiu
In Beijing alone, the target is to produce 200,000 affordable units annually. Half of these are to be subsidised housing for sale or rent, and private housing under price or size control for sale, to middle and low income workers and their families.
Beyond new housing
There are three specific affordable housing initiatives of note in Beijing. The government directly funds a modest Low Rent Housing Scheme that targets low-income families. The remaining two schemes that are of greater scale - the Public Rental Housing Scheme and the Economical and Suitable Housing Scheme - rely mainly on private sector resources.
Under the Public Rental Housing Scheme, the government acquires private housing at market rates and to re-let at lower prices to eligible households which are usually moderate income skilled workers.
Under the <a href="https://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2007-11/14/content_805511.htm" target="_blank">Economic and Suitable Housing Scheme</a>, all housing projects are tendered out to developers. To ensure that prices are affordable, the government provides free land and tax exemption but stipulates a gross profit cap of 3% for all projects. Crucially, access to government land combined with tax exemptions reduces the financial burden for construction firms, overcoming a significant barrier to housing development.
All housing units are subject to size control. Eligibility to purchase one of these homes is defined by income and asset levels and residency status, restricted to registered permanent residents of the City of Beijing.
A five year resale restriction is mandatory, with local governments having the option of being the first buyer after this period. This allows for the government to “recycle” the dwellings through the affordable housing sector.
The subsidised housing projects are usually high rise blocks of five to 20 storeys, clustered into fenced housing estates of 1000 to 4000 dwelling units. Their appearance is not significantly different from that of lower-end market housing, but their sizes are smaller. Rental units range between 35 to 60 square metres, and the sale units hover around 60 square metres, capped at 90 square metres for larger families. There is a mix of internal layouts to suit different family sizes and needs.
Most affordable housing projects are situated in newly developed, outer urban areas of Beijing. Recreation space and facilities are generally better provided than other daily necessities such as shops, services and transport.
What can Australia learn?
Following the axing of the National Housing Supply Council, Australia’s housing policy appears to rest on the hope that urban planning reform by the states and territories will prompt a surge in new housing production, ultimately correcting the shortage of homes affordable to low and moderate income earners.
Yet the experience of China shows that significant overall housing construction is not sufficient to deliver affordable homes for low and moderate income earners. Rather, specific intervention has been needed to secure affordable outcomes within the wider housing development process.
No schemes are perfect and there are concerns about the location and quality of some affordable housing projects in Beijing.
Nevertheless, with housing affordability regarded to be of national economic and societal importance in China, the range of hybrid solutions for enabling and supporting new housing supply could offer important lessons for Australia.
Rebecca L.H. Chiu is professor, department of urban planning and design, <a href="https://www.hku.hk" target="_blank">The University of Hong Kong</a>.
Nicole Gurran is associate professor at <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/" target="_blank">University of Sydney</a>.
This article was originally published at <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-plans-36-million-affordable-homes-lessons-for-australia-19710">original article</a>.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/19710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
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What Australia can learn from China's affordable housing scheme

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As the science on the coastal impacts of climate change gets stronger, the protections for Australia’s coastal communities are getting weaker. If that continues, everyone will pay.
Along the eastern seaboard of Australia, where most of us live, state governments are relaxing their policies and largely leaving it to local councils to decide if homes can be built in low-lying areas.
The <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sea-levels-no-longer-included-in-state-government-planning/story-fnihsrf2-1226778167541">Queensland government confirmed this week</a> that sea level rise will be removed from its State Planning Policy, just as it was in New South Wales a year ago, while <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/victoria/state-eases-sea-level-regulations-20120605-1zu9i">Victoria has also relaxed</a> its sea level rules.
Yet <a href="https://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science/climate-change-future/sea-level">nearly 39,000 homes</a> are already located within 110 metres of soft, erodible shorelines, according to the Australian Department of Environment, which states exposure to the effects of sea level rise “will increase as Australia’s population grows”.
With 85% of Australians living in coastal areas, and billions of dollars of buildings and roads at stake, if we don’t get coastal planning right we risk facing huge human and economic costs.
The <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sea-levels-no-longer-included-in-state-government-planning/story-fnihsrf2-1226778167541">Local Government Association of Queensland has warned</a> that councils could be sent broke by the state policy change, particularly because of the legal liability they could face if they approve coastal developments that are subsequently hit by future storm damage or flooding.
And as we saw with the devastating Queensland floods of 2011 and other major disasters, when individual homeowners were not insured and needed help, or when individual councils can’t afford to fix damaged roads and infrastructure, who ends up footing much of the repair bill? All Australian taxpayers.
So this is not just a problem for the lucky few with homes by the beach: we all have something at stake in getting coastal protections right.
Sea level rise science
As the <a href="https://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science/climate-change-future/sea-level">Department of Environment explains</a>, the risks from rising sea levels are serious, and not limited just to the coast:
Rising sea levels will increase the frequency or likelihood of extreme sea level events and resultant flooding. The risks from sea level rise are not confined to the coast itself. In many cases flooding may impact areas some distance from the sea for example along estuaries, rivers, lakes and lagoons.
A study of 29 locations in Australia found that for a mid-range sea level rise of 50cm, extreme sea level events that happened every few years now are likely to occur every few days in 2100.
On average, Australia will experience a roughly 300-fold increase in flooding events, meaning that infrastructure that is presently flooded once in 100 years will be flooded several times per year with a sea level rise of 50cm.
But when you consider that many homes and suburbs that we build in Australia today will still be standing for decades to come, and that we don’t want to see those home owners left out of pocket or suing their council for letting them build in low-lying areas - just how much sea level rise should we be planning for?
I asked <a href="https://www.cmar.csiro.au/sealevel/sl_about_us#church">Dr John Church</a>, a CSIRO Fellow and a coordinating lead author of the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/index.htm#.UqfGx2QW1Yg">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> chapter on sea level, what the latest science indicated. He replied:
<blockquote>
The science is clear. Historical sea level information around the world and in Australia tells us that in times of a warmer climate, sea level has been metres higher than at present and that the rate of sea level rise has increased since pre-industrial time.
The emission of greenhouse gases has been a significant contribution to the 20th century rise and will very likely result in a faster rate of rise during the 21st century than over the last 40 years, or the 20th century as a whole.
Projections for sea level rise around Australia are similar to the global average. If there was very significant mitigation of greenhouses gas emissions, the global average rise is projected to be 28cm to 61cm by 2100, but, if emissions continue to grow in a business as usual fashion as is happening at present, the rise is projected to be 52cm to 98cm, and possibly up to several tens of centimetres above these values if marine-based sectors of the Antarctic ice sheet collapse. Sea level will continue to rise well after 2100. - <a href="https://www.csiro.au/Organisation-Structure/Divisions/Marine--Atmospheric-Research/JohnChurch.aspx">John Church</a>, correspondence with the author, 9 December 2013.
</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/documents/2011/feb/queensland%20coastal%20plan/Attachments/qcp-spp-guideline.pdf">Queensland’s old planning rules</a> had factored in a sea level rise of 30 centimetres by 2050 and 80 centimetres by 2100. That meant that coastal development in such hazard areas was generally <a href="https://www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/resources/factsheet/planning/coastal-protection-sprp.pdf">only permitted in special circumstances</a>, such as for marine and fishing precincts .
As Dr Church and the <a href="https://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science/climate-change-future/sea-level">Australian government’s sea level site</a> both indicate, on current trends 80cm is within the range of business as usual projections.
<a href="https://www.climatechange.gov.au/sites/climatechange/files/documents/03_2013/risks-coastal-buildings.pdf">A 2011 report by the Australian government</a> found that more than A$226 billion worth of Australian homes, offices blocks, roads, rail and other built infrastructure would be potentially flooded or eroded with a sea level rise of 1.1 metres, which is the high end scenario they examined for 2100.
Ironically, of all Australian states, that report found <a href="https://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/adapting-climate-change/australias-coasts-and-climate-change/xxxx-adapting-coastal--2">Queensland faced the greatest combined risk</a> from high tides and storm surges, and the costs they would face to replace damaged infrastructure. (The state-by-state cost estimates are shown below.)
 
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/37390/area14mp/r278fsgv-1386722362.jpg"><img width="350" src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/37390/width668/r278fsgv-1386722362.jpg"></a> <figcaption> Climate Change Risks to Coastal Buildings and Infrastructure, Australian Government, 2011</figcaption></figure> 
A national response to a national problem
In the two short years since that report was published, we have gone from a situation where all Australian governments were working together on a national approach to coastal planning, under the former National Coasts and Climate Change Council, to a trend towards dumping the risks and liabilities for coastal planning onto local councils.
This is already leaving some communities very exposed to rising costs. For instance, the Gold Coast is already hit by beach erosion costing <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/gold-coast-beach-erosion-a-council-issue-treasurer-20130723-2qhk9">tens of millions of dollars</a> to remedy, and even greater costs could be incurred with further seawater intrusion and damage to infrastructure, such as storm water networks.
 
<figure class="align-right zoomable"><a href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/37377/area14mp/dbb8vqgb-1386719333.jpg"><img src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/37377/width237/dbb8vqgb-1386719333.jpg"></a> <figcaption>An aerial view of the Gold Coast, looking from Surfers Paradise down to Coolangatta, August 2013. www.shutterstock.com/Steven Bostock</figcaption></figure> 
Yet there is plenty of evidence to show why protecting coastal areas is the sensible option, and how to do it.
Over the past 50 years, there have been 25 national inquiries and reports into coastal management, including a comprehensive 396-page <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=ccwea/coastalzone/report.htm">2009 Coasts and Climate Change federal parliamentary report</a>. Those inquiries have overwhelmingly come to the conclusion that rather than leaving it to local councils, we need one set of clear, national guidelines on coastal development and infrastructure.
That’s the opposite of what we’re now seeing around Australia, with a mish-mash of different rules in different states.
All of which increases the risk of more development in areas at risk of coastal erosion, sea level rise and storm surges. Unless this changes, who’ll pay the price for this lack of foresight and planning? If you’re an Australian taxpayer, you will, and in the future so will your children.
 
<hr>
Barbara Norman currently or recently received funding from the Bushfire CRC, the National Climate Change Adaptation Flagship (NCCARF), the ACT Government and the Murray Darling Basin CRN. She is affiliated with the ACT Government as Chair of the ACT Climate Change Council, the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development as Deputy Chair of the ACT RDA, CSIRO as a member of the national advisory committee to the Climate Adaptation Flagship, Canberra Urban and Regional Futures (Director) and the Planning Institute of Australia as a past national president and current adviser on planning and climate change. Barbara Norman is also a long-term member of the Australian Labor Party and the Melbourne Football Club.
 
John Church receives funding through the Australian Climate Change Science Program. He is the convening lead author on the sea level chapter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report.
This article was originally published at <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/scrapping-sea-level-protection-puts-australian-homes-at-risk-21271">original article</a>.
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Aussie houses at risk without sea level protection: Academic

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Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is looking to expand internationally during 2014, with the south-east Asian region a likely first growth target, according to reports.
According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.techinasia.com/xiaomi-sets-its-sights-on-southeast-asia-with-plans-to-set-up-singapore-office-as-quickly-as-possible/">TechInAsia</a>, the Chinese tech company has revealed it is looking at south-east Asia as it next market, with its first stop “most likely” in Singapore.
Hugo Barra, who resigned in August as Google’s vice president of product management in favour of the position at Xiaomi under chief executive Lei Jun, revealed the company views Singapore as an important regional hub.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time with potential partners in other countries, in south-east Asia primarily,” Barra said.
“We just came back from a trip to Singapore a few weeks ago, and we’re trying to get our operations for south-east Asia set up as quickly as possible.
“It’s an important hub for the region. A lot of businesses start there, so that’s why we researched that area first.”
The Chinese smartphone maker first gained the attention of the tech industry after analysts noted it had beaten a range of established rivals, including ZTE, HTC and Lenovo, to claim one of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au/technology/information-technology/34035-xiaomi-claims-top-five-spot-in-chinese-smartphone-market">top five spots in the Chinese smartphone market</a>.
Xiaomi is estimated to now claim around 7.1% of the Chinese smartphone market, a higher share than larger rivals such as HTC (6.8%), Lenovo (6.3%) and ZTE (5.1%).
China is believed to be the world’s largest by volume.
<a target="_blank" href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au/technology/information-technology/34159-xiaomi-sells-100-000-mi3-smartphones-in-90-seconds-says-hugo-barra">In October</a>, Xiaomi made headlines after Barra claimed it had sold 100,000 of its Mi3 smartphones within just 90 seconds of its launch.
The feats were made all the more impressive by the fact the company only launched in 2010 and didn’t begin shipping smartphones until 2011.
However, the company has often been criticised as being an Apple imitator due to Jun’s preference for black mock turtleneck tops and jeans, along with the company’s use of an iOS-style user interface, called MIUI, on top of Android.

<hr>
This article first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.SmartCompany.com.au">SmartCompany</a>.
 
 
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Chinese smartphone maker eyes up international expansion

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Over the last three years, the Aussie dollar has outperformed just about all other currencies.
In recent weeks, however, sentiment has turned bearish with many analysts predicting a rate closer to 80 US cents 12 months from now. The pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction now that the UK, Europe and the US economies are all showing some healthy signs of recovery.
Magnetic forces at play
Given the exchange rate is a relative value (one currency against another) it may help to think of exchange rate influences as magnetic forces where the opposites attract. So if, for example, one side of the currency (the Australian economy) is performing badly and the other side (the US) is improving or growing strongly then these opposite forces work together to move the currency quickly.
This is what we have seen drive the value of the AUD down at the same time that the USD is being pushed higher, triggering the recent move lower from 97 cents to 90 cents in two months.
It is these same forces (in the opposite direction) that drove the AUD/USD exchange rate higher between 2009 and 2011. When both forces are moving in the same direction it then becomes a game of inches and we see more stable trading ranges and a decrease in volatility.
So will these opposite forces persist in 2014?
It seems the new year will begin in the same vein with US and UK economies in particular expected to continue their recovery. The markets have been fixated by the US Federal Reserve and its quantitative easing program with a general expectation that they will begin to wind down their monthly purchases of around 85 billion USD a month. The question is not if but when.
This will serve to strengthen the USD as it will decrease the money supply. We have already seen this begin to play out in recent months and Fridays stronger than expected employment report has only increased speculation this may occur at the Fed’s next meeting on December 17.
As things stand, and if everything goes to plan (mind you it rarely does), towards the end of 2014 or early 2015 could coincide with a possible increase in US interest rates which would add to the USD strength. The market has just about priced this in already and so I expect the pace of the decline in the Aussie dollar to slow.
Losers beware
Importers, travellers and overseas property buyers are set to lose out from a lower Aussie dollar in 2014. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are tools available to those concerned about a lower Aussie dollar in 2014 and it pays to plan ahead.
Importers and property investors can use hedging tools such as forward exchange contracts or options, while travellers can take advantage by locking in travel money in advance of an overseas trip on foreign currency debit cards.
By locking in exchange rates in advance the Australian dollar cost base is fixed, providing cash flow certainty and peace of mind.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimvrondas" target="_blank">
<hr>
Jim Vrondas</a> is chief currency and payment strategist, Asia-Pacific at <a href="https://www.ozforex.com.au/" target="_blank">OzForex</a>, Australia's leading international money transfer service. 
OzForex's cutting edge technology powers foreign exchange services for 100,000 private and institutional clients across six continents, and the company is a key provider of <a href="https://www.ozforex.com.au/news-commentary/daily" target="_blank">forex news</a>.
This article first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.SmartCompany.com.au">SmartCompany</a>.
 
 
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The magnetic forces behind the Australian dollar in 2014

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Declining commodity prices and high production costs are hampering investment in the mining industry, with new figures revealing big decreases in planned projects.
The value of projects in the “publicly announced” phase has fallen by between $12 billion and $19 billion since April, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bree.gov.au/documents/publications/remp/REMP-2013-10.pdf">Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics October update</a>. The number of projects at the “feasibility study” phase fell by 12 to 162, down $24 billion.
The only bright spot in the report was an increase in the number of projects completed. Wayne Calder, the deputy executive director of the Bureau, said this trend meant Australia was “seeing a transition from the investment phase of the resources boom to the production phase”.<img style="font-size: 0.8em;" width="470" src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36312/width668/8wkkgq5g-1385546490.jpg">
Number and nominal value of projects that have been committed to. Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics
Five projects worth $1.7 billion received approval for construction between May and October this year, the lowest number in over a decade. The value of projects under construction or preparing for construction fell to $240 billion, down $23 billion from April.
But the falls aren’t a big surprise, according to Vlado Vivoda, a research fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University. “A lot has already been committed and there is a lot of competition internationally particularly in [liquified natural gas],” he said.
“I think committing any more would be very risky particularly given the costs in Australia of exploring and producing resources, which are higher than in other countries.”
The overall decline in projects was spread unevenly across different resources and across all phases.
Petroleum exploration expenditure, for instance, increased by 47% compared to the previous year, to $4.9 billion, the highest spend on record. But coal exploration declined by 36% to $557 million for the year.<a style="font-size: 0.8em;" href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36311/area14mp/3q3thprt-1385546273.jpg"><img width="470" src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36311/width668/3q3thprt-1385546273.jpg"></a>
<a style="font-size: 0.8em;" href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/36311/area14mp/3q3thprt-1385546273.jpg"></a>Locations of projects at the “committed stage”, where construction has started or is about to commence. Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics
Dr Vivoda said cancellations of some large projects were responsible for a large part of the overall decline. He pointed to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/woodside-will-not-go-ahead-with-an-lng-processing-plant-at-james-price-point/story-fnhocxo3-1226618536271">announcement that Woodside Petroleum would go back to the drawing board</a> for its $45 billion Browse Point LNG project in WA.
However “mega projects” continued to represent the largest proportion of investment in resource projects, increasing to 82% from 34% five years ago.
Richard Fulford, a senior lecturer at Edith Cowan School of Business, said falling commodity prices meant mining companies did not want to commit further than necessary.
“Commodity prices have either been constant or fallen over the previous five years,” he said. “The price of LNG in US dollars is now only 33% of what it was in June 2008. And thermal coal prices are similar to today to what they were five years ago.”
Dr Fulford blamed increased overseas investment in resources for lower commodity prices. “It’s mainly due to other nations, such as Brazil, Qatar, Indonesia and South Africa, investing heavily in the resource sector,” he said.
An increase in shale gas production in the US was also contributing to lower prices, according to Dr Vivoda.
“What have we’ve seen is essentially a lot of potential LNG coming into the Asian market in particular,” he said. “And we also have a drop in domestic demand for coal in America.”
A focus on productivity could be part of the answer to high costs, according to Jeff Bennett, a professor of environmental management at ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy. “The labour force in mining is very productive because of course the sector is very capital intensive. One person controls a lot of machinery.”
“But of the pipelines of new projects coming through is thinning out, there will be less opportunity [for workers],” he said. “We saw the other day that Rio Tinto is restricting its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/rio-tinto-shuts-off-gas-plans-for-its-gove-refinery-20131126-2y842">Gove operations</a> with impacts on indigenous employment.”
“Of course this is something we need to be very mindful of, particularly in regional areas where employment is often very hard to find,” Professor Bennett said.
 
<hr>
 
This article was originally published at <a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com/mining-construction-takes-big-hit-as-sector-moves-to-production-20854">original article</a>.
 
 
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/20854/count.gif" width="1">
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Mining boom moves to production stage as new project constructions fall

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/broadbeach-qld-4218">Broadbeach</a> offers plenty of reasons to live vertically, but moving from a substantial family home into an apartment can expose the compromises of high-density living. Privacy, room for guests and usable living space tend to matter more when an apartment is intended as a permanent home rather than an occasional coastal base.

A typical residential floor at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-eveleigh-broadbeach-7-9-surf-parade-broadbeach-qld-4218">The Eveleigh</a>, on Surf Parade,&nbsp;contains just four apartments. The 94-residence development by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/hirsch-faigen">Hirsch &amp; Faigen</a> is predominantly made up of expansive three-bedroom homes, with a limited collection of half-floor penthouses above.

Across the apartment floors, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/rothelowman">Rothelowman</a> has used the relatively limited number of residences to give each home greater access to natural light and outlook. Living spaces extend towards full-height glazing, while a series of bay windows frame selected views across the Pacific Ocean, city and hinterland rather than treating the building edge as a continuous wall of glass.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360965]

“The apartment floors deliver a collection of homes that embrace controlled outlook via a series of bay windows deliberately framing moments of view,” Rothelowman Director Kim Lowman said.

From outside, those projecting forms contribute to the tower’s faceted profile. Strong horizontal and vertical elements establish its proportions, while the changing position of the sun alters the light, shadow and reflection across the façade throughout the day.

The same attention moves inside the apartments, where the material palette combines warm timber, natural stone, metallic detailing and softer curved forms. Kitchens sit within the main living zone, with stone island benches, integrated joinery and European appliances, before the living areas extend towards the glazing and the outlook.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360981]

Three genuine bedrooms provide room to accommodate family and guests, while two secure car spaces and storage address some of the practical considerations that can become more noticeable when moving from a larger home. Feedback from the display suite has centred on the warmth and restraint of the interiors, with buyers commenting that the residences feel like homes rather than conventional coastal apartments.

A limited collection of half-floor penthouses occupies the upper levels, increasing the scale of the living spaces and adding private balconies and elevated finishes. From this position, the outlook extends between the ocean and hinterland.

Outside the private residences, The Eveleigh separates its shared spaces between the podium and rooftop. The podium is centred on wellness, with subtropical landscaping surrounding a swimming pool and pool terrace, yoga garden, private gymnasium, sauna and hot and cold plunge facilities. Landscaped retreats and pavilions provide additional places to sit away from the main recreation areas.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360966]

Higher in the building, a rooftop pavilion and private dining suite sit alongside resident lounge, barbecue and outdoor dining areas, opening towards panoramic views across the ocean, city and hinterland.

“Buyers are no longer just looking for an apartment, but a lifestyle where they can relax, reset, and enjoy a balanced way of living,” Hirsch &amp; Faigen Director of Sales Matt George said.

Interest to date has come from established owner-occupiers and interstate lifestyle purchasers, including buyers planning a future move to the Gold Coast. Many are coming from larger homes and want to reduce ongoing maintenance without giving up space for family and guests, privacy, two car spaces or the ability to entertain at home.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360969]

Much of that daily life can also take place beyond the building without requiring a drive. Kurrawa Beach and Pratten Park are an easy walk from Surf Parade, while Pacific Fair, Oracle Boulevard, The Oasis, restaurants, cafés, entertainment and public transport are also within walking distance.

The Eveleigh is Hirsch &amp; Faigen's fourth Gold Coast development since entering the market in 2021, following The Hemingway at Palm Beach, The Emerson at Kirra and Yves at Mermaid Beach. Each of the preceding projects sold out before completion.

“Broadbeach had been on our radar throughout our time operating on the Gold Coast,” the developer said. “Following our projects in Palm Beach, Kirra and Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach represented the natural next step for the business.”

The Surf Parade site brought together proximity to the beach, protected coastal outlooks and walkability to dining, shopping and recreation. Hirsch &amp; Faigen also identified the street as an emerging premium residential address, with enough separation from Broadbeach's busier destinations to retain a quieter environment at home.

The Eveleigh is now under construction by Maxcon, with completion forecast for mid-2028. Three-bedroom residences are currently available from $2.87 million.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=149670]

Joel Robinson

The Eveleigh brings house-like apartments to Broadbeach

A long-stalled Campbelltown development site is back in play, with new plans for 139 apartments set to supersede a mixed-use scheme approved almost a decade ago but never built.

The new proposal for 28 Cordeaux Street would deliver 116 market and 23 affordable apartments in a part 14-storey building, bringing a substantial new project into a Campbelltown market where new apartment supply remains limited.

Plans have been filed over the 3,092 sqm corner site at Moore-Oxley Street, around 600 metres from Campbelltown Railway Station and the city-centre retail core.

The site already carries a mixed-use residential approval dating to 2016. Doroch Architects has now been engaged on a larger replacement scheme, which is progressing as a State Significant Development Application following a Housing Delivery Authority determination in August 2025.

The apartment mix comprises 39 one-bedroom, 72 two-bedroom and 28 three-bedroom residences. Two-bedroom apartments make up just over half of the project, while three-bedroom homes account for 20 per cent.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="136dd5b9-3791-4da6-9e31-76f533f5b4de" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da2.png?VersionId=LgOSy9nwf5u.MGswBBwaGGxuX8QpHSl_" />

Of the 139 apartments, 23 will be delivered as affordable housing under the in-fill affordable housing provisions of the Housing SEPP. The affordable component represents 15 per cent of the residential gross floor area and will be managed by a registered Community Housing Provider.

Doroch has sought to break the scale of the building into two distinct elements, with a masonry podium of around four storeys establishing the street edge before the residential tower steps back above.

The corner position has shaped that approach. Cordeaux Street faces toward the commercial and civic centre, while Moore-Oxley Street leads into the lower-scale residential neighbourhood to the south, and the design verification report describes the site as "bridging the commercial core to the north and established residential areas to the south."

The podium will be expressed predominantly in face brick, while the upper levels shift to brushed and grooved concrete cladding with darker metal detailing. Recessed sections, deep balcony edges and landscaping break down the upper form, with an approximately 11.8-metre setback to the northern boundary addressing the adjoining St Peters Anglican School.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c8b3d2d3-c561-4bfc-a5d9-a68c0c10dac1" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da1.png?VersionId=AeAEyJU02Gk2k5noUj2StziCvdQ7fW4B" />

Campbelltown has been starved of new residential developments in the last decade.

The only other notable development set to come to market this year is ALAND's Queen Square, a mixed-use precinct on over two hectares that will comprise apartments above a vibrant ground-level retail and hospitality dining precinct.

First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site

First Look: Sherlock Construction pitches apartments for low-rise Deception Bay

Queensland builder-developer MAYD has revealed the first look at its major North Kirra beachfront development, lodging amended plans that reduce the number of apartments and increase the proportion of larger residences.

The project is planned across a substantial 4,742 sqm amalgamated site spanning seven lots at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/2-6-pacific-parade-bilinga-qld-4225">2-6 Pacific Parade</a> and 27-33 Golden Four Drive in Bilin​ga, directly opposite Nor​th Kirra Beach.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/mayd-group">MAYD</a> secured the site for $32.5 million in 2025, in what was one of the Gold Coast's largest property transactions of the year.

The development will be delivered across two stages, with the first stage carrying an estimated gross realisation value of around $360 million.

The latest amendments seek to reduce the overall apartment count and shift the project further toward the owner-occupier market, with larger residences designed for buyers wanting considerably more space than traditionally offered in a beachfront apartment.

The residential mix will include townhomes, oversized two-bedroom apartments, substantial three-bedroom residences and four-bedroom homes.

MAYD has appointed Cera Stribley to lead the architecture and interiors, with the Melbourne-based design practice drawing on the beachfront setting through a series of ocean-facing terraces and heavily landscaped balconies.

Strong horizontal forms and curved balconies will define the exterior, with subtropical landscaping integrated throughout the building to soften the built form and increase the connection between the residences and the beachfront.

The project will also include an extensive collection of resident wellness and lifestyle facilities, continuing the broader shift across the Gold Coast's luxury apartment market toward larger homes supported by resort-style amenity.

<img alt="MAYD" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d1bcbb05-e659-4b47-8bd4-1e595315e2ad" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-08-27%20at%202.05.03%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=jj0XEud1X1DuLt7_KyElhjMdZGOXmLHP" />

MAYD Founder Todd Mould said North Kirra was increasingly appealing to buyers attracted to the more established, lower-density character of the southern Gold Coast.

"North Kirra presents one of the most compelling luxury residential opportunities currently emerging in Australia, combining absolute beachfront with the character and authenticity that buyers are increasingly seeking, and the same sense of tight-knit community that defined Burleigh and Currumbin perhaps 10 or 15 years ago," Mould said.

"With Gold Coast Airport on its doorstep, it also offers a level of accessibility that broadens its appeal across almost every market demographic."

The project comes as the southern Gold Coast continues to attract an increasing share of high-end apartment development and buyer activity.

Kirra in particular has emerged as one of the region's more tightly held beachfront markets, with its relatively low-density character, established surf and hospitality scene and proximity to Gold Coast Airport differentiating it from the higher-density markets further north.

Mould said those characteristics had informed the approach MAYD and Cera Stribley had taken to the project.

"We've worked closely with Cera Stribley to create a vision that is deeply connected to its surroundings," he said.

"Inspired by the coastline itself, the architecture has been shaped around space, privacy and resort-style living, creating a collection of homes that reflects the next generation of luxury on the southern Gold Coast."

MOTIV Managing Director Carly Cottam, who has been appointed to market the project, said buyer attention had continued to move south along the Gold Coast.

"Purchasers who may once have defaulted to Broadbeach, Main Beach or Surfers Paradise are increasingly recognising the value of a genuine beachfront location that offers lower density, strong amenity and a more established sense of community," Cottam said.

"Kirra has a powerful combination of growing demand and genuine scarcity. Beachfront supply is inherently constrained, the area remains relatively low density, and buyers are increasingly placing a premium on locations that feel established, uncrowded and authentic rather than heavily developed."

Cottam said the proximity to Gold Coast Airport was also proving increasingly important for interstate and second-home buyers.

"Being minutes from Gold Coast Airport makes it particularly compelling for interstate buyers, frequent travellers and second-home purchasers who can access an authentic coastal lifestyle almost immediately after stepping off a flight."

The acquisition takes MAYD's active development portfolio to more than $500 million, with the North Kirra project representing one of its largest undertakings to date.

MAYD is targeting an early 2027 launch.

First look at MAYD's North Kirra mixed-use precinct

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Castle Hill, the longtime hub of the Hills District, has been one of the major beneficiaries of Sydney's Metro expansion, with improved connectivity helping drive continued population growth, development and buyer demand across the Hills District.

But despite that growth, the suburb has seen relatively few major new apartment projects brought to market over the past 18 months.

Hills District developer Reve Group is looking to fill that gap with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/nova-r-ve-castle-hill-2-garthowen-crescent-castle-hill-nsw-2154">Nova Rêve</a>, a major new mixed-use precinct on the corner of Garthowen Crescent and Old Castle Hill Road, a short walk from Castle Hill Metro Station and Castle Towers.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377679]

The project will comprise three residential towers alongside a hotel, restaurants, cafes and a skybar, more than 1,600 sqm of ground-floor retail and almost an acre of landscaped gardens.

It represents the largest project undertaken by Reve Group, the development arm of the Kassis family, which has been building across the Hills District for more than 30 years through Kassis Homes.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377675]

Nova Rêve also represents a significant step up from the family's first apartment development, Grand Rêve, which was delivered nearby on Garthowen Crescent.

Grand Rêve introduced larger, house-like apartment layouts and premium inclusions including Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances to the Castle Hill market.

Nova Rêve takes that approach to a precinct scale, combining the residential component with hospitality, retail and substantial public and resident landscaping.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377685]

Reve Group Managing Director Sam Kassis said the project reflected the family's three decades of building in the Hills, which has evolved from trophy homes on quarter-acre blocks to larger-scale apartment development.

"Grand Rêve was our first apartment project here and it showed us what this pocket of Castle Hill could be. Nova Rêve is the refinement of that idea: not just apartments, but a place the whole suburb can use," Kassis said.

A key part of that approach is the hotel, which has been designed to operate as an amenity for the wider Castle Hill community rather than solely hotel guests.

It will include restaurants, cafes, skybars and all-day dining, alongside conference and event facilities catering to business functions, community groups and private events.

At ground level, more than 1,600 sqm of shops and cafes will open onto the surrounding streets and landscaped areas.

Almost an acre of gardens designed by Land and Form Studios will run through the precinct, incorporating pathways, seating, barbecue areas and children's play spaces.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377680]

Reve Group's Romio Georges said creating an active ground plane had been central to the planning of Nova Rêve.

"There are gardens with pathways, barbecues, seating and play areas, shops and cafes opening onto the street, and a hotel with restaurants and a skybar that anyone in Castle Hill can walk into," Georges said.

The project's elevated position on one of Sydney's highest ridgelines will also provide apartments with outlooks toward the Sydney skyline, surrounding parkland and the Blue Mountains.

More than 80 per cent of the apartments will occupy corner positions, with Turner responsible for both the architecture and interiors.

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[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=152737]

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Jacob Robinson

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