Perth’s new apartment market recorded its strongest quarter of sales since Q4 2021, with 412 apartments sold in Q1 2026 and a record quarterly sold value of $537 million, according to Urbis’ latest Apartment Essentials results.

Urbis said the March quarter result reflects strong, highly product‑specific demand across both ends of the market, from more attainable projects delivering at scale, through to premium stock being absorbed by equity‑rich downsizers.&nbsp;

David Cresp, Partner at Urbis, said the key story in Perth is not demand, it is the market’s ability to convert demand into delivered housing.&nbsp;

“This is the strongest sales quarter since Q4 2021, and it reinforces that demand in Perth is real and it’s local,” David Cresp said. “But the task now is delivery, turning that demand into projects that can actually be built and completed.”&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=110291 project_image_fid=302785]

<h2>Affordable product leads, premium demand remains resilient</h2>

Sales in Q1 were led by more affordable projects, with The Boulevard (SKS Group) recording 115 sales in the quarter, the presentation noting this is only the second time a single project has surpassed 100 quarterly sales. The project was able to offer more affordable housing product right next to a train station.&nbsp;

Palmyra West (Finbar) also delivered strong results with 28 sales in Q1, following 84 sales in Q4, with an average price of under $800,000, underscoring depth of demand for well‑located, attainable new stock.&nbsp;

At the premium end, Urbis said downsizer demand is continuing, with the results highlighting Romeo (Applecross, Finbar) recording 75 sales and reaching almost 50% sold in one quarter.

Jual (Shenton Park, Celsius Property) also posted a strong quarter with 28 sales, reaching 39% sold in one quarter.

Urbis noted that Perth apartment demand is not speculative, not investor‑led, and not uniform, describing it as localised, often equity‑driven and highly product‑specific, a pattern reflected in the polarisation between strong “attainable” performers and premium downsizer product.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=148957 project_image_fid=364102]

<h2>Prices underpinned by costs, and the delivery risk is growing</h2>

Urbis said pricing pressure is cost not demand‑driven: construction costs and delivery risk are now a central constraint, with the results noting build costs remain elevated and volatile, and that energy, fuel and labour uncertainty weigh on feasibility.

David Cresp said a growing challenge for private Build‑to‑Sell developers is simply securing a builder in the current environment.

“Developers are really feeling the pressure from a building market that was operating at capacity and securing a builder is challenging,” David Cresp said, adding that even where a builder can be secured, “trying to get to the price that makes the development financially viable is incredibly challenging in the current market.”&nbsp;

Urbis’ broader WA commentary also notes that industry remains at or above capacity with lot and housing creation, and that many builders are limiting new sales to manage stretched workforces and fixed‑price contract pressures, conditions that flow directly into apartment feasibility and delivery timing.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108869 project_image_fid=317905]

<h2>Supply: improving later, but still constrained, and Perth lags eastern benchmarks</h2>

While near‑term supply remains constrained, Urbis’ forecast shows completions lifting “Supply is forecast to be back above 1,500 apartments per annum for the first time since 2019”, with 1,775 completions forecast for 2026, and volumes remaining above that level over the following years.&nbsp;

Looking further ahead, completions are forecast to reach 2,500 in 2028, with the report noting 32% of that total is social/affordable, reflecting the role of government‑supported delivery in rebuilding the pipeline.&nbsp;

However, Urbis said Perth remains behind comparable markets on pipeline scale. In a national comparison of projects under construction, the report shows under construction Perth Build‑to‑Sell (BTS) at 3,446 apartments versus the Gold Coast at 7,922. Mr Cresp said “The challenge for Perth is how to we grow the delivery pipeline”.

Urbis’ conclusion is that Perth’s market is increasingly defined by product discipline and delivery certainty, with the research identifying “delivery certainty is key” and calling out builder risk and procurement models as core success factors, alongside “timing and staging”.&nbsp;

Joel Robinson

Perth apartment sales hit strongest pace since late 2021 as builder capacity tightens

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sammut-developments">Sammut Group</a> has secured development approval for its latest Brisbane apartment project, marking the Sydney developer’s next step in expanding its Queensland pipeline following the success of its debut Gold Coast development, Coast.

The approved project at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/44-glen-road-toowong-qld-4066">44 Glen Road, </a><a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/toowong-qld-4066">Toowong</a> will deliver a 15-storey riverfront apartment building with 42 residences, significantly increasing the scale of the site’s previous approval for a smaller luxury scheme. Designed by Bureau^proberts, the development will comprise a mix of predominantly four-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments positioned to maximise Brisbane River and city views.

Sammut Director Julian Sammut said the group had been actively searching Brisbane for several years before identifying Toowong as the right fit.

“Brisbane was the right step for Sammut,” Sammut said.

“With the success of Coast we thought we should definitely look to do more in Queensland alone. We then pushed up to look at Brisbane. We've been looking for I'd say two to three years actually and it was hard to find the right location.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_75/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.14%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=dYAVIL7qdcGA8ojvkslSrLjczXFejSSx" />

Sammut said suburbs including New Farm and Teneriffe were considered before the group ultimately focused on Toowong due to its strong downsizer demographic and limited supply of developable riverfront land.

The site was acquired off-market after what Sammut described as a lengthy negotiation and planning process, with the developer pursuing an uplift to the original approval.

“We are DA approved now which is very exciting,” Sammut said.

“We've had our change approval come through and we've obviously doubled the height, 15 storeys plus rooftop. We've got 42 amazing apartments that are going to be coming to market soon.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,dpr_2.0,q_auto:good/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.26%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=ohkRkY0dIZlqdfME2EZePsCQavRiBadE" />

Bureau^proberts said the design responds to Toowong’s evolving urban character, balancing contemporary apartment living with the area’s established residential identity.

“A place where traditional Queensland living has taken place for centuries; Toowong is seeing a shift of contemporary influence, commercial and retail hubs mixed with well-considered residential offerings – all the while maintaining its character and charm,” the architect noted in planning documents submitted to Brisbane City Council.

The architecture practice said the project’s form was shaped by its riverfront setting, flood considerations, neighbouring building scales, and view corridors.

“They said the mix of four and two-bedroom apartments capture the ‘fundamental qualities of Queenslander living,’ translated into the context of a contemporary subtropical building.”

The development sits just off Coronation Drive within walking distance of Toowong’s retail precinct and the upgraded Regatta ferry terminal, while also benefiting from proximity to the incoming green bridge connection to West End. Sammut said the accessibility and amenity offering were central to the site’s appeal.

The approval adds to growing residential activity along the Toowong riverfront, joining nearby projects including Consolidated Properties’ Monarch Residences and Spyre Group’s ARC Residences.

Sammut secures approval for debut Brisbane apartment development in Toowong

Developer Lanevick is heading back into Sydney’s apartment market after focusing more heavily on the luxury townhouse and terrace sector in recent years.

Lanevick, founded and directed by Steve Maroun, is expecting to receive approval in the coming months for a new apartment development in Gladesville, with the aim to launch it to the market later this year.

The 51-apartment project, designed by Studio Johnston, will comprise a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments positioned toward the Hunters Hill downsizer market.

“Traditionally it’s been difficult for people in that market to downsize because there just hasn’t been the right product available,” Maroun said.

“We’re targeting buyers who might have 30 to 40 per cent of their house value sitting in the bank after downsizing.

“They still want good spacious entertaining areas, they still want quality design, but they also want flexibility and the ability to enjoy life a bit more after working hard for a long time.”

The project sits near Boronia Park and within close proximity to the Parramatta River foreshore, an area Maroun says offers more of a Hunters Hill lifestyle than a traditional apartment precinct.

“From a lifestyle perspective, it’s really more Hunters Hill than Gladesville,” Maroun said. “You’re close to the foreshore, close to parklands, and still connected back into the village precinct.”

From level four and above, apartments will capture water views&nbsp;toward Sydney Harbour. Communal amenity will include rooftop entertaining areas, wellness spaces, and a gym tailored toward owner-occupier buyers.

“We’ve really designed these apartments around that buyer coming from the Hunters Hill LGA and what they’re actually looking for in their next chapter.”

The proposed development has also been designed to respond to the changing character of the broader Gladesville town centre, where a growing number of mixed-use and residential proposals are expected to emerge over the coming years.

“Gladesville presented a rare opportunity to deliver a genuinely design-led residential project within an evolving lifestyle precinct, just moments from the growing Gladesville town centre, and we’ve approached the project with a strong focus on architecture, liveability and long-term community value,” Maroun said.

Maroun said Lanevick saw a first-mover advantage within the precinct as planning controls continue to evolve to accommodate greater housing density.

“We think there’s a real opportunity there that hasn’t really been serviced properly yet,” he said.

“There’s going to be a broader evolution of the whole Gladesville village precinct over time, particularly with more activation and mixed-use outcomes.”

The Venus Street proposal will include a commercial and retail component at ground level designed to contribute to that evolving streetscape activation.

“A big part of the thinking was how do you activate that area properly and create more vibrancy and amenity, which is what Hunters Hill has been looking for,” Maroun said.

Lanevick’s focus since 2020 has largely been on smaller-scale luxury townhouse and terrace developments. The developer recently completed Royale Randwick, also designed by Studio Johnston, where prices reached $3.65 million. The project was featured in the UDIA NSW 2026 Professional Development Prospectus and was also named a finalist for Development of the Year.

&nbsp;

Lanevick to cater for Hunters Hill downsizers with new Gladesville apartment development

Property developer One Living, backed by former Macquarie banker turned investment manager Chris Green’s investment firm, has unveiled plans to bring more institutional capital into housing to help address the national supply crisis.

The New York-based investor has focused his firm, GreenPoint Partners, on addressing the supply shortage hitting middle market housing in Australia.

It is backing the new One Living business to develop more than 1000 units along the eastern seaboard. The new firm is starting with a development on Mona Vale Road, on the border of Mona Vale and Pymble, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, with around 140 apartments planned. They are eyeing off more sites across the city.

With cost pressures rising in the industry, One Living’s model is to be a vertically integrated developer-builder, so it can respond directly to the housing gap by removing the cost inefficiencies embedded in traditional residential delivery.

“We are building a platform designed to operate at scale and starting in a market where there’s a clear need for quality, attainable housing,” One Living joint managing director Joseph Scuderi said.

“It’s that missing middle – it’s that attainable end of housing… that’s what most Australians invest into and what Australians can actually afford.”

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="798dfa93-4941-4db6-a696-31e9dc18e81c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.31.50%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=mKBqi5C_DmeiXS.AtJkcR8LQIxqCqmFi" />

GreenPoint Partners brings years of experience assembling and scaling real estate operating businesses across major markets. And Green sees a big opportunity in Australia.

“For its size, sophistication and importance to the community, Australia’s living sector has remained largely under-institutionalised, which represents significant opportunity,” Green said. “GreenPoint identified that gap, assembled the right team, and is backing One Living to build a platform that is aligned to market needs.”

Green said being a builder-developer would give the company the capacity and flexibility it required to deliver reasonably-priced homes.

“We want it to be at that attainable level; not super high end luxury but at that attainable level,” he said.

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="74a5344a-4b26-4d4a-ada3-056b1220be77" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.32.15%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=vY8hXHO4reBMdO8ZXMWCNtGZJofUPQ3j" />

&nbsp;

One Living will undertake a component of affordable housing in its schemes, which it will own and operate, and it could also run build-to-rent on some sites.

Green praised local policy settings.

“The NSW government is being very supportive, strategic and pragmatic in terms of how do we generate more supply of housing,” he said. “We think it’s actually positive for development and the bit that’s been lacking at that attainable level is that it’s lots of relatively small private developers, whereas we want to create an institutional platform.”

One Living is also&nbsp;looking at high-density projects and could take on more institutional funding in the future.

“The way we will be able to achieve economies of scale is through size,” Green added.

One Living enters Sydney's new apartment market with Northern Beaches site acquisition

It's been several years since there's been an opportunity to buy a brand new townhome in Melbourne's coastal suburb of Mordialloc. Even apartment developments in recent times have been few and far between in the area.

Local developer LDS Property identified the gap in new housing, securing a site on White Street, directly opposite&nbsp;Woodlands Golf Club Mordialloc. They've recently launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-townhouses/wm-residences-mordialloc-102-white-street-mordialloc-vic-3195">WM Residences</a>, just 13 townhouses which they have already started building.

Projects by Buxton Director Heath Thompson, who is selling WM Residences, says the townhouses x that perfect middle ground be

"Mordialloc residents have had limited options to downsize within the suburb, often forcing them to look elsewhere despite long-standing ties to the area," Thompson says.

"With very little comparable new supply coming to market, projects like WM Residences are well placed, particularly as buyers look to capitalise on current conditions amid constrained supply."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6109]

The development, designed by regarded architecture firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/ewert-leaf">Ewert Leaf</a>,&nbsp;adopts a deliberately restrained architectural approach, focusing on simplicity, durability and liveability rather than overt design gestures.

The boutique scale is central to the offering. With only 13 three-bedroom residences, each home is configured to prioritise functional layouts and everyday use, supported by private terraces and secure two-car garages.

Ewert Leaf’s design response leans into a calm, neutral material palette. Interiors are defined by oak flooring, white walls and soft finishes, creating a consistent and understated backdrop. The approach avoids trend-driven detailing in favour of longevity, with an emphasis on natural light and spatial clarity.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6110]

Beyond aesthetics, the homes are designed to meet contemporary performance expectations. Each residence targets a minimum 6-star energy rating, incorporating double glazing, comprehensive insulation and all-electric Bosch appliances.

The project’s location supports a walkable coastal lifestyle, sitting within close proximity to Mordialloc’s foreshore, Main Street retail strip and the train station. Local cafés and dining venues, including Suburbia Deli and Hendriks Café, are within a short walk, reinforcing the area’s established neighbourhood character.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6116]

While <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/mordialloc-vic-3195">Mordialloc</a> is often defined by its beach and pier, the project taps into other areas of day to day living, offering easy access to local food, casual dining and transport, rather than positioning itself purely as a lifestyle retreat.

WM Residences reflects a continued trend across Melbourne’s coastal suburbs towards smaller-scale, design-led townhouse developments, particularly on infill sites where proximity to amenity is already established.

With construction commenced prior to its market entry, the project aligns with a growing preference among buyers for developments with visible progress and defined delivery timeframes.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=134646]

WM Residences fills gap in Mordialloc townhouse market

The Conversation

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By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-hale-93655">Chris Hale</a>, University of Melbourne.
It’s hard to get past the feeling that we are stuck in 1970s thinking when it comes to planning infrastructure such as airports.
The Federal government has <a href="http://www.pm.gov.au/media/2014-04-15/western-sydney-airport-deliver-jobs-and-infrastructure">finally announced Badgerys Creek</a> in Sydney’s south-west as the city’s second airport, with an intention to go to tender - but without vital details on the role of the airport or its passenger prospects.
Earlier this week, the <a href="http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/9617-coalition-government-commits-to-melbourne-airport-rail-link-in-state-budget">Victorian government announced</a> in vague fashion an intent to push ahead with delivery of a Melbourne airport rail link - costs, benefits, delivery timing and network integration issues all uncertain.
These two different examples from Sydney and Melbourne provide indicators of out-of-date Australian thinking on major infrastructure, reflecting a mindset around car and jet travel.
<h2>
	Melbourne - stuck on cars?</h2>
Melbourne’s airport rail link has been <a href="http://melbourneairport.com.au/docs/131109_bmelbourne-airport-rail-link.pdf">a long time coming</a>. We recognise its necessity. But the way it will be integrated into the existing transit network is critical. And Melbourne planners appear trapped in a 1970s assumption that people will travel by car to-and-from its airport.
A rail link serving a simplistic point-to-point or A-to-B travel pattern (from Melbourne’s Southern Cross station to Tullamarine airport) will garner a certain amount of ridership, but benefits will be limited for travellers living in the Melbourne’s north or west, who will need to travel into the CBD to access Southern Cross.
Those travelling from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and the southeast will have to change trains - unless there are planned options for a direct connection.
There are plenty of international examples showing the correct way to develop airport links. In Osaka or Tokyo there are at least three different “airport express services” per airport, each addressing different residential catchments, substantially utilising pre-existing rail corridors.
In Melbourne’s case this could be achieved if multiple services converged on the airport. Let’s plan for eventual airport-bound services from Dandenong, Frankston, and from the yet-to-be-built Doncaster rail corridor.
Equally, passengers from the west and north could be offered convenient interchange points at the inner west suburbs of Footscray and Sunshine, or Arden-Macauley to the north, respectively.
These ideas don’t necessarily cost much more from an infrastructure perspective, but they do require a “network” mentality that doesn’t hold sway in Melbourne at this time. Realistically, rail is an afterthought in Melbourne.
<h2>
	Sydney - the world has moved on from jet travel</h2>
The Sydney airport saga is also intriguing for its outdated ideas. Sydney “can’t do without” a second, 24 hour airport, we are told, to relieve current congestion and plan for future population needs. Prime minister Tony Abbott <a href="http://www.pm.gov.au/media/2014-04-16/western-sydney-infrastructure-plan-more-jobs-better-roads">announced a A$3 billion road package</a> (albeit hijacked by the dramatic resignation of NSW premier Barry O'Farrell) to accompany the announcement.
But Japan’s Kansai airport serves a population of some 25 million. Greater Tokyo, with nearly 35 million residents, gets by just fine with two airports. London has three airports - but it services a mega-region of Southeast England with a population of more than 20 million.
The federal government seems to have ruled out the idea of executing a detailed airport study - and infrastructure minister Warren Truss has repeatedly refused to table specific figures on a Western Sydney airport’s passenger numbers.
So far, there is little detail on what the new airport’s mix of freight and domestic travel will be, or how it will service international air routes.
The Badgerys Creek announcement effectively says “enough” to the idea of high speed rail connections between Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
Yet investigations into the future of high speed rail in Australia have consistently demonstrated that HSR would capture a huge chunk of travel between Sydney and Melbourne, or between those cities and Canberra.
This would mean one airport is enough for Sydney (leaving aside where that airport is located). Inter-city east coast travel would largely shift to fast rail, while that single Sydney airport could focus more on international connections.
The Sydney thinking is trapped in the 1970s - when jet travel was the grand new thing. But since then, the world has moved on. And high speed rail travel is now the preferred option for journeys within countries.
<h2>
	Breaking from past assumptions</h2>
Committing to new infrastructure is dangerous when the concept is not thought-through or not up-to-date, or when political motivations are the driver.
We are facing the challenges of the 21st century, not the late 20th century - so its time to break with the simplistic obsessions around roads and planes that prevailed a generation ago.
Better infrastructure demands we table better ideas.<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/25667/count.gif" width="1">
Chris Hale is an infrastructure consultant and contractor.
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/trains-planes-and-automobiles-how-our-cities-get-the-mix-wrong-25667">original article</a>.
Lead image credit: <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzheng/102033888" target="_blank">flickr</a>, CC BY-SA 2.0
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theconversation

Trains, planes and automobiles: how our cities get the mix wrong

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By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-hale-93655">Chris Hale</a>, University of Melbourne
As prime minister Tony Abbott completes a whistle-stop tour of Asia, Australia’s “place in Asia” is an ongoing discussion.
Abbott hailed the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/07/tony-abbott-free-trade-deal-shared-values-japan-australia">“shared values”</a> that enabled Australia’s free trade deal with Japan and now heads to China for crucial trade talks.
But the Australian mainstream sees itself as fundamentally separate from our Asian neighbours across most economic and cultural dimensions.
This mindset is challenging enough in trade and person-to-person ties. Transport infrastructure and city planning just don’t feature sensibly in discussion between Australia and its developed Asian neighbours.
Abbott has invited the Koreans to invest in yet more roads, but we have continuously spurned a long-held Japanese interest in Australian high speed rail opportunities.
Two problematic and emblematic cultural preconceptions hold Australia back from fully engaging with our region in the field of urban planning and infrastructure.
The first is the idea that Asia is “too different” to be relevant to our experience. The second is the even more problematic idea that we have nothing to learn from Asia (while they should presumably listen intently to us).
This intellectual blockage is possibly caused by an Australian infrastructure inferiority complex arising from decades of lost opportunities - rather than some weakness of planning policy or cities in developed Asia.
It also originates from insufficient distinction between developing Asia and developed Asia (incorporating Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore).
Let’s be real here - Australian cities are planned appallingly and have some of the most unsustainable living patterns and transport outcomes of all the world’s developed cities.
<figure class="align-centre"><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/singapore_mrt_station_flickr_shankars_cc_by_sa_20.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Singapore MRT Station, Source: Flickr, Shakar S."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="435" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/singapore_mrt_station_flickr_shankars_cc_by_sa_20.jpg?itok=Gn4Suqsg" title="Singapore MRT Station, Source: Flickr, Shakar S." width="580"></a>
	<figcaption>A Singapore MRT Station. Source: <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.flickr.com/photos/shankaronline/7395444528" target="_blank">Flickr</a>.
	</figcaption></figure>Places like Melbourne have done okay recently with downtown urban design and renewal. But at a broader scale, we have failed to develop mass transit systems capable of meeting commuter demands.
This hurts our cities and it hurts our trade opportunities in the infrastructure, planning and city design sphere.
Sydney has recently decided on a light rail corridor where a metro was needed. Melbourne struggles to launch any coherent response to rampant ridership growth on trams and trains.
Brisbane remains in cloud cuckoo land with its bus obsession - when only strategic rail-based interventions can shape its future growth.
Australian cities have spent the past 30 years riding the complacency of a car culture based on local vehicle manufacturing.
Major road projects formed the core of cynical pork barrel politics, draining the vast bulk of our infrastructure dollar.
Australians need to take a serious look at what major Asian cities - such as Tokyo - have achieved in infrastructure and urban policy over recent decades.
Tokyo coped with a massive influx of internal Japanese economic migrants during the second half of the 20th century. It did so through radical investment in metro rail, combined with judicious attention to zoning, parklands and community assets, which has led to the dominance of rail as majority mode of travel.
Other cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong have heavily oriented city planning to rail, with new metro stations opening yearly to bring distinct benefits of convenience and livability.
Japan’s high speed rail has also played a core role in that country’s economic and scientific development. Recently the Chinese have invested in a great and growing system of fast inter-city connections.
By contrast, successive Australian governments at all levels have turned their backs on transit as a tool for policy, economic development, and urban structure.
Infrastructure Australia was clearly due for an overhaul, but as a country we can’t afford a replacement that exists only to rubber stamp destructive road pork.
Tony Abbott has said he wants to be the ‘infrastructure prime-minister’ but his reported obsession with the virtues of the private vehicle over public transport can only be understood as an outdated and defeatist ideology.
This thought process has no place in influencing contemporary infrastructure policy.
We should look carefully at the emphasis Asia has placed on high-speed inter-city rail. These systems are now the backbone of advanced economies around the world, while only Americans and Australians remain unconvinced.
By censoring our discussion, we miss out on a fuller appreciation of 21st century infrastructure thinking and urbanism. Some great planning ideas and examples are available right on our doorstep.
Perhaps its time for a little less lecturing, and a little more learning.
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/25328/count.gif" width="1">Chris Hale receives funding from the Carlton Connect Initiative of the University of Melbourne. This also includes funding from: City of Moreland, City of Darebin, and City of Yarra, Grimshaw architects, and MGS architects. Over many years, Chris has been the recipient of meaningful in-kind support from the MTR Corporation of Hong Kong - in the form of data availability, strategic briefings, and access to senior staff time.
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/time-for-australia-to-consider-asian-lessons-on-city-infrastructure-25328">original article</a>.
Original images removed and replaced by Creative Commons images. Lead image credit: <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.flickr.com/photos/photocapy/1490960350" target="_blank">Flickr</a>, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Time for Australia to consider Asian lessons on city infrastructure

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By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-hale-93655">Chris Hale</a>, University of Melbourne
The recent productivity commission <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/infrastructure/draft">report</a> into public infrastructure left the most important policy question unasked, namely: if there were better ways for planning and building transport infrastructure, would anyone actually be interested?
Australians have become addicted to the political theatre that surrounds transport and planning. By contrast, successful jurisdictions overseas have placed infrastructure into a condition of mundane, plodding progress.
To do this, they’ve taken infrastructure planning and financing out of the hands of politicians by-and-large, and have never looked back.
<h2>
	Lessons from Germany</h2>
There are two major paths to infrastructure, transport and planning success. One is the “technocratic” route embodied in Germany. The other is the “checks and balances” pathway exemplified in the United States.
German politicians tend to be highly educated. As such, they have long recognised that transport infrastructure is a specialised field, largely beyond the reach of detailed understanding for anyone without high levels of training and skill.
It’s not exactly clear when the German-speaking countries (or Scandinavia for that matter) turned onto their current pathway of transport success. But the “problems” of car dependency were being recognised as early as the mid 1960s.
Rather than building roads and parking only, the Germans switched to a heavily engineered but essentially “balanced” transport approach. Rail and integrated public transport were to play a key role in urban and regional travel.
The Germans began to see car dependency and transport as “scientific” challenges that were mostly solvable through the application of observational method. They invested in research, training and technical capacity - across the gamut of engineering, design, policy, economics and operations.
Transport plans were handed over during the 1970s and 1980s to this new group of transport scientists, who were also tasked with tricky issues such as project financing and optimised ticket pricing.
Much of the high-quality transit infrastructure we see today in German cities is not a “legacy” – but was built largely during the last 10-20 years. The technocratic approach has also been adopted in places like Japan and Singapore.
<h2>
	Keeping the politics out of it</h2>
The United States presents a less clear-cut version of transport success, but they have made one major advance. The Americans simply get the best out of their limited financial resources with a system of checks and balances that regulates the role of politics in transport decisions.
The US emphasises competitive grants, along with openness and transparency around infrastructure funding requests. Government officials are held to a much more stringent set of guidelines (legally speaking) for their conduct in the expenditure of public funds.
The results in advanced locations like the San Francisco Bay Area have included a marked separation of politicians from hands-on involvement in pet projects. Politicians tend to set the headline figure for annual funding, which is then mobilised by a fundamentally more technocratic and accountable bureaucracy.
The recent move by Denis Napthine in Victoria to “re-shape” the long-planned and well supported central city metro corridor with the stroke of his own inexpert pen would be simply unthinkable in the US.
So would Victorian opposition leader Daniel Andrew’s less-than-half-baked move to spend billions on road-rail grade separations without so much as a preliminary study.
The Germans would know that projects such as Melbourne’s metro tunnel need to be planned properly – through the classic “comparison of alternatives” for routes, tunnel alignments, and station locations.
They would expect two or three alternative corridors to be tabled, and then have their benefits and costs, and their pros and cons clearly listed.
Once that crucial information has been tabled openly, we can let politicians make the final call on major projects - but we can also judge the intelligence of their decisions.
The fact that Victoria has come so far into such a large project without any clear comparison of route alternatives suggests a fundamental breakdown in the planning and pre-engineering process.
The fact that state and federal politicians play so fast and loose with public money suggests we need to radically refine our legal frameworks. We need a substantive separation between infrastructure decisions and politics.
I often raise these options, but people generally respond that due process and technical skill just sounds too “boring”. But perhaps that’s the point.
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/24420/count.gif" width="1">
Chris Hale receives　research funding from: The University of Melbourne (Carlton Connect Initiative); City of Darebin; City of Yarra;　City of Moreland；MGS architectects。He has undertaken consulting activity over the past 12 months with: AECOM India;　City of Whittlesea; Public Transport Victoria; and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The views expressed here are entirely his own.
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/infrastructure-needs-science-so-who-put-the-politicians-in-charge-24420">original article</a>.
Lead image credit: <a href="http://www.regionalraillink.vic.gov.au/news/images?result_92818_result_page=3" target="_blank">regionalraillink.vic.gov.au</a>
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Infrastructure needs science, so who put the politicians in charge?

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By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/michiel-bliemer-14639">Michiel Bliemer</a>, University of Sydney
This week, Australian motoring groups decided to <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/motoring-groups-say-user-charges-could-be-fairer-for-motorists-than-the-excise/story-fn59niix-1226863692842">back road user charges</a>, arguing that it would be a fairer system.
At the same time, the groups said the change to user charges would secure sufficient funding for new infrastructure and provide incentives for drivers to avoid driving during peak hours.
This is an unprecedented move for motor lobby groups in Australia.
And it’s a win for Australians. Charging road users would mean payment based on distance travelled and the time driven, and the additional revenue would facilitate the removal of fixed fees like registration expenses and the fuel excise tax.
For many years car drivers have complained about the increasingly congested roads in Australian metropolitan areas, and have asked governments to do something about it. Governments have responded by building new road infrastructure and introducing new public transport services.
But governments clearly do not have sufficient funds for all required investments, so they do not make the necessary investments in public transport, and they propose toll roads to let motorists (partly) pay for the investments.
In the past, motoring groups have argued car drivers do not want to pay more for what they consider already high costs for driving a car.
This creates an impasse, and essentially we get what we pay for, which is heavily congested roads. The proposals put forward by the motoring groups follow recommendations for further user pay roads in the Productivity Commission’s <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/infrastructure/draft">draft infrastructure report</a>, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-13/infrastructure-rethink-could-save-1-billion-annually/5317002">quashed by prime minister Tony Abbott</a>.
The aim of the new proposals is to ensure sufficient funds are available for investments in roads and bridges, and develop a mechanism that provides incentives to drivers that result in less congestion. It is important to note that the motoring groups do not say the average car driver needs to pay more. Instead, they argue that they should not pay less and they should pay differently.
<h2>
	Doing the maths</h2>
A quick calculation (based on average prices and average fuel consumption) shows the average car driver in Australia pays between A$700 and $800 a year in fuel excise tax, which is currently $0.38 per litre (plus 10% GST). Car owners in NSW pay around $300 per year in registration fees and between $200 and $300 in toll payments (although this varies widely).
A fixed registration fee seems unfair to people who drive very little. And toll roads only in certain locations seem unfair to people who happen to live in the area. But are Australians paying a lot? It depends on the point of reference.
Compared to the USA, where the fuel excise tax is about US$0.14 per litre, and where the annual registration fee is around US$46, Australians do seem to be worse off. But compared to many European countries we actually pay very little. For example, the annual registration fee in the Netherlands is around €600, and the fuel excise tax is €0.78 per litre (plus 21% GST). However, toll roads hardly exist in the Netherlands. The average number of kilometres driven by Dutch people is similar to Australia, and net incomes are lower.
So compared to car drivers in the Netherlands, Australians pay very little. Looking at the difference between transport systems in the USA and in Europe, it is clear where the extra money goes, namely to public transport. While the USA is a car-oriented country, European countries typically have strong public transport networks.
So why should car drivers pay for public transport? The answer is actually quite simple. If public transport was much more expensive (or did not exist at all), many more travellers would be driving their cars on the roads, causing massive gridlocks.
But current revenues aren’t enough to cover investments in infrastructure. The maintenance of existing roads is already very expensive, costing between $200 to $300 per person in NSW, around $300 to $400 per car. Expanding infrastructure is extremely costly. The WestConnex project in Sydney, for example, is <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://engage.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/document/show/955">expected to cost around $10 billion</a>, or around $2000 per car in NSW. And revenues from fuel excise tax are actually going down since cars are becoming more fuel efficient. This is one of the reasons why motoring groups worry about future investment.
<h2>
	A fairer approach</h2>
A <a href="http://www.infrastructure.org.au/DisplayFile.aspx?FileID=1066">report prepared for the motoring groups by Deloitte</a> suggests a user charge based on weight of the vehicle, distance travelled, and based on location and time in which a rural car driver outside rush hours would pay much less per kilometre than a city driver in the peak hours. This can be done in a revenue-neutral fashion such that the average car driver does not pay more.
In fact, it can be introduced in such a way that the majority of people would pay less than what they currently pay by removing the fixed annual registration fees and making all costs based on usage of the road system, so people who drive less will pay less. Brendan Lyon, the chief executive of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, is right to say this is a fairer way.
Its use in other countries has shown that offering car drivers incentives to avoid user charges is an effective and efficient way to combat congestion. An important underlying assumption here is that car drivers have alternatives to choose from. These alternatives are, for example, departing outside peak hours, taking public transport, working from home and car-pooling.
Surveys in NSW have <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/business/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/198694/TOPS-2014-Q1-March_Media_final.pdf">shown that people in general are in favour of user pays</a>. This means we need to consciously think about our mobility, where we work, and where we live.
It means that the government should offer viable public transport alternatives. It also requires a conversation with companies to offer more flexible working hours and provide facilities to work from home. The time seems ripe for a change. Simply investing in road infrastructure, letting more cars into congested downtown areas, and waiting until cities become completely gridlocked is not an option.
Motorist groups are now advocating what economists have been recommending for years: remove fixed annual costs and introduce a pricing system with avoidable costs to make travelling more efficient.
The ball is now with the politicians.
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/24873/count.gif" width="1">
Michiel Bliemer receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/making-road-users-pay-could-clear-infrastructure-gridlock-24873">original article</a>.
Lead image credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7951502@N08/5539035209/" target="_blank">flickr</a>, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Making road users pay could clear infrastructure gridlock

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By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/john-rayner-118488">John Rayner</a>, University of Melbourne
As the demand for greener and cooler cities increases, new “green infrastructure” technologies, such as green roofs and walls, are coming to the fore. But what are they?
Put simply, green roofs and walls are landscaped building surfaces. Australia has been relatively slow on the uptake of this movement, with much of the available expertise, systems and materials based in the northern hemisphere.
Last month saw the release of <a href="http://www.growinggreenguide.org/">Growing Green Guide</a>: a free guide to green roofs, walls and facades in Victoria – a collaborative local and state government project, which I contributed to.
And this weekend at the <a href="http://melbflowershow.com.au/">Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show</a> there will be a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.683709495010102.1073741855.230588870322169&amp;type=1">pop-up garden display</a> by the <a href="http://www.land-environment.unimelb.edu.au/">Melbourne School of Land and Environment</a> demonstrating many of the ideas and techniques behind green infrastructure.
But for those who are not in Melboure and/ or won’t be able to give over their weekend to the delights of Australia’s urban horticulture industry, here’s a snapshot and some important design factors.
<h2>
	The impact of green infrastructure</h2>
Green roofs, as mentioned already, are a landscape constructed on a roof and include a range of different types. They can be a small, container beds two metres deep supporting trees and shrubs, or lightweight configurations of only a few centimetres in depth and more than a hectare in size covered in succulent and herbaceous vegetation.
Green walls fall into two very different types. Living walls support plants through irrigated, vertical containers or felt-based structures fixed to a wall surface. Green facades use climbing plants to provide green coverage over a wall, either directly on the building surface or more commonly using a steel trellis or cable system, with plants grown in-ground or in containers that are supported across the building facade.
The evidence of benefits associated with green roofs and walls is increasing as research efforts (from the <a href="http://www.hrt.msu.edu/greenroof/">US</a>, <a href="http://www.thegreenroofcentre.co.uk/">UK</a> and <a href="https://land-environment.unimelb.edu.au/research/research-groups/green-infrastructure-research-group/">Australia</a>) expand across the globe. Green roofs have <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778810001453">been shown</a> in a number of studies to reduce building energy budgets, slightly reducing winter heating costs but providing more significant reductions to summer cooling.
A <a href="http://www1.toronto.ca/city_of_toronto/city_planning/zoning__environment/files/pdf/chapter4_2_6.pdf">modelling study</a> in Toronto on the implementation of green roofs across low-rise, flat roofs greater than 350 square-metres concluded that ambient air temperatures across the city could be reduced by up to 2C.
The benefits of retaining stormwater on green roofs are <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204605000496">well established</a> and tend to form the basis of many city <a href="http://myplantconnection.com/green-roofs-legislation.php">green roofs tax</a> or incentive schemes, particularly in North America.
Green roofs act like a sponge on a roof, absorbing and storing rainfall and allowing re-use form plants, in turn reducing urban water run-off. <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jeq/abstracts/34/3/1036">One study</a> involving a green roof with a 60mm deep substrate (soil substitute) showed rainfall retention of almost 83%.
Green roofs and walls have been shown to increase property values, partly because people like to view them, but more because they provide more recreational and amenity uses. In one <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12076-010-0046-4">New York study</a> rentals were shown to be 16% higher in buildings with green roofs compared to those without.
The <a href="http://www.greenroofs.org/index.php/resources/2012-green-roof-industry-survey">dramatic growth</a> in green roofs and walls across the US over recent years, despite generally poor economic conditions, suggests demand for these installations will continue.
<h2>
	Why not try this at home?</h2>
Naturally, green roofs and walls need to be planned and designed properly to ensure they are successful. The most significant issue to consider is weight loading. A roof or wall must have the structural capacity for the mass of a green roof, wall or facade installation – both at construction and over time.
Not all plants will succeed on the sometimes hostile and elevated environment of a roof or wall; and vegetation growth is strongly limited by the depth, available volume, air, water, nutrition and environmental conditions present at the site.
Low growing succulents, such as <a href="http://www.lowes.com/creative-ideas/images/2012_05/sedum-laconicum-northeast-4.jpg">sedums</a>, and drought-tolerant perennials including many Australian plants, are widely used because of these constraints.
Waterproofing is another key issue and most structures will require additional specialised treatments to ensure the integrity of the structure is not compromised by the installation. Excess water will need to be drained away, particularly from green roofs.
Most modern systems, such as those produced by German green-roof company <a href="http://www.zinco-greenroof.com/EN/greenroof_systems/index.php">Zinco</a>, incorporate lightweight plastic drainage cells to provide this outcome.
While the <a href="http://www.growinggreenguide.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/growing_green_guide_ebook_130214.pdf">Growing Green Guide</a> was written to increase local understanding and skills amongst architectural and design professionals in Melbourne, it is also relevant to a wider Australian audience.
Who knows? Australia might even have its own version of New York’s aerial greenway <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Line_(New_York_City">High Line</a> one day.
Are you an academic or researcher working in urban design? Contact the <a href="mailto:paul.dalgarno@theconversation.edu.au">Arts + Culture editor</a>.
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/23911/count.gif" width="1">
John Rayner receives funding from the Australian and Victorian Governments, the City of Melbourne and Melbourne Water and is affiliated with Green Roofs Australasia. He helped to write the 'Growing Green Guide' and is involved in the green infrastrucure display at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/green-roofs-and-walls-a-growth-area-in-urban-design-23911">article</a> to see the original images. Lead image credit from original The Conversation article.
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Green roofs and walls - a growth area in urban design

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<h2>
	By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/fleur-watson-116651" style="font-size: 12px;">Fleur Watson</a>, RMIT University
</h2>
There are layers of mythology around what architects actually do in conceptualising and making architecture. These misconceptions are fed by popular architectural stereotypes of 20th-century culture, such as Ayn Rand’s young individualistic protagonist <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRXcaWVr_uI">Howard Roark</a> in his 1943 novel The Fountainhead to the widely misquoted, utopian visions of Swiss architect <a href="http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=3426">Le Corbusier</a>, to the famously difficult genius of American <a href="http://www.franklloydwright.org/about/FLLWBio">Frank Lloyd Wright</a>.
In <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/melbournenow/projects/528">Sampling The City</a>, an exhibition I curated as part of <a href="https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/melbournenow">Melbourne Now</a> at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the challenge was to convey the diversity of the design process: what architects do, the way they do it and why architectural thinking is useful to our collective communities.
Within an Australian context, the architect is often considered as a luxury service, responding to a client’s demands to express wealth and influence. Beyond the bespoke residential market, the architect struggles to get past the rationalisations of the project home industry and contribute meaningfully to affordable housing.
In the public realm the architect is often at the back of a public project such as a community centre, school or public pool, jostling for design quality within an ever increasing “value-add” mentality of key performance indicators and budget rationalisation.
Now in the context of a four-part exhibit, one room of Sampling The City is dedicated to an “architectural incubator”; a studio environment that provides an insight into the process of six, young Melbourne practices at various stages of their career: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_Fahey">Cassandra Complex</a>, <a href="http://muirmendes.com/">Muir Mendes</a>, <a href="http://www.studiobird.com.au/">Studiobird</a>, <a href="http://marchstudio.com.au/">March Studio</a>, <a href="http://www.makearchitecture.com.au/">Make Architecture</a> and <a href="http://www.rolandsnooks.com/">Studio Roland Snooks</a>.
Within this space, each practice has created a wall installation in response to one of five themes – architecture and representation, craftsmanship and materiality, stitching the city, art engaged practice or advanced architecture.
The six installations comprise of a series of images, drawings, models and material compositions with the intent to provide an insight into the thinking behind a set of diverse architectural ideas and emerging positions. So let’s look at the process of three in more detail.
For Make Architecture’s Melissa Bright, the exhibition provided an opportunity for the exploration of various built and unbuilt projects in their practice. The architects were inspired by American artist <a href="http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_ruscha/">Ed </a><a href="http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_ruscha/">Ruscha</a>’s famous photographic study of <a href="http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_ruscha/images/sunsetstrip.jpg">Every Building on the Sunset Strip</a> (1966), and made a series of study marquettes (see below) to locate the projects within their urban and suburban context.
Beautifully detailed brick, timber and roof tile textural models demonstrate a variety of material testing and reference a vital part of Make Architecture’s studio process when designing a building. As Bright explains:
<blockquote>
	When responding to a project, we start to zoom in and typically draw on the materials and details in the existing house to inform our design response. We search for ways to reinterpret and to respond to these materials in a contemporary way. For MAKE, inspiration comes from dealing with small-scale street identity and a commitment to livable suburbs that engender feelings of place and community.
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42733/area14mp/h2ht4y7s-1393566092.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42733/width668/h2ht4y7s-1393566092.jpg"></a> <figcaption>MAKE Architecture, Sampling The City, Incubator Installations. Photographer Peter Bennetts
	</figcaption></figure>Matthew Bird’s practice, Studiobird, focuses on material explorations at the intersection of architecture and art practice, working alongside collaborators such as Melbourne contemporary dance studio <a href="http://www.balletlab.com/">BalletLab</a>. For the Incubator room, Bird and BalletLab’s artistic director <a href="http://www.balletlab.com/phillip-adams">Phillip Adams</a> conceived Future Wagon (2013) – a vision for a nomadic home of tomorrow.
The project speculates upon our future inhabitants roaming street address and value of material décor: where will we live and what will our homes look like? The outcome is constructed from do-it-yourself materials and references stagecoaches of the Wild West, gypsy caravans, <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Dynamaxion_1933.jpg">Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion car</a>, to homemade billy-carts and shopping trolleys of the homeless.
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42744/area14mp/6qnq4zbb-1393567786.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42744/width668/6qnq4zbb-1393567786.jpg"></a> <figcaption>Studiobird, Sampling The City, Incubator Installations. Photographer Peter Bennetts
	</figcaption></figure>Bird’s process differs significantly from that of Make Architecture. Rather than working from a brief or response to a site, Bird builds a repository of project related trigger words and images typically sourced from Google images.
Part of this process is to ask his clients and collaborators to add images to the repository that form the basis for an ongoing conceptual conversation that starts to build a vision for the project. Bird eschews the term innovation in design suggesting it recalls equations driving ideas rather than a creative process:
<blockquote>
	I pursue “new” by asking seemingly illogical “what-if” questions, combining disparate disciplines, elaborative paradoxes and arrive at charged spatial constructs that I hope offer a profound experiences for clients and audiences.
</blockquote>
Roland Snooks is an architect at the forefront of the intersection of “advanced architecture” - architecture that uses computational processes and digital fabrication such as 3D printing as its driving force. His work combines algorithmic design experiments and advanced fabrication technologies such as robotic production. Working across the principles of complex self-organising behaviours found in biological, social and material systems, Snooks’ architecture explores advanced aesthetic and compositional relations.
In Sampling The City, Snooks presents a series of prototypes fabricated by experimental robotic techniques. The forms cut from high-density foam are able to become formwork for pouring concrete into exotic but structurally optimised building elements.
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42738/area14mp/g6p2ms5q-1393566903.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42738/width668/g6p2ms5q-1393566903.jpg"></a> <figcaption>Muir Mendes (detail), Sampling The City, Incubator Installations. Photographer Peter Bennetts
	</figcaption></figure>The intention was to demonstrate the role of experimentation in construction and the influence it has on design. Snooks describes his design process as:
<blockquote>
	start[ing] either from a continuing line of research or it can evolve out of the client’s brief … our work can be seen as part of an international group that is exploring processes of formation from complex systems.
</blockquote>
Through their installations, these practices convey very different perspectives on the making of architecture, revealing their position through the unfolding of a set of ideas that, in turn, drive the architectural process.
They convey the diversity and richness of architectural culture in Melbourne and the contribution of architectural practice to the cultural economy of the city.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/melbournenow/projects/528">Sampling The City, Melbourne Now</a>, runs at the National Gallery of Victoria until March 23.
Fleur Watson 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" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/23182/count.gif" width="1">This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/what-architects-do-and-how-they-do-it-at-melbourne-now-23182">original article</a>.
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What architects do and how they do it, at Melbourne Now

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By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/david-nichols-2013" style="font-size: 12px;">David Nichols</a>, University of Melbourne
Sixty-six years ago, the esteemed town planner Frank Heath took a bite out of his home town of Melbourne – from a safe distance. The Melbourne Herald was interviewing Heath in London. Quite possibly causing straphangers to choke on their pipe smoke in red rattlers across the city, he told the paper:
<blockquote>
	Australia is 10 to 15 years behind modern thought in town development and building … We are not thinking in a big enough way – we are only heaping up difficulties for the future. Melbourne is a very dull-looking city.
</blockquote>
Then the clincher:
<blockquote>
	Why are there no roof cafes, no open street cafes in Melbourne?
</blockquote>
Earlier this month, the Victorian State Government published a <a href="http://www.arts.vic.gov.au/Projects_Initiatives/Cultural_Infrastructure_projects/Melbourne_Arts_Precinct_Blueprint#.UvwRlkKSw1E">blueprint</a> for Melbourne’s Southbank Arts Precinct, then Danish architecture firm Gehl <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/docklands-faces-overhaul-as-gehl-report-urges-major-changes-20140212-32iet">proposed</a> major changes to the Melbourne Docklands. Both recommend “activating the street”. But how do you go about bringing a street to life in such a prescriptive fashion?
<h2>
	80s and 90s street life</h2>
Heath was a modernist, with all that entailed – belief in progress, technology and labour-saving devices. He lived till 1980; he might have just seen the very beginnings of Australia’s entry into the era of a genuine planning-based revival of the vital street.
Suddenly, pot plants, trees, chairs and tables were on the footpaths, perhaps, and even street entertainment – all the things that, for most of the 20th century, had been seen as impediments to what streets were actually meant for: ease of speedy traffic, on wheels and/ or feet.
The change (back) was inspired in large part by the legend of European (particularly, Mediterranean) street life and the writings of New York architectural writer <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/books/25cnd-jacobs?pagewanted=all">Jane Jacobs</a>, who celebrated the safe and satisfying life lived in public on the mixed-use city street.
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42338/area14mp/2p5kyxkv-1393218395.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42338/width668/2p5kyxkv-1393218395.jpg"></a> <figcaption>Parisien street life. zoetnet
	</figcaption></figure>Streets live, die and return to life in remarkable ways. When Nicole Thibault opened her crafty second-hand shop Scrabble in the early 1990s on Ann Street in Brisbane’s West End, there was only one other business among the empty shopfronts: a gentleman’s club, The Red Garter.
In Ann Street she was, she says:
<blockquote>
	a Lone Ranger … for at least a year then a few other shops followed suit. Silver Rocket, Kleptomania, and Blonde Venus, Bent Books, were the main ones.
</blockquote>
By the time Thibault sold her business and left, Ann Street had become desirable retail again, and the area had revived. It was still noisy and dirty, but instead of a place to drive through it was a destination.
<h2>
	The task of human-funnelling</h2>
The question is whether such stories are just component parts of an organic, demographic ebb and flow, or whether successful – that is, vibrant and attractive – streets can be made or remade.
Drop into any major planned housing precinct – Springfield near Brisbane or Craigieburn in Melbourne’s north – and you’ll find the main shopping strip is designed to a human-scaled template, to encourage interaction, rest stops among street plantings, coffee breaks and quiet contemplation (or, at least, window shopping).
Whether such blatant stabs at human-funnelling can ever really work is surely down to luck, happy accidents and geography – the last two basically no more than two more different kinds of luck.
Yet it is often the fervent wish of retailers, city burghers and citizens that their main street, be it in a central business district or a prominent suburb, be brought to life in a manner that seems to fly the flag for a new wave not only of prosperity in itself but also diversity, variety, quirkiness even … and maybe ultimately just interestingness.
The main shopping street presents a thorny problem because it is by definition a public space that needs people all the time – and a constantly renewing river of people – but it also needs certain areas to be marked out and set aside for certain functions.
Antisocial behavior has to be policed, and indeed social behavior – stopping to chat – can in many instances be problematic, because it disturbs the flow, however delightfully.
The perpetrators/ creators of shopping malls streamlined the customer delivery process perfectly, only to be told that customers had changed: now, they were looking for a simile of a bohemian village or a low-rise shopping experience.
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42325/area14mp/bmbyjkjn-1393216117.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/42325/width668/bmbyjkjn-1393216117.jpg"></a>
	<figcaption>Sydney Road Street Party, Brunswick. Alastair Taylor
	</figcaption></figure><h2>
	Elevated by the city</h2>
When I visited Queensland’s <a href="http://www.greaterspringfield.com.au/index.php">Springfield</a> in 2011, the main shopping street ended in a billboard promising a lot more than the large mound of earth it was built to mask. Streets tend to work best when they go somewhere, even though most of the people using them won’t actually go where the street’s going.
Instead, users thrive on the passing show of automobile traffic and the spectacle of each other. They’ll often, in fact, regard the automobiles with contempt: I have spent a lot of time on major shopping streets of both Sydney and Melbourne (I’m thinking King Street, Newtown and Sydney Road, Brunswick/ Coburg), each the beginning of a major highway heading to the other major city of Australia. I’ve noticed there is a cavalier, and proprietorial, attitude among users of both.
People will blithely wander into traffic to get to the other side of the road, and the attitude seems to be (this was certainly how I felt when I used to do it) that the road isn’t for those cars passing through. It’s for the everyday local user, and sheer will throws up a forcefield to prevent any harm from the sometimes crawling, sometimes unpredictable stop-start, local traffic.
Perhaps that, then, is the secret to an effective street: the sense (not necessary an illusion) that one is part of something bigger, that while on the one hand one is merely participating in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl%C3%A2neur">flaneurie</a> (the act of strolling), one is also part of the larger city organism, not just camping out in a backwater cul-de-sac.
Surely the key to designing a vibrant street is incorporation into major developments or impressive backdrops. But an “impressive backdrop” is not just physical.
Streets can also be designed around cultural (ethnic or otherwise) hotspots or any other reason to make us think we’re not just Pavlov’s dogging it to capitalism’s sonorous bell, but also experiencing – in peripheral vision, in cross-cultural, cross-class encounters, and in atmosphere – something elevating and even educational.
David Nichols 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" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/23181/count.gif" width="1">
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/street-life-how-do-you-revive-a-dull-urban-area-23181">original article</a>.
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Street life: how do you revive a dull urban area?

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By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/yolande-strengers-15350">Yolande Strengers</a>, RMIT University
<blockquote>
	Imagine this: Total Electric Living… where electricity does absolutely everything: heats, air conditions, cooks, preserves food, lights, entertains, encourages hobbies, makes it the easiest way ever for you and your family to be happier, healthier, to live fuller lives.
</blockquote>
Sound familiar? It should: while it dates back to the 1950s, that quote from a Westinghouse ad for the “Total Electric Home” is strikingly similar to today’s ads for new “smart homes”.
Today, US home automation company <a href="http://www.alldigital-av.com/#!home-automation/cjgg">Control4</a> invites us to:
<blockquote>
	Imagine a house that remembers to lock itself at 10pm. Shades that close as the sun hits. A home theater setup that takes care of lights, sound and picture with one touch. With Control4, everything works together the way you want it to. Life is just better with a little more control.
</blockquote>
Both visions promise homes that take care of themselves, and those that live in them, with us barely needing to lift a finger.
But there is one critical difference. The 21st century smart home also promises to deliver substantial energy savings through automated appliances and smart heating and cooling systems. Sound too good to be true? You may be onto something.
Smart home technologies are now being advocated not only by home automation companies, but by governments and energy providers as well. While there are energy efficiency gains to be had, it is important to pay attention to the new ways of life these technologies promote, and what this might mean for future energy consumption.
<h2>
	Lessons from the past</h2>
History provides many reasons to be cautious about dream home aspirations. For a start, utopian visions of our future lives and homes rarely come to pass as intended. They are like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: tantalisingly close, but never within our reach.
Nonetheless, the continual promotion of new ways to live are always productive in one way or another, just not necessarily in the ways they were intended.
The industrial revolution of the home and the proliferation of labour-saving devices like vacuum cleaners, irons and washing machines, was intended to free women from the daily drudgery of housework. And in many ways it did.
But as Ruth Schwartz-Cowan succintly points out, it also served to increase expectations of cleanliness, creating “<a href="http://books.google.com.au/books/about/More_Work_for_Mother?id=_6iAsTStE9MC&amp;redir_esc=y">more work for mother</a>”.
As mother has worked harder, our dependency on the various appliances we now consider essential for modern day living has grown, along with the energy needed to power them.
<h2>
	Old expectations for a new future</h2>
It is possible to speculate on how “smart” cleaning, entertaining, security, heating and cooling technologies might ratchet up our expectations for these services, potentially undermining some energy efficiency benefits.
This is often the explicit aim of home automation companies, which promise to <a href="http://sony.ielectronics.com/es-home-theater">“elevate your standards”</a> (Sony) and whose websites depict luxury and decadence on a Dubai-style scale. The smart lifesyle has one defining feature: it is all powered by electricity - albeit greener and more efficient electricity.
Remote controlled security lighting, for example, replaces the friendly neighbour or housesitter who keeps an eye on the place while you’re away. Similarly, automated climate-controlled heating and cooling systems can replace other ways of keeping warm or cooling down, like wearing more or less clothes, building climate-sensitive housing, or taking a cold shower.
This preoccupation with energy-dependent ways of life dates back to at least the 1930s. Westinghouse’s display-style ‘Home of Tomorrow’ celebrated its achievement of an electrical load equivalent to that of 30 average homes, “ready to do the work of 864 servants with the flip of a switch”.
What has changed between then and now is that, where the dream homes of the past glorified their high energy consumption, the smart homes of today promote their efficiency credentials. However, both are thoroughly subscribed to an energy-intensive lifestyle.
<h2>
	Reimagining the dream home</h2>
There is nothing wrong with imagining different ways to live. Indeed there has never been a moment in human civilisation when we have not. There is something captivating and thrilling about a future that to many people, will never be affordable or available. That’s what makes it so desirable.
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VvTyfJhyHbc?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440"></iframe><figcaption>The 1960s American Home of Tomorrow, posted on Youtube by independent archive film agency Thekinolibrary
	</figcaption></figure>However, what is troubling with these dream home visions, past and present, is their dependence on energy, or on electrically-enabled ways of life.
What we rarely see in the past or present are utopian aspirations for a way of life where homes are cooled without the need for mechanical heating and cooling, where security systems aren’t needed, or where cleaning doesn’t require new electrically-powered gadgets and devices.
When home automation companies invite us to imagine warming up our spa before we even get home, we might laugh, get excited, be appalled, or all three. But whatever our reaction, we should be concerned - not because the smart home of the future is destined to either fail or succeed, but because it might unfold in ways we weren’t intending.
It might rope us into new forms of work for mother, father and the rest of the family. And it might increase our expectations for energy-intensive lifestyles.
We do need new utopian visions for dream homes, but we can do better than ones that only involve automation and energy efficiency.
We can imagine homes with new ways of entertaining, securing, cleaning, cooking, heating and cooling. We can imagine homes that don’t need very much energy at all.
This article is based on content from Yolande Strengers' recent book, <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/smartenergytechnologiesineverydaylife/YolandeStrengers">Smart Energy Technologies in Everyday Life: Smart Utopia?</a>
Yolande Strengers receives research funding from Australian energy providers and the Consumer Advocacy Panel
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/21169/count.gif" width="1">
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/dream-homes-of-the-future-still-stuck-in-the-past-21169">original article</a>.
Lead image credit: James Vaughan on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/4175963774/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>, reproduced under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>
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Dream homes of the future still stuck in the past

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<h1>
	By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-dovey-107660" style="font-size: 12px;">Kim Dovey</a>, University of Melbourne
</h1>
The celebrated New York <a href="http://www.thehighline.org/">Highline</a> is one of the world’s urban redesign success stories. Formerly an abandoned railway, it is now an elevated park running past, over and through the buildings of Manhattan. <a href="http://www.roberthammond.com/">Robert Hammond</a>, co-founder and Executive Director of “Friends of the Highline”, was in Melbourne for Melbourne Knowledge Week telling the story of the project.
But it’s not just the Highline. Around the world urban transport provides opportunities to revitalise cities, and Australia can learn from this too.
<h2>
	Ongoing gentrification</h2>
When I visited the Highline in 2004 the derelict remnants of this former railway snaked through the meat-packing district. Trucks unloading fresh carcasses shared the sidewalks with new restaurants, galleries, boutiques and nightclubs. The fresh meat added authenticity to the fashion, food and fraternizing.
Ultimately the meat-packing would be replaced: this post-industrial makeover is now largely complete, and the Highline can be seen as part of this gentrification process.
It is scarcely news that former rail lines become available for new uses such as parks and bikeways. The wonderful “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promenade_plant%C3%A9e">Promenade Plantée</a>” in Paris is an earlier example of something similar. The former orbital rail line that encircles the inner city suburbs of Carlton and North Fitzroy in Melbourne has long been a popular linear park and bikeway. Yet the lessons here go far beyond the upgrading of disused rail tracks.
<h2>
	How transport revitalises cities</h2>
A less celebrated part of New York is “DUMBO” (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). An industrial zone in Brooklyn previously inhabited by artists from the 1970s, the area was steadily redeveloped with a new waterfront park and a great view of Manhattan.
This development is here because major transport infrastructure generally creates leftover spaces of low market value. Here, difficult industries and low-rent activities can flourish. Railways and difficult industries have long had an affinity because they can share the noise, vibration and dirt. Creative industries also move into spaces that are low-rent due to their proximity to railways or industry.
<h2>
	Could Australia do the same?</h2>
Rather than copy New York, a lesson for low-density Australian cities is to look for opportunities to redevelop over, around and under existing railways. We could even build new elevated rail.
We have traditionally managed the noise and vibration of railways by creating extensive easements and buffer zones. Yet new rail technologies and forms of encasement can make such leftover spaces much more livable than they once were. When noise and vibration is reduced, then the positives of being near a train station can make such spaces highly attractive.
Many existing railways travel through excavated cuttings. These could be roofed to provide both development opportunity and linear parks.
<h2>
	Creating opportunities</h2>
This is not just a matter of taking advantage of leftover spaces, but also one of creating more of them. We can do this through investing in public transport.
Our low-density suburbs are replete with level crossings. These embody the most glaring of urban dilemmas: the more we increase the frequency of trains the more we block the car and bus network. Erasing these level crossings, by burying them or elevating them, would do far more to ease traffic than any road tunnels or freeways.
Redesigning level crossings will also help Australia’s cities transfer to a more transit-based, low-carbon future. While underground rail is often the best solution, it is very expensive. Elevated rail is more affordable and less disruptive to existing services. If elevated rail is well designed it can increase rather than harm the local amenity.
There is something of an irrational fear of designing elevated rail in Australian cities. To be sure, the danger, noise and vibration need to be managed, but the sight of the train is not a problem and our proximity to it is a significant benefit.
Marginal uses around and under rail lines add spice and variety to urban life; they bring a social and functional mix to areas that are often socially homogenous and monofunctional. The recently redeveloped <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJzHXFsU8UQ&amp;noredirect=1">London Overground</a> has all kinds of activity - gyms, sporting fields, artist studios, industry, offices and housing - located both under and within ten metres of the mostly elevated line.
The obvious lesson from the Highline lies in the opportunities that emerge when trains are removed from the city. But the task for Australian cities lies in adding more of them and in resolving the level crossing issues.
The deeper lesson lies in how wonderful the relationship between trains and cities can be if the urban design is good enough. Linear parks are great but real railways are even better.
Robert Hammond <a href="http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/Whatson/LearnandSee/LecturesandForums/Pages/fae08541-8af5-4902-a696-7a95bd19909c.aspx" target="_blank">spoke</a> on Wednesday 30th October at the Melbourne Town Hall as part of Melbourne Knowledge Week.
Kim Dovey 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" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/19681/count.gif" width="1">
This article was originally published at <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/could-australia-build-a-new-york-highline-19681">original article</a>.
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Could Australia build a New York Highline?

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<h1>
	By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-fleming-104420" style="font-size: 12px;">Steven Fleming</a>, University of Tasmania 
</h1>
This article was originally published at <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/ride-to-work-youll-need-a-bike-barrier-for-that-19111">original article</a>
Between 1% and 3% of Australian commuters are out on the roads today proving cycling is often the <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-so-fast-how-car-commuting-is-taking-your-time-9682">fastest transport choice</a> in Australian cities.
Why don’t more people join them?
It is not for a lack of interest. Australians have already stocked their households with an average of 1.6 bikes. The reason most of those bikes gather dust in garages is that few of us are prepared to risk our lives riding near cars, as Australian traffic and planning authorities expect us to do.
Now even the US has decided to make it easier for cyclists. Will Australia ever catch up?
In-carriage cycling – mixing it with car traffic – is the primary reason our death rates per million kilometres cycled are three times higher than in the Netherlands. We may have helmets, but the Dutch have the protection that matters: barrier protection from cars.
<a href="http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/17/2/131.full?sid=21375136-54bf-4e1a-a192-9e448892d3cf">A study</a> led by Anne Lusk at Harvard found what common sense tells us, that injury rates are much lower on barrier protected cycle-tracks than on comparable roads without bicycle provisions.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23078480">Another</a> led by Kay Teschke, which interviewed injured Canadian cyclists, found barrier protected cycle tracks were one-ninth as likely to have been the site of their accident compared to a randomly selected control site on the route they were cycling.
Studies such as these highlight the greater risk of what <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12971922">Herslund et.al.</a> call “looked-but-failed-to-see errors” by drivers when cyclists have to use roads, plus the well understood danger posed by opening car doors.
Many cyclists have been killed when a carelessly-opened car door has clipped their handlebar and caused them to fall in the path of the vehicle travelling behind them. Many, many, many more have been injured.
A mountain of evidence favouring barrier protected cycle tracks over painted bike lanes has caused an about-face in policy direction in the United States. In July 2013 the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) put an invitation out to protected cycle track experts, after 40 years of their advice being ignored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Engineers.
The journal Injury Prevention rightfully <a href="http://blogs.bmj.com/injury-prevention/2013/09/20/u-s-federal-highway-administrations-new-policy-informed-by-cycle-track-research-published-in-ip/">takes some of the credit</a> on their blog.
A sad irony in the history of bicycle transport is that keen cyclists aided and abetted motoring lobbyists, who wanted the whole road for cars.
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" scrolling="no" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hleXB6oXAJ8?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="100%"></iframe>
	<figcaption>Painted bike lanes don’t get much respect from certain motorists.</figcaption></figure>Bike store owner <a href="http://www.johnforester.com/">John Forester</a> was a keen “vehicular cyclist”. He could keep pace with cars, assert his right to a lane, and gracefully somersault onto the grass if ever a driver looked but didn’t see him. He published these tips in his 1976 book <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Cycling-John-Forester/dp/0262516942">Effective Cycling</a>, with some good intentions, but also a hint of male pride.
By the way he opposed the Dutch-modelled cycle tracks he feared would spread to the US, you could be forgiven for thinking his secret fear was being made to <a href="https://theconversation.com/bikes-as-transport-getting-australian-women-along-for-the-ride-2157">ride beside women and children</a>.
Authorities throughout the Anglosphere nations where Forester’s book was read most were happy to listen to a male voice of cycling. There was no way though that Forester’s ideas were going to have sway with the Dutch.
Too many Dutch mothers were already active in the <a href="http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2011/01/stop-child-murder">Stop the Child Murder</a> rallies that began in 1973 after 450 children were killed on their bikes in one year. The Netherlands was developing feminine and juvenile bike infrastructure that did not exclude men. Australia, like the US, did the opposite.
In every nation, including Australia, bicycle transport was <a href="https://theconversation.com/wide-open-road-how-did-australia-plan-pedestrians-cyclists-and-transit-out-of-its-cities-3944">mainstream</a> until the second world war. In every nation, including the Netherlands, most of those cyclists were wooed, cajoled and bullied into driving during the 1950s and 60s.
But then the Dutch, closely followed by the Danes, gave bikes their own protected space in the road matrix. Each nation’s bike patronage soared and with it their economies benefited from increased discretionary movement and chance interaction, and their hospitals had less road trauma and morbid illness to treat.
With the rest of Europe, the UK, and now even the US moving to broad-appeal bike transport policies, we must ask why Australians still mistake paint on the road for bike infrastructure.
That could be changing. A few local governments are already defying state level policies by building protected cycle tracks, like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/biking-bourke-street-sydneys-cycleways-make-sustainable-transport-possible-6032">Burke Street cycle track</a> in Sydney.
Transport economists serving the former Labor commonwealth government issued <a href="http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/mcu/urbanpolicy/active_travel/files/infra1874_mcu_active_travel_report_final.pdf">a report</a> last July recommending protected bike infrastructure be included with every new urban road, because A$14.30 indirectly <a href="https://theconversation.com/bike-lanes-economic-benefits-go-beyond-jobs-6081">flows back to our economy</a> each time one of us chooses a bike for a 20 minute commute.
The automatic association Australians make between cycling and sport indirectly hinders the development of bike transport infrastructure. As a competitive cyclist myself for more than 20 years, I would be the last to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-cadel-effect-australias-cycling-industry-enters-a-yellow-jersey-era-3546">blame Cadel Evans</a>, or even our <a href="https://theconversation.com/amgen-and-abbott-whos-that-on-the-pms-cycling-kit-18142">MAMIL prime minister</a>, for how things have played out.
I would blame any daring competitive cyclist though who presumed to speak on behalf of all cyclists, from their experience, without recognising that most other Australians can ride a bike too, but are rightfully scared to.
Steven Fleming 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" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/19111/count.gif" width="1">
Lead image credit: City of Melbourne
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