6th International Urban Design Conference, Sydney, Australia, 9th-11th of September, 2013

"Three-quarters of Australians live in our 18 major cities (that have populations over 100, 000). While Australians are fortunate to enjoy some of the most liveable cities in the world, our cities face a number of long term challenges: the need to improve productivity growth; provide affordable and accessible housing; create safe community spaces; meet the needs of a growing and ageing population; ensure an inclusive and cohesive society; and address the implications of climate change. The way our cities develop to accommodate future growth and change will be critical to maintaining their status as some of the best cities in the world". - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.a9GKj7iB.dpuf

"Three-quarters of Australians live in our 18 major cities (that have populations over 100, 000). While Australians are fortunate to enjoy some of the most liveable cities in the world, our cities face a number of long term challenges: the need to improve productivity growth; provide affordable and accessible housing; create safe community spaces; meet the needs of a growing and ageing population; ensure an inclusive and cohesive society; and address the implications of climate change. The way our cities develop to accommodate future growth and change will be critical to maintaining their status as some of the best cities in the world". - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.EeOrsnIc.dpuf

"Three-quarters of Australians live in our 18 major cities (that have populations over 100, 000). While Australians are fortunate to enjoy some of the most liveable cities in the world, our cities face a number of long term challenges: the need to improve productivity growth; provide affordable and accessible housing; create safe community spaces; meet the needs of a growing and ageing population; ensure an inclusive and cohesive society; and address the implications of climate change. The way our cities develop to accommodate future growth and change will be critical to maintaining their status as some of the best cities in the world". - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.EeOrsnIc.dpuf

The 6th International Urban Design Conference will be held at the Novotel Sydney Olympic Park from Monday the 9th to Wednesday 11th of September 2013. - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.EeOrsnIc.dpuf

The 6th International Urban Design Conference will be held at the Novotel Sydney Olympic Park from Monday the 9th to Wednesday 11th of September 2013. - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.bxZHV1V0.dpuf

The 6th International Urban Design Conference will be held at the Novotel Sydney Olympic Park from Monday the 9th to Wednesday 11th of September 2013. - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.bxZHV1V0.dpuf

The 6th International Urban Design Conference will be held at the Novotel Sydney Olympic Park from Monday the 9th to Wednesday 11th of September 2013. - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.bxZHV1V0.dpuf

Confirmed &Keynote Presenters

• Mrs Lucy Hughes Turnbull AO - Businesswoman and Company Director, Turnbull & Partners Limited, NSW (Confirmed)
• Mr Henry Ergas - Senior Economic Adviser, Deloitte Australia & Professor of Infrastructure Economics, SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong, NSW (Confirmed)
• Professor Peter Newman – Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University and Director of CUSP, WA (Confirmed)
• Ben Hewett - South Australian Government Architect and leads the Office for Design and Architecture SA (ODASA) (Confirmed)
• Mr Gordon Price – Director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, CANADA (Confirmed)
• Mr Kobus Mentz – Director, Urbanismplus, Auckland, NEW ZEALAND (Confirmed)

- See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.gSdMiZPT.dpuf

Politicians

"Three-quarters of Australians live in our 18 major cities (that have populations over 100, 000). While Australians are fortunate to enjoy some of the most liveable cities in the world, our cities face a number of long term challenges: the need to improve productivity growth; provide affordable and accessible housing; create safe community spaces; meet the needs of a growing and ageing population; ensure an inclusive and cohesive society; and address the implications of climate change. The way our cities develop to accommodate future growth and change will be critical to maintaining their status as some of the best cities in the world". - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.YtPvjmJ2.dpuf

The International Urban Design Conference was established in 2007.  Since then over 500 presenters have shared their knowledge in developing a range of themes including, Opportunistic Urban Design 2012, Resilience in Urban Design 2011, Designing the Future 2010, Waves of Change - Cities at Crossroads 2009 and Survival: implementing tomorrow's city 2007. - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.a9GKj7iB.dpuf

"Three-quarters of Australians live in our 18 major cities (that have populations over 100, 000). While Australians are fortunate to enjoy some of the most liveable cities in the world, our cities face a number of long term challenges: the need to improve productivity growth; provide affordable and accessible housing; create safe community spaces; meet the needs of a growing and ageing population; ensure an inclusive and cohesive society; and address the implications of climate change. The way our cities develop to accommodate future growth and change will be critical to maintaining their status as some of the best cities in the world". - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.a9GKj7iB.dpuf

Important Dates

Call for Abstracts Open: 28th November 2012 (NOW OPEN)  
Call for Abstracts Close: 14th May 2013  
Notification to Presenters: 29th May 2013  
Presenters Acceptance Close: 6th June 2013  
Full Papers for Peer Review: 18th July 2013  
Acceptance/Modification of full paper: 15th August 2013
Final academic-refereed papers due: 29th August 2013

The 6th International Urban Design Conference will be held at the Novotel Sydney Olympic Park from Monday the 9th to Wednesday 11th of September 2013. - See more at: http://urbandesignaustralia.com.au/index.html#sthash.EeOrsnIc.dpuf

  
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more conferences:

The 2nd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT (ICRD) 2013 "Sustainable Development: Conceptual Progress and Practical Challenges"

International research conference: planning / conflict - cities and citizenship in times of crisis Lisbon, October 9-11, 2013

Call for papers: T2M's 11th conference: 2013 Kouvola/St. Petersburg – Transport and borders 

Call for papers: Global climate change, biodiversity and sustainability: challenged and opportunity, April 15-18, 2013, Egypt

Sydney: monorail soon to be scrap metal?

via Human Transit

The state government that rules Sydney is giving signs that it's ready to tear down the city's monorail, ostensibly for a rebuild of the convention centre but also to remove some obstacles to surface light rail, including game-changing new line down the middle of Sydney's CBD spine, George Street.  Jake Saulwick has the story in today's Sydney Morning Herald.

A source from one consortium [bidding to build a new convention centre] said no decision had been made ''but the word from the government is 'don't let the monorail constrain your thinking' ''.
''Conversely they say the light rail is quite important.''

This could be read as a story about big bad developers destroying a crucial transit resource, but it's not. The Sydney Monorail, opened in 1988, is the red line in the map below: a one way loop connecting the CBD to the nearby tourism-entertainment-convention district of Darling Harbour:

Like many transit toys, it was built cheaply on the assumption that the joy of the technology itself would transcend its lack of usefulness.  Its most obvious use is for travel between the convention/exhibition area on the west side of the loop to the city centre in the east, but the key stations on the west side of the loop, serving the convention/exhibition area and Paddy's Markets, are attached to parking structures, offering an unattractive walk to the destination itself.   The fare is $5.00.  Meanwhile, it's less than 1.5 km (1 mile) walk from one side of the loop to the other, mostly along reasonably pleasant paths that lead to the front door of your destination, though to be fair there is one elevated waterfront freeway in the way.

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Sydney monorail, photo by puuikibeach

Sydney monorail, photo by Craig Jewell Photography

Sydney monorail, photo by Gary Hayes

Sydney monorail, photo by Alberto OG

Sydney monorail, photo by jezarnold

Sydney monorail, photo by Michael Davie

more about urban transportation in Sydney:

7 Ways to Improve Sydney’s E-Ticketing System

Evaluating urban ambience – an investigation into quantifying the qualities of the walkable city

Sydney Cycle Strategy: Building a Bicycle Friendly City

Skyline photos of Sydney, Australia (2)

Sydney skyline, photo by Daryl Fritz

Sydney skyline, photo by fritzmb

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Sydney skyline, photo by mrandypuppy

Sydney skyline, photo by HPUPhotogStudent

Sydney skyline, photo by sachman75

Sydney skyline, photo by Alex Bikfalvi

Sydney skyline, photo by f_lopiano

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Master of architecture, University of Sydney, Australia

Today, architects must increasingly move between different environmental and design disciplines to make sense of and create the contemporary world. Our Master of Architecture aims to address this need. The Master of Architecture is a 2-year full-time degree. The course centres on design studios which explore urban architecture, sustainable architecture and digital architecture, culminating in a graduation design studio which will allow you to choose from a diverse range of design projects. The studios are structured to respond to the critical issues facing contemporary architectural design and draw on extensive areas of expertise across a range of design disciplines. Each studio is supported by core units in history and theory, advanced architectural technologies and professional practice. You are also able to choose from a wide range of elective units in order to extend your knowledge and skills into other related areas. 

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University of Sydney, photo by Anyaka

more master programmes:

Master in Urban Planning (MUP) in Harvard University

Urban Planning Master's Program in Rutgers University

M.A. in Town and Regional Planning the University of Liverpool

PhD in Urban & Regional Planning, University of Sydney, Australia

The Urban and Regional Planning program teaches strong foundations in urban and regional planning, with the opportunity for students to develop more specialised knowledge in emergent areas, such as environmental design, planning for better structured cities, and sustainable management.
Urban and regional planners are increasingly involved in formulating policies, guiding urban and environmental initiatives, and in managing the social, environmental and economic impacts of development. The program places considerable emphasis on students learning appropriate communication, reasoning and analytical skills for making valuable contributions to the wider emergent professional roles. There is also an opportunity to specialise, by selecting from the range of options offered in the Housing Studies or Heritage Conservation streams.

Admission Requirements

Masters applicants should hold a bachelors degree with a credit average. Graduate Diploma applicants should hold a bachelors degree. Graduate Certificate applicants should hold a bachelors degree or possess experience which is considered to demonstrate the knowledge and aptitude required to undertake the course.

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University of Sydney Quadrangle, photo by betta design

University of Sydney, Medicine, photo by betta design

more PhD programmes in urban and regional planning:

PhD in Design program in North Carolina State University

Ph.D. Program in Planning, Policy, and Design, University of California, Irvine

PhD of urban planning in The University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Design (MSD)

PhD in urban planning in UCLA, School of Public Affairs

TOURISM, HERITAGE AND AUTHENTICITY: STATEASSISTED CULTURAL COMMODIFICATION IN SUBURBAN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

by Renee Wirth and Robert Freestone

Places are (re)constructed for tourism consumption through the promotion of certain images that have implications for the built environment. The act of consuming places itself is a place creating and place altering force. The visual and physical consumption of places also shapes the cultural meaning attached to spaces and places. New meanings of place emerge which often conflict with the meanings once ascribed by the local community. These processes of commodification are well known to cultural theorists and practitioners. This paper uses the broader literature to inform a more specific study revealing state intervention in a process now enveloping suburban centres in global cities. Newtown in Sydney, Australia finds itself being reshaped through a convergence of the market forces of gentrification and the entrepreneurial initiatives of government and in the process is seen to be losing some of the authenticity which was part of the appeal in the first place.

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A sidewalk in Newtown, Sydney, photo by Vanessa Pike-Russell

more about tourism:

Cologne Carnival, 2011, and the Rose Monday

Tourism Gentrification: The Case of New Orleans’ Vieux Carre (French Quarter)

Sydney is Planning to Spread Out … Is It Sustainable?

by Paul Adkinson

Australians have followed the American dream: A 3 bedroom house, an SUV, a big backyard and 10 paces from the house to any other property to keep neighbours at bay. Our overgrown houses are now the largest among the world’s detached dwellings – and we pay the price. All of Australia’s major cities are in the top listed expensive cities of the world to live in, with Sydney ranking 7th in the world.

The cost of living in Sydney, however, is not limited to the price of a house. Sydney has the highest average commute time in Australia, at 4 hours and 48 minutes. But rather than encourage greater density around employment centres as the Metro Strategy suggests, local councils are fighting for what they believe their residents want and therefore should continue to have: wide, green streets with large front and back gardens and nothing above 2-3 storeys. Australians don’t have a front garden culture – we’re out the back with the kids or the barbecue, which means the remaining green space is purely for visual purposes. Those with children will be intimately aware of just how unsustainable this is, with many more now living with parents into their late 20s. But a willingness to change planning controls could deliver three times the housing we have in many of Sydney’s suburbs. 

Sydney’s North Shore offers fine examples of spacious, wasteful planning controls. Frenches forest is a planned major centre in the Metro Strategy and 12 km from the CBD.

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Collaroy beach near Sydney. Downtown Sydney is seen in the picture, by sebr

Sydney skyline, photo by Simon_sees

more about Sydney, Australia:

7 Ways to Improve Sydney’s E-Ticketing System

QUANTIFYING THE QUALITATIVE: an evaluation of urban ambience

Sydney Cycle Strategy: Building a Bicycle Friendly City

Skyline photos of Sydney, Australia 1

7 Ways to Improve Sydney’s E-Ticketing System

By Keiran Thomas

Last month, the State Minister for Transport announced that Sydney’s new integrated public transport ticketing system, the Opal Card, would begin operating in late 2012. (See here for a list of other names considered for the new contactless smartcard ticketing system. Ideas ranged from literal, i.e. “Ride Card,” to downright bizarre, i.e. “Cheese & Kisses Card.”)

Integrated ticketing has been promised in Sydney since 1993. It was meant to have started in time for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but disagreement between the government and the contractor meant the system was never established and ended up costing taxpayers close to AU$200 million. However, the recently elected government seems committed to getting the system running.

While Sydney’s ticketing systems for buses, light rail and ferries will mesh fairly easily with a new integrated system, heavy rail (run by CityRail) uses a very dated ticketing regime. With that in mind, here are the top seven issues to consider for the current CityRail ticketing system to encourage more Sydneysiders to get on board.

1.  Discounts for return trips

Sydneysiders pay the same for a single trip as for a return trip. Buying a return ticket saves CityRail money by printing less tickets and serving less transactions at the ticket office, so why not pass the savings on to passengers?  Although few other rail systems offer discounted return tickets, they do offer discounts on multi-trip credit top-ups.  New York, for instance, gives a 7 percent discount on pay-per-ride credit top-ups of $10 or more.

2....

 

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QUANTIFYING THE QUALITATIVE: an evaluation of urban ambience

by Paul Osmond

Delightful urban ambience is an important indicator of liveability; in turn liveability is a significant aspect of sustainability. But can this quality be quantified? To the extent that ambience reflects the (measurable) configuration of urban form; it is proposed that the comparative expression of certain ambient qualities can be evaluated between areas of differing morphology. Ambience may be conceptualised in terms of the properties of and relations among the distinct sets of elements, from building materials to city blocks, which comprise any given urban structural unit (USU), a construct prefaced on the morphological differentiability of urban form. This paper introduces the derivation of the USU and outlines the results of combining approaches derived from space syntax and fractal geometry to investigate three significant ambient properties – permeability, legibility and diversity – for three dissimilar USUs in Sydney, Australia. It concludes with a brief exposition of a method to test these results against user judgements, which are assumed to reflect the integration of perceptual cues from the environment.

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more post on Space Syntax:

URBAN SHAPES AND URBAN GRIDS: a comparative study of Adriatic and Ionian coastal cities

WALKABILITY, MOVEMENT AND SAFETY FOR THE CITY OF BERKELEY

Analysis of urban complex networks

Evaluating urban ambience – an investigation into quantifying the qualities of the walkable city

by Paul Osmond

Positive ambience represents a significant indicator of the liveable city; in turn liveability is an important dimension of sustainability. Qualities such as permeability (alternative ways through an environment), legibility (which makes a place comprehensible to an observer moving through it), and diversity of visual experience have particular resonance for the pedestrian. Insofar as these qualities reflect the shape of urban form, which is measurable, their physical expression may be evaluated and compared between areas of differing morphology.
This paper presents a case study from Sydney, Australia which compares a densely built-up, walkable inner-city neighbourhood with an outer suburban site from the perspective of the urban design qualities outlined above, based on the evaluation of several measurable morphological parameters associated with those qualities.
Space syntax analysis is employed to determine the configurational metrics of integration (“depth” of the street network), street connectivity, and intelligibility (correlation between connectivity and integration). Fractal geometry is applied to calculate the fractal dimension (the degree of self-similarity) of street networks and views from the vantage point of the pedestrian, which can provide insights into legibility and visual diversity.
The measured values of these physical properties are compared to estimate the relative performance of the study sites in terms of the associated urban design qualities, and on the basis of this “gap analysis” some practical design interventions are proposed to achieve a more pedestrian-friendly suburban environment.

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more about Space Syntax:

Flat City; a space syntax derived urban movement network model

Making an Urban Oasis The Use of Space Syntax in Assessing Dhanmondi Lake Revitalization Project in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The Role of Space Syntax in Identifying the Relationship Between Space and Crime

Space Syntax: An Innovative Pedestrian Volume Modeling Tool for Pedestrian Safety

Sydney Cycle Strategy: Building a Bicycle Friendly City

via SustainableCitiesCollective

Many developing cities are implementing policies to increase the appeal of cycling and reduce the dependence on cars for transportation. Sydney is one such city, and is actively developing a strategy to increase the use of alternative, sustainable modes of eco-friendly transportation.

It is shocking that in certain parts of Australia the transport sector is responsible for approximately 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. The Sustainable Sydney Strategy 2030 aims to address these environmental issues through a number of avenues, one of which is the City of Sydney Cycle Strategy and Action Plan 2007-2017. It is part of the City’s commitment to achieving a sustainable future by making riding a bike an attractive and efficient choice of transport.

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Bourke Road cycleway, photo by Newtown grafitti

more about planning in Australia:

Evaluating urban transport and land use policies through the use of an accessibility modelling framework

Affordable Housing - theoretical utopia or achievable reality

Skyline photos of Sydney, Australia 1

Post-Urban/Suburban Landscapes: Design and Planning the Centre, Edge and In-Between

Helen Armstrong
Centre for Cultural Research, University of Western Sydney

The concept of landscape in contemporary cities is in a dynamic state of flux (Daidalos, 1999; Waldheim, 2006), yet urban design and planning tends to see landscapes as merely open space for recreation and areas set aside as nature reserves or urban public space (Vienna STEP05, 2005; Sydney Metropolitan Strategy, 2004). Such a reading is superficial and ignores the rich and complex contribution that landscape can play in 21st century cities. Limited interpretations of contemporary landscapes are of concern because urban landscapes, in the broadest sense, are being eroded in the city centre and at the edge, as well as in the wide area in between.
Despite theories that post industrial cities are characterised by fragmentation, fluidity and uncertainty (Soja, 2000; Koolhaas, 2004), the globalising forces of late capitalism (Jameson, 1991) are resulting in new ubiquitous and predictable landscapes of consumption in contemporary cities (Harvey, 2000, 2005). It is difficult to discern innovation, apart from environmental, in new plans and designs for buoyant redevelopments in Australian cities; meanwhile there are two major landscape types that are losing the battle against late capitalist urbanism; the peri-urban edge of productive lands and the left-over spaces of cities – the urban voids.
Despite such concerns, there are emerging landscapes of infrastructure in the post-urban/suburban fabric that, although seen negatively, are nevertheless intriguing sites worthy of a new interpretation.
In the context of a number of international approaches to the increasingly urbanised landscape, this paper explores the significance of complex landscapes in post-urban/suburban Sydney. It articulates a number of concerns about policies for Sydney landscape and proposes ways to reconsider current planning and design. It begins by questioning contemporary spectacle cities.

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Darling Harbour, Sydney, photo by edwin.11

more posts about urban landscape:

Planning Urbanization Inside Natural Urban Landscapes

A GIS-based gradient analysis of urban landscape pattern of Shanghai metropolitan area, China

Urbanization, Urban Environment and Land Use: Challenges and Opportunities

Skyline photos of Sydney, Australia 1

Sydney skyline, photo by raminders

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Sydney skyline, photo by Captain Chaos

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