UrbanIT - A Framework to Improve Urban Planning,
Design and Management

A kickoff workshop attended by Byggsøk, our Norwegian project partners, will be held Monday 19th November.
Click here for further information about the research project and the workshop

UDIA NSW Tertiary Award for Excellence 2007

Dana Quintal, Research officer at City Futures, was awarded the commendation for her undergraduate town planning thesis by The Hon. Minister Frank Sartor MP at the UDIA NSW Tertiary Award for Excellence 2007.

Her thesis entitled "Gated communities in Sydney: A search for security, examined gated communities in Sydney" focuses on the experience of gated community residents, including their motivations for moving to a gated community, the importance of physical security and the development of a sense of community.

ARC Linkage Success

CITYFUTURES researchers Prof Bill Randolph, Jim Plume, Dr Bruno Parolin and Assoc Prof Bruce Judd were successful recipients of a Linkage Grant for their project 'An Integrated Information Framework to Support Urban Management'. The industry partners are Department of Planning, City of Sydney, Landcom, EMP Technology and Simmersion. An ARC grant of $465,000.00 was awarded for this project which together with industry partner cash contributions represents a total research budget of $627,000 over 3 years. The project will commence in July 2007.

According the ARC project summary, “This project will be the first in Australia to integrate diverse types of urban data using an open-standard geospatial information model to research the outcomes of major urban renewal proposals in collaboration with both a state and local government planning instrumentalities. Since the issues being addressed are common to every planning body in Australia , the flow-on benefits will be of national significance for future urban planning and management. The research will place Australia at the forefront of international research to improve spatial information management that will inform planning decisions at the local and state level”.

Kristian Ruming Awarded PhD

FBE 2007 Awards Ceremony: Awards Received by City Futures Staff and Students

The UDIA Tertiary Excellence Award for Urban Development Research was awarded to Sarah Hudson, a Master Student associated with the Centre.

Ting Xu, PhD Student, won The University International Postgraduate Award.

The Australian Postgraduate Award and AHURI Top-Up Scholarship went to Lucy Groenhart.

ARC Linkage Submissions - City Future submitted 3 applications
to the ARC Linkage Funding Round

Managing the Compact City: The Role and Effectiveness of Strata Title in Higher Density Residential Development

Project Partners:
Macquarie Bank Ltd, Institute of Strata Title Management Ltd, NSW Department of Lands, NSW Office of Fair Trading, Lannock Strata Finance Pty Ltd and Andreones Pty Ltd

Project Cash Value: $342,684.00

Mixed Use Urban Centres: From Policy to Implementation

Project Partners:
Hassell Ltd, Landcom, Hill PDA, Bankstown City Council, Randwick City Council, The City of Ryde and Warringah Council

Project Cash Value: $312,361.00

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption Strategies for Low-Income Housing Communities

Project Partners:
NSW Department of Housing and The Benevolent Society

Project Cash Value: $183,610.00

Issues Paper No. 4: Progress and Prospect with ‘City of Cities:
a Plan for Sydney 's Future'

A continuing issue in metropolitan strategic plans is how much of them will be implemented. This appears to depend on how far planners are able to understand and shape the future of the city; whether appropriate planning and decision-making frameworks and mechanisms exist or can be put in place for making proposals happen; and what kind of methodology, content and process is used in preparing a plan. These themes are employed to analyse the way four of the major issues attending the future of Sydney are dealt with in the recently released metropolitan strategy ‘City of Cities', and in subsequent statements and plans. These are economic development and its spatial representation, housing, water management and use, and transportation. The first two of these represent innovative exercises in the linking of economic activity and living with land use, density and location. The second two reflect more abstract challenges in framing proposals to acknowledge the increasing constraints of natural resources upon which the city depends. The review ends by suggesting that changes to the planning process would improve the chances of implementation, and the effectiveness of the outcomes.

Author: Dr Raymond Bunker

Click here to download Issues Paper No. 4

APAI Postgratuate Research Scholarship 2007-09 Australian Research Council Linkage Grant

The Airport Metropolis: Managing the Interfaces

The ‘Airport Metropolis' research project (LP0775225) addresses the multifaceted opportunities and conflicts arising from airport-driven development in metropolitan settings across four major interfaces: land use, economic development, infrastructure and governance. It is a multi-university project led by QUT with several industry partners including three Australian airports.

The successful candidate will work at UNSW on a thesis which investigates the spatial evolution and functioning of airport sub-regions with special reference to airport planning and development within local, metropolitan and regional planning contexts. A major focus will be on the implications of international structures and trends in an Australian airport context.

Benefits of the position are:

• The award will be provided for three years of full-time study
• An annual, tax-free stipend of $25,627
• The recipient will also receive financial support for research travel and expenses

Applicants for this position must:

• be an Australian citizen or permanent resident or a New Zealand citizen.
• hold a relevant degree (e.g., planning, urban studies, geography, public policy) of at least second class honours (upper division) or equivalent (e.g., significant research experience in industry).
• not have completed a PhD or its equivalent.
• Applicants with demonstrable oral and written communication skills are desirable. Experience with quantitative and GIS methods are desirable but not essential.
• The successful applicant must be able to commence full-time study as soon as possible.
• Applicants who have previously submitted an expression of interest should reapply.

Deadline for applications: 31 July 2007

Inquiries : Professor Robert Freestone
Faculty of the Built Environment, UNSW
Tel: (02) 9385 4826
Email: r.freestone@unsw.edu.au

Research Paper No. 7 "Energy Consumption and the Built Environment: A Social and Behavioural Analysis"

Supported by a grant from NSW Environmental Trust, City Futures has completed report no. 7 in our series of Research Papers. The research on which this report is based seeks to explore the extent to which two key dimensions of Australian cities – their built form (in particular, dwelling type) and the socio-behavioural characteristics of households - influence the pattern of domestic energy (electricity and gas) consumption across the city.

Authors: Professor Bill Randolph & Professor Pat Troy
Click here to download Research Paper No. 7

Metropolitan Planning for Sydney: Patterns, Problems and Policies

Prof Bill Randolph, City Futures Research Centre, and Prof Brendan Gleeson, Griffith University, gave an elective lecture in City Planning (Course codes: BENV2901 & GENR0015), Monday 5th March.

Click here do download lecture slides

New Staff Appointed at City Futures

Two new staff members have joined the City Futures team. Hazel Easthope has joined the Centre as a Research Associate and Dana Quintal is appointed as a Research Officer.

Success in the AHURI 2007 Research Funding Round

Two of these projects are in partnership with the Sydney University AHURI Centre, with UNSW as lead. This outcome represents a significant outcome for the Centre. We are particularly pleased that one of our AHURI PhD students, Joanne Quinn, will be engaged in one of the projects to extend the research she has been undertaken for her doctoral thesis on the design of older persons' housing. Joanne has been supervised by Bruce Judd and Oya Demirbilek at FBE and the project team also includes Diana Olsberg from the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work.

In something of the first for AHURI research at UNSW, the two other projects involve partnerships with key national representative organisations – the Mortgage Industry Association of Australia and the Urban Development Industry Association. These partners will assist the research through access to data and contacts. The projects are expected to complete in the first quarter of 2008.

The successful projects are:

• The Efficient Use of Dwellings and Land by Older Home Owners
  ($168,877.00 excl GST):
• The Housing Affordability Impacts of Local Government Building Controls, State Government Charges and Other Regulations
  ($111,444.00 excl GST)
• Supporting Home Ownership through Shared Ownership and Shared Equity Frameworks
  ($143,538.00 excl GST)

City Futures Research Centre is also collaborating on a project led by our AHURI partners at the University of Queensland: Preferences and Options for Longer Residential Security in Private Rental Housing (Total Value: 135,381.00 excl GST)