Boomtown 2050 : scenarios for a rapidly growing city [book]

Author: Richard Weller

"Perth, a city of 1.5 million relatively complacent people, is changing at a phenomenal rate. Latest predictions are that the city will grow from 1.5 million people to 4.2 million by 2056. To meet this increase the entire city and its infrastructure needs to double in the next 4 decades. This will have huge consequences for the culture and ecology of the city: Perth's long term survival is at stake. The book is designed to help the community visualize the results of planning decisions and get everyone involved in the debate about how the city should grow. This is an important and timely book for Perth, but it also presents a model piece of research that could be emulated in any city experiencing rapid change." - from publisher.

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Interactions among different dimensions of a responsive public space: case study in Iran (journal article)
by Maryam Charkhchian and Seyyed Abdolhadi Daneshpour
from Review of Urban and Regional Development Studies, Vol 21 No 1 2009
"A place is generally identified by its varying physical, activity, social and meaning (connotative) characteristics. In this paper, the "Model of Responsive Public Space" is defined by these four aspects and each of them has its own special indicators as shown in previous studies on this subject. To examine this model and evaluate the interactions between these dimensions, experimental studies were carried out in two stages. In the first stage, open-ended structured interviews were carried out with 70 participants to adjust the model with personal opinions about public spaces in Qazvin city, Iran. In the second stage a questionnaire was used to explore the effect of the four dimensions on each other. 598 users of a selected public space participated in this study. The results were analyzed by SPSS software applying a Pearson correlation test and Excel software. These results indicate that not only in theory but also in practice, public spaces have four distinct aspects that must be taken into consideration when creating a responsive public space. The most significance correlation is that between the meaning and the social dimension of public spaces."

New urbanism : best practices guide [book]

Authors: Robert Steuteville & Philip Langdon

"Helps architects, planners, urban designers, landscape architects, builders, developers, public officials, students, and citizens understand one of the most vital planning movements of our time - a movement that is reshaping cities, suburbs, small towns, and neighborhoods." Chapters include: Architectural styles and building types; Land development; Health and aging; Shaping the region; Revitalizing cities and towns; Urban retail; The Human-scale workplace; Planning and transit; Civic buildings and spaces; Affordable placemaking; and Building community.

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Click and connect – young Australians' use of online social media
Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority
"Children and young people have a high level of awareness of cybersafety risks and the key messages for staying safe online. This ACMA report found that 75 per cent of children surveyed claim they know not to give out their address or phone number online and remember key safety messages such as ‘people aren’t always who they say they are online’."

Australian Rural Local Governments and Environmental Sustainability: An Evaluation of Progress (journal article)
By Barbara Pini
from Australian Journal of Public Administration Vol 68 Iss 2 2009, pp. 182 - 193
"Local government is often characterised as being well-placed to enact a successful agenda for environmental sustainability because of its closeness to both people and the environment. The purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which this assumption is correct in terms of local government environmental policies and programs in rural Australia. Using case studies with eight local government authorities in Queensland and New South Wales, the article documents three different positions on a continuum of environmental engagement. These are 'disengaged', 'moving towards engagement' and 'engaged'. The article concludes by arguing that the resource constraints facing rural local councils limit their capacity to engage with environmental management. "

Taking the Con Out of Convenience: The True Cost of Transport Modes in Sydney (journal article)
By Garry Glazebrook
from Urban Policy and Research Vol 27 Iss 1 Mar 2009, pp. 5 - 24
"There has been growing interest internationally in the development of comprehensive estimates of the costs of urban transport, fuelled by concerns over global warming, peak oil, road congestion, tolls and public transport subsidies. This article examines the internal and external costs of major modes in Sydney. In terms of total costs, trains are the cheapest, followed by buses, with cars the most expensive. However, the 'out-of-pocket costs' paid by motorists at the time of making a trip are less than one-sixth of total costs. This suggests rational individual travel choices do not add up to rational travel patterns for the city, and that we are paying heavily as a society for the convenience of cars. Governments need to give higher priority for public transport (particularly rail which has the lowest overall costs of any mode) and to change pricing for urban travel, if we are to develop more sustainable cities. "

Broadband economies : creating the community of the 21st century [book]

Authors: John Bell & others, Intelligence Community Forum

Chapters include: What is an intelligent community? -- The broadband economy -- The five habits of highly-effective communities -- Intelligent community indicators -- How to become an intelligent community -- Broadband connectivity -- Knowledge workforce -- Digital inclusion -- Innovation -- Marketing and advocacy -- The future of the Intelligent community.

Cyburbia : the dangerous idea that's changing how we live and who we are [book]

Author: James Harkin

"Once there was no text messaging, no email and no social networking sites like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace. [This book] describes how the architecture of our digital lives was built over seventy years." - cover.

Climate Change (journal article)
By Charles F Kennel
from Issues in Science & Technology Vol 25 Iss 2 Winter 2009, pp. 46-52
"The article discusses climate change and the need for U.S. scientists to develop regional assessments of climate change that are essential to the local policymakers who will have to make the critical decisions about how to respond. It is stated that climate change will not only affect each community differently, but each community has a unique combination of environmental, economic and social factors and its own ways of reaching decisions. It is also stated that the scientific community needs to help by providing local leaders with the specific regional climate information they need to motivate and inform coordinated action."

Planning for a sustainable future : white paper [online]

Authors: Great Britain. Dept for Communities and Local Government (& others)

"Our vision is for a planning system which supports vibrant, healthy sustainable communities, promotes the UK's international competitiveness, and enables the infrastructure which is vital to our quality of life to be provided, in a way that is integrated with the delivery of other sustainable development objectives, and ensures that local communities and members of the public can make their views heard." - executive summary.

Global Trends in Culture, Infrastructure and Values (journal Article)
by Andy Hines
from The Futurist, Sep/Oct2008, Vol 42 No 5, p18-23
The article examines the global consumer trends that affect the changes of culture, public infrastructure and values. The emergence of cultural centers of excellence influence the potential division and specialization of labor. Half and 19 percent of the population has access to Internet and mobile communications, yet, remote areas lack access to these technologies. It predicts that the younger generation will accelerate the flow of information and ideas immersed in different cultures. The increase of access to electricity stimulate the development of rural communities and living standards.

Population and Sustainability: A global role for Australia (article)
By John Coulter
from Australia Options Autumn 2008, pp. 22 - 26
"There is abundant evidence that Australians are not living in an environmentally sustainable manner. Too many are demanding too much from Nature but every government in Australia seeks more people and more economic growth, a surrogate measure of environmental demand."

Edging towards bioutopia : a new politics of reordering life & the democratic challenge [book]

Author: Richard Hindmarsh

"How civil society is addressing this important issue of the environmental release of genetically modified organisms in Australia and challenges us to question whether the democratic control of technology is within the grasp of modern society." - foreword.

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Waking from the Dream
By Brendan Gleeson
from Griffith Review Edition 20 Winter 2008, pp. 11 - 46
"Brendan Gleeson argues that climate change will force an urgent reassessment of the real costs and benefits of city living."

Sustaining Momentum
by Jake Avila
from Big Issue Australia, No. 297, 12 - 25 Feb 2008, pp. 16-19
"Sustainability has moved from fantasy to fashionable. But what is it, really? And while air-conditioners whirr and fuel-guzzling Hummers rule the road, is it simply wishful thinking?"

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