How can we transform and future-proof the post-industrial city through strategies of architectural and urban design? The Principles of Green Urbanism advises that the answer is to use an energy-efficient, zero-carbon model based on renewable energy sources and renewable building typologies. The book presents different models for sustainable urban growth, based on the principles of ‘Green Urbanism’.
Heat islands are urban and suburban areas that are significantly warmer than their surroundings. Traditional, highly absorptive construction materials and a lack of effective landscaping are their main causes. Heat island problems, in terms of increased energy consumption, reduced air quality and effects on human health and mortality, are becoming more pressing as cities continue to grow and sprawl. Heat Islands brings together the latest information about heat islands and their mitigation. The book describes how heat islands are formed, what problems they cause, which technologies mitigate heat island effects and what policies and actions can be taken to cool communities.
Urban Microclimate explores how the quality of life of millions of people living in cities could be improved if the form of the city were to evolve in a manner appropriate to its climatic context. This new book advises that climatically responsive urban design is vital to any notion of sustainability as it enables individual buildings to make use of renewable energy sources for passive heating and cooling, enhances pedestrian comfort and activity in outdoor spaces, and may even encourage city dwellers to moderate their dependence on private vehicles.
Food sensitive planning and urban design (FSPUD) recognises that access to healthy, sustainable and equitable food is an essential part of achieving liveable communities. The new resource – Food Sensitive Planning and Urban Design: A conceptual framework for achieving a sustainable and just food system – is intended to raise the awareness of planners, architects, urban designers, engineers, policy makers, community members and elected representatives of the need to integrate food considerations into urban land use and development.
The Griffith University Urban Research Program (URP) paper Climate change adaptation in urban systems: Strategies for planning regimes investigates how urban planning regimes can use professional tools to develop climate change adaptation strategies in plan-making, development management, urban design and place-making.
The authors of the Griffith University Urban Research Program (URP) paper The principles of public transport network planning: A review of the emerging literature with select examples examine the inter-relationships between land-use planning and public transport provision. The paper is intended for three audiences:
Spreading urbanisation and population growth are putting pressure on agricultural lands on the fringes of Sydney. The NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service e-brief Agriculture in the Sydney Region: historical and current perspectives presents an overview of the history of policies relating to agriculture in the Sydney region, placing this in the context of the current policy debate. It starts with a commentary on the extent of Sydney’s agriculture.
In the 21st century, more than ever before, cities around the world depend on the knowledge of their citizens, their institutions and their firms and enterprises. The Third Knowledge City World Summit, held in Melbourne in November 2010, aimed to shed light on the multi-faceted dimensions and various scales of building the ‘knowledge city’ and on ‘knowledge-based development’ paradigms. To download the full summit proceedings (37 MB) or individual summit papers visit Melbourne Knowledge Summit Proceedings. Read the rest of this entry »