Design / Design Concepts / Drainage / Environmental Management / Garden and Public Art / Landscape / Landscape Architecture / Landscape Construction / Landscape Design / Landscape Structures / Landscaping - Hard / Solar Power / Storm & Waste Water Systems / Water Management
Shaping the Future of Urban Living
In the coming 30 years, Australia’s population is projected to increase by 11.8 million people – the equivalent of adding a city the size of Canberra each year for the next 30 years. As Australia’s largest cities face a watershed moment in their growth and development, many are looking far and wide to the next...
Smart City Strategy
Cities have become the hub of human activity and economic progress. We find more and more people leaving smaller towns and reaching out into cities to make a dwelling, as well as make a living. Thriving cities are ones that offer easier movement for their citizens and convenience in everything that they do. These cities...
Are Our City Investments About to Have a Kodak Moment?
In a world where five years, let alone ten, is an eternity in current technology advances, there is concern growing that our planned decade-long city infrastructure expenditure is not going to get us to where we need to be. With the pace of change from technology, urbanisation and a significant infrastructure investment catch up...
Bricks & Paving / Design / Design Concepts / Landscape / Landscape Architecture / Landscape Construction / Landscape Design / Landscape Structures / Landscaping - Hard / Street & Outdoor Furniture
Five Cities That Made Their Streets Safer with Urban Design
In 2015, the world community pledged to decrease half the number of deaths and grave injuries caused by traffic accidents by 2020. However, more than 3200 deaths caused by collisions occur every day, and with the growing number of vehicles, that number can only triple by 2030. As is expected, cities with poorly designed streets...
Design / Design Concepts / Environmental Management / Erosion Control / Green Walls & Green Roofs / Landscape Structures / Landscaping - Hard / Landscaping - Soft
Are Rooftop Amenities the New Standard Inclusion for Residential Development?
There’s no question that, as Australia’s population grows, high density living will become the way of the future, and with many young Australians looking to own their first home, it’s becoming the only affordable choice. Owning a two-bedroom apartment with sweeping skyline views is fast becoming the new Great Australian Dream and with affordable quarter-acre...
The Redevelopment of Toronto
“It takes 40 or 50 years to update an industrial landscape. We want to speed that up,” says Sidewalk Labs’ urban planner. After disrupting our online activities, Google’s parent company now wants to disrupt how cities work. Rohit Aggarwala, head of urban systems at Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs, spoke about the company as they gear up...
Design / Design Concepts / Environmental Management / Garden and Public Art / Landscape / Landscape Architecture / Landscape Construction / Landscape Design / Landscape Structures / Street and Outdoor Furniture / Water Features
The Public Space Moment
Public spaces are having a moment. People from outside the field of urban planning are beginning to notice the vital contributions they make to our quality of life: inserting nature and cultural memory into the everyday, reminding us of our collective responsibilities, supporting democratic expression. People are also beginning to notice the subtle ways in...
Walkable Urban Neighbourhoods
I have lived in neighbourhoods where you can walk around, to a store, a movie, a restaurant, for 40 years, counting my college days. I grew up in a ranch house with a driveway, but came to adulthood in foot-based parts of cities. Others have also rediscovered the joys and benefits of walkable places. They...
Urban Design With Purpose
Strong urban design offers significant community benefits, better quality of life, safer and more secure cities and a greater ability to function as a society. It also provides each city with a unique sense of identity and establishes the framework for it to be more responsive to differing climatic, economic or social variables. Regardless of...
Protecting Populated Places From Terrorism
With increased terrorism concerns, the safety of the Australian people in crowded places such as stadiums, shopping centres, pedestrian malls and major events is becoming an even greater priority for the Australian government. These spaces are highly attractive targets to potential terrorists and as such the government has introduced various strategies and safety measures to...
Grass Pavers – A Sustainable Alternative
Ever since the first asphalt streets were laid in Sydney in the early 1930s, the use of concrete has become the default choice for high pedestrian and vehicular traffic spaces throughout Australia’s urban landscape. Now with an increased focus on sustainability throughout design and the wider community, an attitude shift has occurred with people now...
Is Li-Fi the Future in Lighting?
How will our buildings change when your mobile device can receive huge amounts of data flowing from the luminaires above you? Not only has LED brought us a highly efficient light source, but a promising instrument for visible light communication (VLC) as well. Therefore light will not only be a medium to support vision, but it will...
