Worldwide, the gender gap in urban cycling is considerable, with most cyclists being young to middle-aged men. In the current study, we first capture the suite of cycling barriers facing women before empirically investigating whether and how much three natural barriers (inclement weather, hilliness, and darkness) impact female users of bikesharing systems. For the analysis, … Continue reading
New publication alert: UQ|UP’s Sonia Roitman and Peter Walters write on urban informality in the Global South. This chapter provides an in-depth conceptual discussion on urban informality as a logic of organisation in the Global South that requires overcoming binary conceptual approaches, interwoven with research findings on informality in cities located in the Global South. … Continue reading
Over the past century, the dramatic increase in private vehicles has resulted in a growing demand for parking spaces. Governments have sought to develop and adopt various parking policies to manage and regulate parking, but the results are mixed. Current research studies on parking policies often focus on a single aspect of parking. A comprehensive … Continue reading
In built-up areas, creating segregated bicycle lanes involves trade-offs with other modes, such as repurposing existing kerbside parking. Can parking be eliminated without financially impacting local businesses? This study answers this question empirically, employing as a case study Boundary Street – the high street of a gentrifying inner-city suburb in Brisbane, Australia. It seeks to … Continue reading
In the first half of 2022, the global energy crisis led to a series of fuel price hikes in Vietnam. Consequently, the volume of cycling commuters grew as people switched from motorcycles to bicycles. Starting in early July, as fuel prices began to drop again, the cycling wave began to abate. This context presents a … Continue reading
Developing Resilient and Liveable Cities: Learning from the Covid-19 Pandemic The Covid-19 Pandemic revealed the deficiency of the current planning system in coping with disturbances and the inability of cities to maintain their level of liveability during the time of crises. Building on a systematic review of 28 liveability policies developed by local governments from … Continue reading
Twentieth-century socialist governments in Europe were notorious for their mechanistic treatment of the natural environment. Nature was viewed as a force to be tamed in order to advance agricultural and industrial production. The inferior treatment of nature matched the treatment of women. This chapter examines the conceptions of ‘environment’ and ‘nature’ during socialism in Albania, … Continue reading
Sonia Roitman (UQ Planning) will participate next week in the Asia Pacific Cities Summit 2023, organised by Brisbane City Council (BCC). This is the flagship networking event by BCC to discuss urban management. Sonia Roitman will discuss the importance of establishing partnerships between universities and local governments. She will present on behalf of the research … Continue reading
This year, the Indonesia Council Open Conference (ICOC) is hosted by The University of Sydney. The conference will be celebrating the 25 years of the conference and will be held on 26 and 27 September 2023, in person and online. You can access the full program here and register for free. Sonia Roitman will talk … Continue reading
Women faculty members hear lots of advice on coping with misogyny in academe, but the lack of support they may receive from other women is far less discussed, writes UQ|UP member Dorina Pojani in Inside Higher Education. Read the full piece here: https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/2023/09/08/women-faculty-often-dont-show-enough-support-one-other-opinion Continue reading
Do you think that curbing overseas migration will end the housing crisis? Dorina Pojani and Aude Bernad provide data to show that it won’t – and Australia cannot afford to do it. Read the full article in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/think-curbing-overseas-migration-will-end-the-housing-crisis-it-wont-and-we-cant-afford-to-do-it-211120 Continue reading
In this novel study, a gender audit was conducted to assess how the Seoul (Metro) and Jakarta (MRT) subway systems respond to women’s needs. The audit revealed that both Seoul Metro and MRT Jakarta have made significant efforts to accommodate the needs of all passengers, including women. This is commendable because a public transit system … Continue reading
This chapter – part of The Routledge Handbook of Urban Design Research Methods – summarises the research methods applied in studies to evaluate, ex post facto, the design of transit-oriented development (TOD) precincts. The purpose is to assist future researchers in this space with a menu of pre-tested methods that can be employed in new … Continue reading
The XX ISA World Congress of Sociology will be held next week in Melbourne (25 June – 1 July, Melbourne Convention Centre). The congress will be a big event attended in person and online by researchers from all over the world! Several UQ|UP members will present their work: In addition, Sonia Roitman will chair two … Continue reading
Former UQ|UP colleagues and graduates have just published a book on COVID-19 and informal workers in Asian cities. The book is titled ‘COVID-19 and informal workers in Asian cities: Impact, response and implications for urban recovery’. It was edited by Redento Recio (UQ|UP PhD Graduate), Kazi Fattah, Nausheen H. Anwar, Noman Ahmed, Iderlina Mateo-Babiano (UQ|UP … Continue reading
By the mid-2000s, all Australian states and territories had adopted some type of heritage legislation, with the Burra Charter serving as the model for most. In most localities, the public now demands that local authorities consider the existing character of a neighbourhood when issuing development permits. Nearly twenty years later, Australia’s housing crisis is assuming … Continue reading
This chapter summarizes transport and land-use issues around the world. While the chapter covers Europe and the Anglosphere, it also emphasizes regions in the Global South – Latin America, Asia, and Africa – that are less represented in the literature. For the most part, the chapter derives its information from books, literature reviews, and comparative … Continue reading
Augustin Bauchot, a UQ|UP PhD student, has just passed the first PhD milestone at UQ. Congratulations, Augustin! His PhD thesis is about urbanisation and climate change adaptation in Suva, Fiji. While Pacific Islands have become symbols of climate change vulnerability worldwide, counter-narratives valorising community resilience and Indigenous knowledge have been pushed forward in Pacific studies. … Continue reading
New article published in Inside Indonesia by UQ|UP Sonia Roitman, Peter Walters (UQ, Sociology), Imam Ardhianto (Anthropology, UI), Rusli Cahyadi (Anthropology, LIPI and UQ|UP Alumni) about the social impacts of the development of the new capital city (Nusantara, also known as IKN -Ibu Kota Nusantara) in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The development of the IKN is … Continue reading
Yesterday, our Architecture colleagues Silvia and Antony celebrated the international launch of their book House Precinct Territory: Design Strategies for the Productive City published by ORO Editions. The event, hosted by Urbis, featured presentations by the authors, and a panel discussion on the implementation of manufacturing and agricultural production within cities. With buildings and cities one of … Continue reading
Sebastien Darchen’s article on greyfield regeneration and placemaking was just published in Built Environment. The article examines how the concept of ‘place’ could be integrated in the regeneration process for the industrial suburb of Salisbury and how the three Bs can be used as a framework to study the evolution and the possible futures of … Continue reading
There is reason to believe that a long school commute negatively affects the wellbeing of teenagers, but the empirical evidence is limited. The focus of past research has usually been on the commute mode or type rather than the commute length. Virtually all existing studies are based on surveys of a single domain of wellbeing; … Continue reading
What do cyclists want? Former UQ|UP student Tmnit Hailu together with Dorina Pojani argue in The Fifth Estate that cycling must be treated the same as other vital urban infrastructure, such as water, sanitation, and telecommunication. Read the full piece: https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/what-do-cyclists-want/ Continue reading
Brisbane faces a variety of mobility challenges and a team of UQ|UP experts (Jonathan Corcoran, Dorina Pojani, Thomas Sigler, Frank Zou) and their colleagues are looking to the potential of micromobility – such as e-scooters and e-bikes – to help alleviate the pressure. Read the full article on UQ’s Contact Magazine: https://stories.uq.edu.au/contact-magazine/2023/why-e-scooters-are-the-public-mobility-glue-for-urban-transport/index.html Continue reading
According to Vietnamese traffic law, teenagers under 16 are not allowed to ride motorcycles. Yet, illegal motorcycle riding is rampant in Vietnamese cities. This article seeks to elucidate the factors that lead to this behaviour, and the reasons why parents permit it. The study relies on a survey of 832 parents of adolescents (16 to … Continue reading
This chapter reviews and summarizes the literature on passive design strategies employed in cities with (a) hot and humid climates which are prone to monsoons, typhoons, and/or floods, and (2) hot and arid climates which are prone to intense sunshine, droughts, and/or sandstorms. Case studies include Guangzhou, Bangkok, Singapore, Granada, Athens, and Yazd. For all … Continue reading
This book includes twelve newly commissioned and carefully curated chapters each of which presents an alternative planning history and theory written from the perspective of groups that have been historically marginalized or neglected. In teaching planning history and theory, many planning programs tend to follow the planning cannon – a normative perspective that mostly accounts … Continue reading
Notoriously precarious, hazardous, and stressful, delivery jobs became even more onerous and dangerous during the pandemic. In this study, set in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, we applied Structural Equation Modelling to a large sample of primary data to measure delivery riders’ intention to quit their jobs at the height of the pandemic. We found … Continue reading
Disasters can be good for incumbent governments. Amidst an emergency, budgets can be revised and reallocated in a hurry, framing the government as a ‘saviour,’ issuing contracts to the government’s business clientele and/or prioritising the electoral base more than the victims. Thus elected officials can curry favour with voters and increase their chances of retaining … Continue reading
This study investigates gender gaps in access to land ownership and land inheritance in Albanian rural areas by combining a large-scale survey and five in-depth focus groups discussions. The article considers three sets of variables: place-based characteristics; family characteristics; and individual characteristics. Results find that rural societies lack awareness around legal property rights, undermine the … Continue reading
UQ|UP’s Sonia Roitman is working with colleagues from National University of Samoa and UN Women Samoa on a new research project. Pacific Island Countries are urbanising and also face serious threats from climate change. The aim of this project is to understand the role of urban planning in adapting to climate change in urban areas, … Continue reading
In Australia, a rapid adoption of personal vehicles from the mid-twentieth century onwards has been, at least in part, related to increasingly targeted and pervasive advertising. The result is a consolidation of automobility through exposure, as audiences consume persuasive messaging at conscious and unconscious levels. The argument in this study is that the messaging in … Continue reading
After more than two years in the making, Prof Deden Rukmana (Alabama University) and Sonia Roitman (UQ|UP) are thrilled to announce a new edited volume, “Routledge Handbook of Urban Indonesia”. The publication of this book is the celebration of a collective effort from 64 contributors, including established scholars such as Christopher Silver, Ashok Das, Nicholas … Continue reading
The federal government’s recent Women’s Budget Statement recognises that “gender inequality is holding Australia back”. It commits the government to “advancing gender equality as a national priority and closing the gender gaps in our community”. The government promises significant investments to support structural changes in favour of women. Key topics include women’s economic equality, safety, … Continue reading
Australian planners and city aficionados often joke that, no matter what the problem is, the answer is always “more street trees”. Like most jokes, this is half true. While not a panacea, there are at least nine key reasons street trees can help achieve more than a handful urban planning and public health goals. Read … Continue reading
Is the compact city more likely to materialize if development is guided by the “invisible hand” of the market or the government’s “iron fist”? This article explores this question in the context of Shiraz, a medium-sized, medium-density city in south-central Iran. Through a series of longitudinal analyses, we examine the roles of the market and … Continue reading
Bicycles are a desirable but underutilised form of travel in many cities. A main barrier to a large uptake of cycling for travel is traffic safety. To assess how much traffic stress cyclists can endure and how this stress affects route choices, we have developed an index called Average Traffic Stress (ATS). This index aggregates … Continue reading
E-scooters offer commuters and tourists a way to cover shorter distances quickly – and without breaking a sweat. It’s for this reason Australian cities are trialling these schemes as part of broader interest in micromobility – small, light and often electric ways of getting around, such as bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters. But one question previously unanswered is: … Continue reading
In public art, the paradigm is shifting from ‘look but don’t touch’ towards interactive displays and creations that involve visitors. Accordingly, this study examined some of the factors that lead audiences to interact and engage with public art. Systematic observations of the ‘users’ of 11 public sculptures were conducted in Brisbane, Australia. The investigation revealed … Continue reading
A team from UQ (Sonia Roitman from Planning and Peter Walters from Social Science) has started a research project in collaboration with BRIN (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, National Research and Innovation Agency) and Universitas Indonesia on the social impacts of the development of Nusantara, the new capital city of Indonesia. Dr Rusli Cahyadi (UQ … Continue reading
As part of our research collaboration between UQ, Universitas Indonesia (UI) and BRIN (Badan Riset dan Inovasi – National Research and Innovation Agency), we will be doing a public lecture at UI. The lecture is titled: ‘Contemporary urban inequalities in the Global South: Reflection on Social Justice, Housing and Planning’. It will be delivered by … Continue reading
Weather, climate, and daily human mobility patterns are inextricably linked, and so quantifying and examining these patterns is essential for smarter urban policy and design that are tailored to support our daily mobility needs and foreground urban sustainability. This study provides an empirical approach to better understanding the interface between weather, climate, and daily human … Continue reading
This pilot study, set in Brisbane, Australia, provides answers to the following research questions: (1) Is there inter- or intra-suburb inequality in street tree provision, in particular along routes that lead to public transport stops? (2) Are further investments in street trees justifiable on heatwave harm reduction alone? The pilot targets three suburbs away from … Continue reading
In the current era of climate breakdown, access to green space is not optional – it is vital. This study investigates the current disparities in urban green space access in five medium-sized European cities: Birmingham, Brussels, Milan, Prague and Stockholm. Through a GIS-based network analysis, we explore whether disparities in urban green space access (1) … Continue reading
This week a UQ|UP team formed by Sonia Roitman, Jim Walker and Reyna Harrison will be presenting at the Development Studies Association conference (DSA Conference 2022). The presentation is on how to build meaningful research relationships with First Nations Peoples in Australia. It provides research findings showing that: a) Meaningful partnerships with First Nations communities … Continue reading
A very positive review of Dr Pojani’s book, Trophy Cities, has just been published in the Journal of the American Planning Association. The review is by Dr Megan E. Heim LaFrombois at Auburn University. It’s available online here, with free access until October: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944363.2022.2070409 Feel free to share the review on social media, using the hashtag #JAPAplanning and … Continue reading
With more than half of the world’s population living in cities, a growing body of research is showing the role of urban environments in promoting the wellbeing of communities. This paper conducted a systematic review of 28 planning policy documents from 6 different countries. It explored how ‘community wellbeing’ is defined by local governments across … Continue reading
This study centres on alternative public space in Indonesian cities in the post-Reformation era. Through in-depth interviews with experts and personal observations of a variety of public spaces in Bandung and Surabaya, the authors explore: (a) the concept of ‘alternative public space’ in the context of Indonesian cities, (b) the actors that have driven the … Continue reading
Master Planned Community (MPC) Developments are a dominant form of urban growth and housing development. This paper provides a systematic review of the literature on the associations between MPCs and community health. Our review of 39 peer-reviewed journal papers suggested that the MPC physical features (public spaces/facilities, built form, spatial segregation, and location), social dimension … Continue reading
Dr Sonia Roitman (UQ|UP), Dr Peter Walters (Social Science) and Fino Varisti (UQ|UP HDR student) will be working with Indonesian colleagues Dr Rusli Cahayadi (BRIN, Bada Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, and SEES graduate) and Dr Imam Ardhianto (Universitas Indonesia) on a project undertaking a social impact assessment of the relocation of Indonesia’s new capital city … Continue reading
This article critically reviews the edited collection Music Cities: Evaluating a Global Cultural Policy Concept published in 2020 as well as two Australian policy documents. We review how the music city paradigm has influenced the latest music-related policies in the Australian context with a focus on Brisbane and Melbourne. Melbourne and Brisbane have developed contrasting … Continue reading
Matthew Paetz says: “Overall, Electronic Cities is a valuable addition to the literature on the linkage between music scenes, urban policy and governance, socio-economic and cultural dynamics and economic development.” Read the full review and check out the book: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08111146.2022.2042052 Continue reading
Delivery riders have been front-line workers throughout the pandemic but little is known about their own health and safety during this time. This study explores the health and safety issues facing delivery riders in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, during the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular during the second lockdown (May–October 2021). A web-based survey of … Continue reading
Smart densification is a metric that holistically integrates the quantitative (percentage/unit-to-area-ratios) and qualitative (context, perception, user experience) dimensions. The definition extends beyond the numerical relationship between physical space and the occupants who use that space. It incorporates the qualitative aspects of context, user perception, and experience to determine the appropriate configuration and scope of density … Continue reading
This study examines how the Reformation has affected public space in Indonesian cities. The article draws on expert interviews and systematic field observations in Surabaya and Bandung, Indonesia’s most important cities after Jakarta. The findings reveal that, with democracy and decentralisation, the public sector is more keenly aware of the socio-political functions of public space, … Continue reading
The severe lack of affordable housing is hurting Australians right across the community – from young renters, to families seeking to buy and older people needing a stable home. The number of Australians over 55 who are homeless jumped by 28% between the 2011 and 2016 censuses. An increasing lack of affordable housing is forcing some older people … Continue reading
The new capitals created since 1900 have been, for the most part, great planning disasters. They are dreary, overpowering, underserviced, wasteful and unaffordable. Indonesia just announced the name of its planned new capital, Nusantara, to be built on Borneo island, about 1,300 kilometres away from the current capital, Jakarta. How can Indonesia avoid the pitfalls … Continue reading
So far, only a handful of larger Northern European and East Asian cities have managed to achieve high proportions of cycling for transport. Also, in a few smaller university towns or working-class enclaves, cycling is normalized as part of the everyday culture. The cycling policies and programs which have been learned from these places are … Continue reading
This article studies the low-cost strategy associated with the provision of temporary spaces for start-up companies in the ‘Quartier de la Création’, a project within the large regeneration scheme: Ile de Nantes. The method, ‘transitory urbanism’, combines urban redevelopment and economic development strategies. We analyse the factors enabling the implementation of this method in practice. … Continue reading
University students are regarded as a readily available market segment for public transport. In Hanoi, as elsewhere, they constitute a large portion of bus passengers. However, one portion has been quitting buses, and the reasons were so far unknown. Nor was it clear whether they planned on retuning. Through a survey of more than 800 … Continue reading
This chapter provides a holistic view of the role of urban planning in promoting health. It discusses how planning decisions play a central role in the social, mental, and physical health of residents through the provision of healthy housing and urban infrastructure and promoting inclusive and equitable societies. Climate and environmental management can also create … Continue reading
This study joins a growing body of literature on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on activity patterns. Set in Hanoi, Vietnam, it is the first study to examine recreational cycling in the Global South. It highlights that a growth in recreational cycling presents both opportunities and challenges. Title: The emergence of recreational cycling in … Continue reading
What makes some people eschew bikesharing? What distinguishes users from non-users? The present study examines the transport priorities and socio-demographic characteristics of both users and non-users of bikesharing in the context of Adelaide, an Australian metropolis of 1.3 million people. We apply statistical techniques, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and two-level Nested Logit (NL) modelling, … Continue reading
Through a dozen in-depth interviews of urban planning professionals in Brisbane, Australia, this study examines the relationship between the experience of women in the planning profession and the consideration of women’s issues in the city. The study reveals that Brisbane’s planning industry continues to be perceived by those who work within it as an ‘old-boys-club’. … Continue reading
This paper provides a systematic review of the evidence linking housing and health. This involved a review of 59 peer-reviewed journal papers, that included case studies on the health impacts of housing and were published in English, in the past decade (2010–2020). Our systematic review of the literature suggested most of the research on the … Continue reading
Indigenous knowledge systems are vital to the design of solutions to climate change — so why are Indigenous voices so rarely included in deliberations? The limits to meaningful Indigenous presence in climate change response events are more structural than simply the day-to-day politics of exclusion. While there is now a growing chorus of calls by … Continue reading
The growing housing unaffordability is forcing people to take on unconventional pathways and experiment with alternate means of ‘home’-making. This research explores opportunities for making ‘home’ that emerge from practices of house-sitting among older people, particularly those with no permanent housing. Findings from semi-structured interviews suggest that house-sitting is an affordable shelter that provides rent-free … Continue reading
This article analyzes the evolution of a small electronic music scene in Brisbane from the mid-1980s to the present. Drawing upon the concept of scene and highlighting its local and trans-local dimensions, we assess how the place-bound attributes of Brisbane (cultural and political history, climate, built form) are still relevant when analyzing the emergence and … Continue reading
In contrast to other cities worldwide, the pandemic has not decimated bus ridership in Hanoi. Notably, the Vietnamese capital has mostly relied on the use of face masks and hand sanitizer during travel, instead of requiring physical distancing on buses. This study examines public bus passengers’ levels of compliance with Covid-19 safety measures, and the … Continue reading
Incumbent governments commonly increase public expenditures prior to elections in order to curry favor with voters and boost their chances of retaining office. This study, set in Albania, focuses on a non-fiscal approach to winning votes: condoning, or at least tolerating, informal construction activities in the residential sector prior to elections. We term this approach … Continue reading
Hopping on your bike when it’s raining, or snowing, might seem unappealing. But research by Richard Bean, Dorina Pojani, and Jonathan Corcoran, recently featured in The Conversation found that inclement weather conditions deter some cyclists more than others. In the first analysis of its kind, the UP|UP team captured eight years of data from 40 … Continue reading
This is among the first studies to provide empirical evidence on active school travel rates and determinants before and after the first Covid-19 lockdown in spring 2020. We have collected and analyzed primary survey data on the school travel patterns of 472 school-age children in Hanoi, Vietnam. The findings show that the Covid-19 pandemic has … Continue reading
This chapter discusses how parking policies, the emerging sharing economy, and automated vehicles (AVs) interrelate to influence urban mobility. Chapter title: Parking Policy and bay-sharing for unmooring automobility from cities Chapter authors: Anthony Kimpton, Dorina Pojani, Neil Sipe, Jonathan Corcoran Book title: A Modern Guide to the Urban Sharing Economy Book editors: Thomas Sigler, Jonathan … Continue reading
This study examines the effect of weather on bikeshare use. We employ data from forty Public Bicycle Sharing Programs located in forty cities (16 countries) across five different climate zones, spanning tropical to boreal climates. Our curated dataset is longitudinal and consists of nearly 100 million cycling trips. Key findings include: (a) the most significant … Continue reading
Sebastien Darchen (UQ) and John Willsteed (QUT) will discuss their new book “Electronic Cities” published by Palgrave Mc-Millan. The whole UQ|UP community is invited! When: Wednesday 14 July, starting at 6:30pm Where: on Zoom (link to be sent upon registration) or in person (Avid Reader book store, West End) Register: avidreader.com.au/events/s%C3%A9bastien-darchen-and-john-willsteed-electronic-cities Buy book: Amazon AU … Continue reading
This article recounts a study of media predictions on the future of cities, post-pandemic. From a theoretical perspective, we consider discourse and storytelling (written, oral, or visual) as crucial public policy and planning tools. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of more than 110 media articles from more than 60 sources, which appeared … Continue reading
Two award winning UQ|UP academics make important contributions in a new book on research methods (Methods in Urban Analysis, edited by Scott Baum, Springer). Stephanie Wyeth draws on her considerable experience as an influential city shaper and urban strategist in her Communicating Urban Research chapter. Dr Laurel Johnson‘s extensive experience in applied urban research is … Continue reading
Academics have decried the erosion of public space under the neoliberal practices that have taken root since the 1980s in cities around the world. However, it is unclear whether users are concerned about the ownership of the urban spaces they use. To find out, this study surveyed users and observed their behaviour in three types … Continue reading
This article reviews the available literature on children’s active school travel (walking and cycling) around the world. Rates of active travel to school vary substantially by setting but, cycling is much less popular than walking nearly everywhere. Active school travel is more consistently associated with (1) socio-economic and demographic variables including lower socio-economic background of … Continue reading
We explore the participation levels of NIMBY (‘Not In My Backyard’) proponents versus other voices at public hearings San Francisco, a city with an exceptionally dire housing crisis. Once very diverse, radical, and bohemian, San Francisco has become the most expensive city in the US, which caters to a wealthy minority—heavily connected to the tech … Continue reading
Join Sebastien Darchen and John Willsteed as they discuss “Electronic Cities” a new edited volume on Electronic Music in Cities Register here: https://avidreader.com.au/events/s%C3%A9bastien-darchen-and-john-willsteed-electronic-cities Continue reading
The University of Queensland is hosting this year’s Indonesia Council Open Conference (ICOC 2021) in July. This conference is organised biannually and this is the 11th edition. It is sponsored by the Indonesia Council, the Australian Government and the Australia Indonesia Institute. The conference will take place on 15-16 July 2021 at The University of … Continue reading
The widening income gap in post-reform China has given rise to social inequality. Among those, transport poverty and inequality have significantly affected the daily life of low-income groups. While important, this is an under-researched topic in China. This gap in the academic literature is glaring given the country’s urbanization rates, sprawling cities and income differentials. … Continue reading
This book examines Electronic Dance Music (EDM) scenes in 18 cities across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. It focuses on the historical development of these scenes, with an emphasis on the post-2000 context, including the COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching effects. Expert contributors highlight the influence of geographical contexts, as … Continue reading
This exploratory study examines the motivations of people who live “car-free” by choice in Brisbane, Australia. The Theory of Planned Behaviour is employed as a guiding framework for the analysis. Unlike the “car-less”, the “car-free” are physically and intellectually able to drive, and have sufficient income to purchase and maintain a car, yet they have … Continue reading
Ridesharing and the tech companies that enable it have become household names. However, as research has focused on users rather than non-users, much less is known about the latter. Understanding the characteristics, behaviours, and motivations of non-users is quite important too, if the planning goal is to shift urban populations from private cars to ridesharing. … Continue reading
Planning students in the 2020 Urban Design Studio coordinated by Dr. Sebastien Darchen developed a regeneration plan for Salisbury, through background research, site investigations and consultation with local residents and business owners. The final report prepared by Mario Shllaku and Julia Randle-Miller at Ethos Urban and UQ|UP’s Dr. Sebastien Darchen is available for download below. … Continue reading
Congratulations to Fahimeh Khalaj who just completed her PhD in Planning at UQ. The title of her thesis is ‘Are cities still building highways? A comparison of Australia and Iran‘. A scientific consensus has emerged that the dominant 20th century paradigm of solving transportation congestion problems by building more highways has failed. The legacy of … Continue reading
LIPI (Indonesian Institute of Science) is the peak organisation for research policy in Indonesia. They have recently started a series of seminars to discuss how cities can be improved to benefit their residents. UQ|UP’s Sonia Roitman has been invited to share research findings on the role of gated communities in reproducing inequalities in Indonesian cities. … Continue reading
Urban planning and cultural policies often neglect electronic dance music (EDM). Now the pandemic is forcing the EDM world to come up with new strategies to survive. Read the full story in Sebastien Darchen in The Conversation. Continue reading
This panel highlights the most striking results of the book Electronic cities: Music Policies and Space in the 21st Century (Palgrave McMillan, Forthcoming in March 2021) edited by Sébastien Darchen, Damien Charrieras, and John Willsteed. The book looks at Electronic Dance Music (EDM) scenes in 18 cities across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, North America, and … Continue reading
A Special Issue on transport, gender, & culture, guest-edited by Dorina Pojani (UQ|UP), Lake Sagaris (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), & Enrica Papa (University of Westminster), has just been published in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. The authors for this special issue have been motivated to explore gender and mobility issues by both … Continue reading
While many bike-sharing schemes have been launched amid much fanfare, sometimes their popularity has waned. A number of schemes operate at a financial loss and depend on other profitable enterprises to cross-subsidise them and some have resulted in dumped and discarded bikes becoming an eyesore. In this chapter, we explore several questions. What are the … Continue reading
This chapter analyzes the urban form of informal settlements in the Western Balkans. Informal housing is now a permanent fixture of the urban landscape in this region. Given the widespread and increasing scale of informal settlements, it is important to record their spatial qualities and compare them to informal settlements elsewhere. A five-point framework is … Continue reading
This article analyzes media representations of squatters and their settlements in five case studies in the Western Balkans: the capitals of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, and Serbia, drawing on a database of 300 newspaper articles, dating from 1990 to 2015. The analysis reveals eight themes. The press has: (1) questioned the state’s legitimacy to … Continue reading
Dr. Sebastien Darchen will be part of the CTM festival transformation which will take place in Berlin, Germany, from 24 January 2021 to 2 February 2021. Sebastien will present the results of his latest book on “Electronic cities: Music, policies and space in the 21st Century” (Palgrave McMillan, forthcoming in March 2021). More information on … Continue reading
A new publication about how gendered space is informally managed in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The article is titled ‘The politics of gendered space: Social norms and purdah affecting female informal work in Dhaka, Bangladesh’ and is co-authored by Dr Luftun Lata, Dr Peter Walters (School of Social Science, UQ) and Dr Sonia Roitman (UQ|UP). In Bangladesh, … Continue reading
The current economic downturn has exposed, more clearly than ever, Australia’s shortage of social and affordable housing. Using Queensland as a focus, our roundtable discusses this shortage, while some diverse case studies from across the state demonstrate how resident-focused projects can fill the gap. Title: Housing initiatives and opportunities in Queenslan Authors: Cameron Bruhn and Sara … Continue reading
Set in Brisbane–Australia’s third city—this study solicits the views of residents regarding the preservation of the iconic Queenslander houses (late nineteenth century–early twentieth century). Through in-depth interviews with twenty participants, we sought to determine whether owner-occupiers of Queenslanders value this heritage and why, whether they are engaged in its protection, and if so, what their … Continue reading