Plantastic and Designeriffic News

Boroondara Neighbourhood Character Study Goes Online

2012-02-17T16:40:00.002+11:00

A big problem with large scale planning and design projects is the need to get feedback from hundreds if not thousands of people at once. Boroondara, one of the largest inner municipalities, is updating its Neighbourhood Character profiles and has decided to embrace the power of web-based data gathering for feedback on the draft Precinct Profiles.

This kind of questionnaire is a great way to get fast feedback from a wide range of people in a format that is easily analysed and synthesized. It also allows Boroondara to attract people who may not usually be able to make it to after-hours community sessions, or simply may not be concerned enough to want to devote too much time to such things.

It's a concept that's being implemented more rapidly in other countries, yet is only an emerging idea here.

You can check out the website and questionnaire here, and if you're a resident - I encourage you to read your draft profile and give some feedback! Naturally, you can still give feedback the 'old school' way, via a pdf download and snail-mail, or requesting a hard copy over the phone!

In the interest of full disclosure, this is a City of Boorondara project that David Lock Associates is working on, with Harvest Digital Planning working among other things on the online tools, and in collaboration with Collaborations. That's probably why it's so awesome.

Planning Minister Proposes Beefed Up CBD

2012-02-17T16:21:00.000+11:00

Well here’s the Ministers “big plan”.

Click for full size

He’s saying that the area above “could”be rezoned to CCZ and taller development streamlined through to create a 'Manhattan style' uber-CBD.

Notably, the area he’s highlighted is the area that’s already undergoing significant higher density redevelopment - at quite a pace. Understanding issues of population growth and the need to reduce sprawl on the fringe, there is also need for careful consideration of tower design, placement and other urban design issues.

My bet is this is Mr Guy's attempt to cash inon an existing development trend by doing absolutely nothing whatsoever (I question whether he’ll doany actual rezoning), and simultaneously take pressure/focus off of all themiddle-ring 'burbs full of angry NIMBY's who may actually cause him problems.

Questions remain - how does this fit into his new 'metro strategy'? Apart from old man Doyle, apparently no Councillor's and no Council planning departments had any idea this announcement was going to occur.

While lacking any real policy or content, the underlying gist of the announcement itself isn't too outrageous. The Hoddle Grid is near maxed out, Melbourne's CBD is organically beginning to sprawl because Melbourne's growth is so strong. I'd agree there is a need to examine the orderly expansion of the CBD (and all that entails) itself. But it's a separate issue to the growth that needs to occur in the inner and middle ring suburbs.

Let's just hope Mr Guy doesn't think a beefed up 'Manhattan style' CBD will negate the need to develop Melbourne's activity centres.

See the ful CBD 'growth map' here.

Read about this story at the 'hun.

Or The Age.

Or the Australian.

Stop Wasting Time Writing New Urban Planning Documents!

2012-02-17T15:53:00.000+11:00

Your planning problems are not unique!

Believe it or not, there are hundreds of towns, cities and areas grappling with the same problems you're facing.

Everyone's trying to get more people walking and cycling.

We all want Transit Oriented Development.

There are millions of areas needing 'renewal'.

High density housing design is not a unique issue to your municipality.

Good.is looks at the problem of re-inventing the wheel:

Cities around the world may all be struggling with the same problems, from building affordable housing to boosting internet access, but a lack of dialogue means that local governments rarely copy each other’s successful ideas. The world’s “567,000 mayors are reinventing the wheel, every single one of them with everything” they do, says Sascha Haselmayer, general director of Living Labs Global, a Copenhagen-based non-profit that encourages collaboration among the world’s cities.

Part of the problem is political pressure to contract with local businesses only, which makes it hard for city governments to look to outsiders for advice and solutions. “The logic behind that is it helps local companies grow,” says Haselmayer, but it can cost up to fifty times as much to recreate a product or service instead of importing it from elsewhere

The way to fix it, it's suggested, is to spread the good ideas around. That's being attempted - through a competition that encourages you to steal good ideas.

Read on.

Why Does Infrastructure in Australia Cost So Damn Much

2012-02-16T16:29:00.001+11:00

I've been asking this question to myself a lot over the last few years. Someone proposes a new rail line - awesome I think to myself - but then I look at the cost. Multiple billions of dollars per kilometer of underground rail line. Seriously, 'billion', with a 'B'. The budget for NASA last year way about $17 Billion. So for a few km's of metro, we could space program the size of NASA.

Thankfully, calmer minds than mine are discussing the problem over at Alan Davies blog, The Urbanist. In a two part examination of rail costs and general infrastructure costs. Check them out, very interesting and worthwhile reading.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2012/02/15/why-do-subways-cost-so-much-to-build-here-than-elsewhere/#more-14193

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2012/02/16/why-is-infrastructure-so-bloody-expensive/#more-14231

Problems With a View

2012-02-13T16:49:00.001+11:00

So you've purchased a new apartment in a big tower somewhere in Melbourne. Congratulations, you've joined a growing number of apartment dwellers in our fine city. But, a problem arises, when you bought it you had views of the entire CBD and across Port Phillip Bay - but now a building is going up next door. Soon, your view is of a slightly balding 30-something year old who's also just his first apartment. And he's like, 9m from your window.

Tower separation is a serious urban design topic around the world - how do you ensure adequate amenity in rapidly a densifying city? A 'rule of thumb' in the urban design world is frequently the 9m rule. Melbourne City Council still has existing provision for far greater than this to separate towers, but I understand that it's been all but disregarded.

A key problem is that Melbourne is riddled with tiny lots in great locations. In the interest of fairness, everyone is allowed to try to get a planning permit for their own lot - amalgamation is not enforced or required. In strategic locations (Southbank, the CBD, docklands, the inner north etc etc), everyone wants to maximise the amount of apartments on their land and feed the seemingly insatiable beast that is Melbourne's housing market.

Simultaneously, new development must consider issues of 'development equity' - that is, ensuring a development does not unreasonably prejudice the ability of each abutting lot be developed.

Anyway, the Age is highlighting the issue with this article about Rosa and her apartment at Freshwater Place.

Exhibition Road Re-Opens in UK, Looks Great

2012-02-03T16:23:00.001+11:00

Exhibition Road, England, that runs from South Kensington to Hyde Park, has been re-opened as an amazing looking shared space. From the website:

Exhibition Road... is home to some of the most important visitor attractions in the country, a unique collection of cultural and educational institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and Imperial College London. Since the Great Exhibition of 1851 Exhibition Road has been a major destination and now attracts over 11 million visitors each year.

Though used by millions of visitors, as well as students, local workers, and residents the public realm was filled with street clutter and vehicle traffic, it was confusing to visitors and unfriendly to pedestrians.

We have changed this unwelcoming road into a world class streetscape - a stunning public space that can be enjoyed by all.

Check out the slide show here.

It's an interesting little case study, given the work we are doing on Swanston Street in Melbourne - which is again making the news.

Ned Kelly Sculpture Stirs Controversy Despite Being Awesome

2012-02-03T16:04:00.001+11:00

A Ned Kelly statue carved from a single Canadian Cedar Tree has caused controversy in a Boroondara street. I've dug up a before shot, a nice tree it was but apparently was required to be removed. The sculpture is stunning in my opinion. What do you think of it? See more pics: http://whitehorse-leader.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/ned-kelly-in-surrey-hills/

Read about the 'controversy' at the Whitehorse Leader.

Geometric Road Painting

2012-02-03T15:45:00.002+11:00

It's not even a boring looking neighbourhood, but hey, it looks mad anyway.

Apparently it's in Vercorin, a small ski Village in Switzerland. They do it every year with a different artist.

Does Urban Sprawl Actually Make Us Fat?

2012-02-03T14:46:00.001+11:00

Alan Davies aka The Melbourne Urbanist, in his new digs at Crikey (congrats Alan!) has this great article to kick things off with. He examines a study that basically says: living in the suburbs doesn't make you fat, it's just that fat people choose to live in the suburbs. It's a slightly confusing concept, and a bit of a chicken/egg scenario, so read on to learn more!

Take a Walk on the High Line From the Comfort of Your Chair!

2012-02-03T14:35:00.002+11:00

Alan Davies points out that you can now take a google street-view walk along the New York High Line in glorious HD. The High Line is New York's most popular recent piece of urban design mastery, the reclamation of a disused elevated railway into a stunning kilometers long linear parkway, dissecting the city like mother natures scalpel.

For those of us who aren't able to jet off to New York every time they do something cool, we can now experience it for free thanks to Google's desire to just be downright nice guys with all their technology.

Click here, or the image above, to cruise the High Line.

High Speed Rail to Go Ahead In The UK

2012-01-13T14:39:00.000+11:00

While the Tea Party is busy destroying the USA's chance to have a HSR network, the UK is pushing on - though not without opposition of their own. Interestingly, the vocal opposition in the UK isn't coming from a local nutjob contingent like the Tea Party, but from the environmental lobby.

It's a fascinating Catch-22: a sustainable national transport network really needs HSR, but HSR needs to carve am enormous linear corridor out of the environment to be built. HSR lines share issues that highways do: they require large swathes of land, they create barriers through natural habitats, they aren't silent and they will easily kill any furry critter that strolls in front.

Anyway, the UK is going to do it, and its called HS2:

Key points• HS2 trains will be up to 400m long with 1,100 seats
• An extra 26,000 passenger seats each hour on intercity routes
• Trains to travel at up to 250mph
• Birmingham to London journeys now set to be 45 mins instead of 84 mins
• More than 22 miles of tunnel on the route
• A spur to Heathrow will be built by 2033

Hotel Windsor Gets Final Go-Ahead, But Won't Go Ahead For a While

2012-01-13T14:21:00.003+11:00

So the Windsor redevelopment is ready to roll, but won't be kicking off for another 18 months apparently. Easily the most controversial thing to happen in planning since Haussmann carved up Paris, the controversy arguably played a role in the downfall of the Brumby empire. But putting aside all the failure of proper process and politics, what do people think of the actual proposal?

I think it looks alright, and sets a nice backdrop for the beautiful old building.

Feel free to disagree/discuss in the comments.

The Age has more details.

Involved in Designing for Active Places? NYC Has Got You Covered

2012-01-13T14:14:00.000+11:00

From the ever studious NYC Department of Design and Construction comes the Active Design Guidelines. They are comprehensive, clearly presented and look at first glance to be pretty damn informative. Active design and planning is a bit of a trend in Australia lately, with good reason. We're getting pretty fat, obesity related diseases are rising and our sedentary lifestyles is really just becoming a bit of a drag.

So, if your Council, consultancy, agency, whatever, is looking at Active Design, take a look:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/ddc/html/design/active_design.shtml

It covers urban design strategies, building design strategies and discusses synergies between active design and sustainability.

What really irks me about planning and design is the level of repetition when it comes to things like this. I wouldn't be surprised if every Council in 'straya put some money toward making their own bloody active design guidelines. As if the needs of one area to be active are that radically different from another in Australia, or even New York.

Anyway, learn more about the NYC guidelines and download here.

A Green Toupe for Beirut?

2012-01-10T14:47:00.000+11:00

This photomontage of Beirut with a green forest demonstrates how mad our cities would look if we used rooftops for more than just the lift overruns. Wassim Melki of StudioInvisible put together the montage, which forms part of a large, genuine proposal for the dense city.

"Most conventional rooftop gardens are very complex," he explained. "They require a specific type of insulation and drainage, and a study should be conducted on the roof slab and how much weight it could support. Since many of the existing buildings are more than 50 years old, we are suggesting putting the trees in relatively large pots."

Melki adds that there is little if not no space in the city for creating new public green spaces, and "it's almost impossible to plant on the sidewalks or at the side of the roads". The solution is to take to the rooftops, argues the architect, and use the roofs of the 18,500 buildings in the city that are currently vacant. Says Melki: "If only one tree is planted on each, that's 18,500 more trees: which is the equivalent of Central Park in New York."

Crowd Sourcing Walking Maps in Victoria

2012-01-09T17:02:00.001+11:00

http://www.walkingmaps.com.au/ has put together a neat little front-end to Google Maps that lets people create and annotate their favourite walks around Victoria, and the rest of Australia. It's put together by Victoria Walks (http://www.victoriawalks.org.au/) and sponsored by VicHealth, no doubt in an admirable attempt to get us lazy obese Aussies off the coach and admiring the natural and built beauty around us!

Walks can be rated, time estimations are given, distances are calculated and even topography is now factored in.

Rethinking A Lot

2012-01-09T16:47:00.002+11:00

Parking lots account for an astonishing amount of the surface area of our cities. Be they roadside, or in multi-storey lots, they are serious business financially and aesthetically. No one claims to really like them ("oh wow what a beautiful piece of blank asphalt!"), everyone thinks they're an eyesore. But somehow, collectively, we all just accept that we need them. Are we settling? 'Oh well people need to park, best have parks available for them absolutely anywhere at absolutely any time.'

Anyway, this article in the NY Times looks to some new ideas from a range of intelligent people about what to do to make parking a bit more of a valuable part of the city, not just an eyesore we have to accept.

Read on.

Building Better Bike Racks

2011-12-19T11:07:00.001+11:00

This is certainly a case where the pictures can do most of the talking.

Also a case where the symbolism and meaning conveyed by the installation of these is as powerful as their practicality.

They are from a company called Cyclehoop, check them out here.

Where Will We Live In The Future?

2011-12-16T14:33:00.002+11:00

This esoteric examination of where housing in western civilisation is heading comes from the Guardian. Thought provoking, even if a little all over the place.

Fournier believes the potential of tall buildings, such as those built against hillsides in Hong Kong, where access is not simply at ground level, represents a three dimensional approach that has yet to be fully explored, despite the fact that architects have been discussing the potential for many years. "We need to look at how high-density environments are created, where there might be access on the 42nd or the 100th floor. Three-dimensional, spatial urbanism hasn't really taken off yet, but it is something that is bound to happen.''

Although he points out that some architects argue that vertical living is more cost efficient and sustainable, it does involve greater spending on energy and materials. "It's a very challenging point, but the overall balance remains unclear and needs to be very carefully looked at.''

Read the full article here.

Las Vegas is So Absurd It's Beautiful

2011-12-16T12:00:00.000+11:00

Las Vegas, America's little slice of Dubai, got severely pounded by the GFC and had quite a few housing projects go bust. Combining this with the fact that its a city built in the middle of the goddam desert makes for some amazing aerial photography. The Atlantic has put together this amazing collection of aerial imagery of housing development, just for you.

Vegas looks a lot like what would happen if you let a chimpanzee play Sim City.

If you ever wondered what the phrase "orderly development of land" meant, this isn't it.

NYC's New Zoning Laws to Promote Greener Buildings

2011-12-16T11:39:00.002+11:00

I've been involved in many a conversation about how planning can directly influence the sustainability and efficiency of actual buildings. Do you mandate minimum greenstars? Do you allow developers to build taller buildings if they feature more sustainable features? Do you allowed levels of car parking to 'force' people to find alternatives? It's complicated, and it involves some pretty serious market regulation.

Anyway, NYC has been finding that its existing zoning laws have been actively discouraging those wishing to install/construct more sustainable buildings and features. They are now proposing city-wide changes that do things such as allow for solar panels to exceed height limits and allow thicker, more insulating walls to be constructed and allowing some serious windmill heights atop buildings.

Does anyone with some expertise in sustainability and our current planning scheme believe we need similar changes?

Read on.

Copenhagen's Car-Free Streets and Slow-Speed Zones

2011-12-15T17:17:00.002+11:00

Copenhagen's Car-free streets & Slow-speed zones from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

This is a great video from the consistently impressive StreetFilms. This time, we're looking once again at the street design of Copenhagen, the city by which it seems we measure all modern urban planning efforts by. They do seem to have some pretty impressive streets, with accompanying public spaces that all just 'work'. Jan Gehl makes a celebrity cameo.

Watch on.

Melbourne In The Early 1900s

2011-12-15T16:35:00.004+11:00

This amazing documentary is really just a series of very early film reels, each showing a different street or area of Melbourne as it was circa 1910. The architecture we had and have subsequently lost is stunning, although if you look carefully there's quite a bit that is still 'as-is' today. Original title was Marvelous Melbourne: Queen City of the South.

It gives you a nice sense of perspective when planning and designing for today's Melbourne to have an understanding of yesterday. Also, damn we dressed classy back then!

Click here to watch the full thing.

Where's the greenfield PT?

2011-12-15T16:17:00.002+11:00

The Age's Adam Carey has this (fantastically titled) article in Domain: "Epping hell: estate residents 'betrayed' by promises".

The crux of the story is that Aurora, VicUrban's flagship attempt at sustainable greenfield development, was meant to have a whole bunch of bus stops. Which it now does. The problem is, buses don't stop there, they just...exist. The Department of Transport are blaming VicUrban for not checking with them, VicUrban say they did, residents just wish they had some buses.

Even if there was a bus stop '400m of every house' that actually had services running, you reckon people would be using it? Or would they be getting in their cars anyway?

Meanwhile, remember those train lines that were going to go through Aurora? To make it actually somewhat sustainable and not entirely car based? Yea? Well:

But the plan to extend the rail line was frozen under Labor and the Baillieu government has said it has no plan to build it either. ''The government does not plan to extend the rail network to Epping North at this time,'' Minister for Public Transport Terry Mulder told residents in August.

Epping hell indeed.

Read the full article here.

Chicago's New Bike Lanes

2011-12-06T10:17:00.001+11:00

For some reason, Rahm Emanuel decided being the mayor of Chicago was better than being Obama's Chief of Staff. He got elected partially on the promise to bring '100 miles of dedicated bike lanes' to Chi-town. The video below shows the first, and second, of these and how they've successfully built them into the street.

Well done Rahm, who knew Chicago bike lanes were more fun than the White House.

VYP Street Art Tour This Friday

2011-12-01T12:00:00.001+11:00

A quick reminder that the VYP organised Street Art Tour is still taking last minute registrations from all who are interested.

The Victorian Young Planners invite you to join them on a tour of Melbourne’s largest public gallery, where the city’s walls and laneways act as a rich, varied and constantly evolving canvas. The tour will be led by well-known street-artists, and focus on the creation of public space, planning and culture in Melbourne, showcasing an aspect of the city many people never get to experience or understand. The tour finishes at the famous Blender Studios for drinks and nibbles while checking out some artists at work and chatting with other young planners before adjourning to a nearby bar.

Check out more information here.

The Age Examines the Politics of Cycling

2011-12-01T11:23:00.001+11:00

Cycling in Australia certainly lends itself to an interesting brand of vitriol from certain quarters. The Age's Michael O'Reilly attempts to dissect the supporters and detractors in this piece at theage.com.au.

Cyclists. They’re nothing but a bunch of Green-voting, latte-sipping, inner-city trendoids with an over-developed sense of entitlement.

That’s what you’d think if you believed much of the media coverage given to cycling in the past few years. From shock jocks to tabloid TV shows to newspaper columnists, there's always someone ready to have a go at cyclists.

Especially media organisations that favour the conservative side of politics.

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This vilification is curious, given that Australia is a nation of bicycle buyers. Last year, we bought more cycles than cars – something that’s happened every year this century. Of course, a lot of those would be kids’ bikes … but the increasing numbers of riders on the roads and the proliferation of cycling shops should tell you that cycling is, well, on a roll.

Read on.

VicUrban Becomes Places Victoria

2011-11-30T16:54:00.001+11:00

The Victorian Government has re-branded 'VicUrban' to 'Places Victoria'.

You can read the press release here.

And check out the Places Victoria website here.

So this is apparently the Urban Renewal Authority that the government was promising.

According to the press release Mr Guy says: "It is essential we strive to improve liveability and continue a focus on building sustainable new communities which is what Places Victoria's mandate is."

...

"The focus of Victoria's new pre-eminent urban renewal authority on liveability and place making is an important step in ensuring Melbourne and Victoria is liveable and sustainable for the long term."

The press release says 'liveability' four times, 'renewal' six times and 'sustainable' only twice - it's a whole new direction!

Urban Farming in Africa

2011-11-30T16:42:00.001+11:00

Unlike those who live in the country and have land for farming, city dwellers generally have to pay for their food, sometimes spending as much as 80 percent of their incomes to do so.

As people move from rural areas to cities, food production is often left behind. The global movement inward toward cities is counterbalanced in richer countries by the rapid mechanisation and productivity increases in food production - allowing less people to feed far, far more.

Africa, however, has a problem. The inward city movement is the same, but the farming productivity isn't increasing as much as it needs to be. This drives up food prices (for those who can afford to buy food), and forces people to approach the problem differently. Enter, urban farming in Africa.

The United Nations Development Program recently reported that an astonishing 800 million people worldwide are now engaged in urban agriculture, producing from 15 percent to 20 percent of the world’s food.

This in-depth piece from onearth.org visits some African urban farms and delves into the benefits, dangers and what might be in store for the future.

Necessity being the mother of invention, Africa could be onto something here. Could we learn a few tips?

Read on.

Jan Gehl Giving His Full Spiel On Human Scale Cities

2011-11-30T15:53:00.001+11:00

Jan Gehl has spent a great deal of time looking at cities in a way he considers different to most planners, architects and urban designers. He believes we view design and planning 'top down', from a helicopter (or, these days, satellite imagery). He believes cities really 'work', when people design things from the point of view of a person on the ground, not from the sky. He makes this point, and many more, in this 30 minute video. His points are compelling, his passion real. We can likely all agree that more time spent wandering the streets of a place when planning for it always gives one a better feel for it, and ultimately a better design.

Either way, unless you've reached your Jan Gehl saturation point, check out the video here.

Why Build Skyscrapers At All?

2011-11-30T15:41:00.001+11:00

The tower equals the floorspace all of the blocks on the left

This is why. More or less. As noted by secretrepublic.com, while skyscrapers instead of sprawl has some serious merit, you can lose the feeling of a well proportioned city vertically, just as we currently do horizontally. The urban morphology on display here is quite American, but the point is equally valid. The example also works equally well with say, an 8-10 storey building, as it does this tower.

There is quite literally an infinite amount of space vertically, and a very finite amount of space horizontally. Finding that balance is the job of planners.

Shipping Container Shopping Centre in Christchurch

2011-11-30T13:30:00.001+11:00

Cashel Mall was destroyed in the devastating earthquake in Christchurch last February. Chirstchurchians have until now been doing without it while they focussed on rebuilding their lives and homes. Re:START is an organisation that decided it was time to get people shopping again, and so designed and built a 'mall' out of shipping containers while the mall proper is rebuilt.

Anyway, it looks fantastic, its a great solution in a hard situation and I love the whole concept.

Check out more at the Re:START website here: http://www.restart.org.nz/

Check out a sweet time-lapse of the construction below:

And read an article on the whole thing here.

The Shaky Return of Swanston Street

2011-11-29T10:50:00.001+11:00

Following what seemed like a really long construction process for a roadway, Swanston Street between LaTrobe and Lonsdale has emerged from its cocoon into a big beautiful butterfly...or has it.

First, let me go on record to say that I made this call years ago: Bikes and pedestrians don't generally mix well. Swanston Street is a crucial north south connection for cyclists. The bike paths of the northern cycle-heavy 'burbs of Brunswick, Carlton, Fitzroy, Clifton Hill and Coburg all funnel into Swanston Street. It's one of the view safe (ish) ways to cross the Yarra as a cyclist, and its the most direct route. With that said, the concept of upgrading Swanston Street for cycle and tram priority sounded great when it was announced years ago (following old man Doyle's backflip on the issue).

But the chosen option seems almost to encourage pedestrian cycle clashes. It blurs the line between road/cycle lane and footpath and forces cyclists to slow down completely and pedestrians to not know if they are standing on bike lane, road, footpath or tram stop.

The Age is going to town on the whole issue and for some absurd reason I can't help but feel sorry for Doyle.

People need to understand that Swanston Street to cyclists is a freeway. It's not ever going to be a slow moving thoroughfare, its a commuter backbone as important to cyclists as the Eastern Freeway is to car drivers.

Modern Home Designs in the Spotlight

2011-11-15T15:47:00.001+11:00

There's been some interesting chatter about home designs lately, with this article in The Age featuring the Grattan Institutes call for a modern day 'Small Home Service':

A modern-day version of the service, the Institute proposes, would create a think tank of architects, builders and planners to produce innovative designs for Australia's builder-developers. "This will bring together expertise from different groups," the report said, "enabling them to share innovations and to pool resources, further reducing the risk and expenditure of innovating."

And another issue, the affects of overshadowing on the booming solar trade being looked at here in this article in the Age, which notes:

More and more people are installing solar panels and solar hot water systems, growing their own vegies and adapting their houses for passive solar gain. But as they do so, they may find their desire for direct sunlight overshadowed by bigger buildings next door.

Kim Dovey, professor of architecture and urban design at The University of Melbourne, says the right to sunlight is a growing issue.

But for a little inspiration, how would you feel about some of these ultra-modern homes in your street.

Podium Car Parking That Doesn't Suck

2011-11-15T14:57:00.001+11:00

The apartment boom in Melbourne, and undoubtedly many other cities around the world, are frequently tossing up the same design problems. One of these issues is that it's not always possible to underground the whole car park required for the development. As a result, we're seeing above ground podium parking dominate the first few visible floors of new residential towers.

One solution that's a favourite of urban designers is 'sleeving', the act of putting a strip, or sleeve, of apartments in front of the car park at the street frontage, thus creating the illusion that there is no parking at all. However, in practice, this only works on large sites of the correct shape, and can be overly costly for the developer.

The second, and far more common option is simply making the podium look good anyway. This is of course entirely subjective, and arguably isn't always achieved.

ArchDaily reports on a development in China, a 28 storey mixed use building, that does a pretty good job of covering the parking podium with greenery in a sleek setting.

Read the full story and see some pics here.

Have you seen other places where parking has been well hidden?

GAA Releases Growth Corridor Plans

2011-11-15T11:02:00.001+11:00

Melbourne has a serious obesity problem

It was back during the last Governments reign that the growth "boundary" was once again pushed outward, but at the time there was no detail about what was going to happen inside this new "boundary". Well the GAA have been busy little bees in the intervening time and have produced four truly epic plans for the West, North, South East and Sunbury areas, as well as the obligatory accompanying document about how amazingly "sustainable" and awesome they'll be. No mention of how the public transport network will cope when petrol hits 5 dollars a litre.

You can view them all here: http://gaa.vic.gov.au/growth_corridor_planning/

Specifically, links to the four PDF plans are:

West: http://webadmin.gaa.vic.gov.au/Assets/Files/West%20Corridor%20Plan%20-%20Chapter%204.pdf

North: http://webadmin.gaa.vic.gov.au/Assets/Files/North%20Corridor%20Plan%20-%20Chapter%205.pdf

South East:http://webadmin.gaa.vic.gov.au/Assets/Files/South%20East%20Corridor%20Plan%20-%20Chapter%206.pdf

Sunbury: http://webadmin.gaa.vic.gov.au/Assets/Files/Sunbury%20Corridor%20Plan%20-%20Chapter%207.pdf

The Dutch Know How to Roll

2011-11-10T11:59:00.002+11:00

Have a watch of this great video on the history, present and future of cycling in the Netherlands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn2s6ax_7TM

Who else wants to see Australian cities head in this direction? Would you really prefer to be stuck in traffic every morning?

Will Solar Hit Grid Price Parity With Coal Sooner Than We Think?

2011-11-09T13:34:00.000+11:00

Paul Krugman at the NYT says yes, we will, and very soon. He argues that the only reason we aren't gearing up to shift our power base away from the heavy polluting coal and gas is simply a case of big polluters corporate influence in politics in the USA. He looks at fracking, the highly controversial method of extracting fossil fuels via the injection of high-pressure fluid deep underground, and explains that this method is simply an absurd option when compared with solar.

In fact, progress in solar panels has been so dramatic and sustained that, as a blog post at Scientific American put it, “there’s now frequent talk of a ‘Moore’s law’ in solar energy,” with prices adjusted for inflation falling around 7 percent a year.

This has already led to rapid growth in solar installations, but even more change may be just around the corner. If the downward trend continues — and if anything it seems to be accelerating — we’re just a few years from the point at which electricity from solar panels becomes cheaper than electricity generated by burning coal.

And if we priced coal-fired power right, taking into account the huge health and other costs it imposes, it’s likely that we would already have passed that tipping point.

But will our political system delay the energy transformation now within reach?

A similar situation to America exists in Australia. The conservative powers are attempting to get fracking happening as other coal sources max out, while the potential of solar gets ignored. Will the recently approved carbon tax give solar a bump into mainstream base-load power, will it even need to?

A Case Study in Fixing a Cul-de-Sac

2011-11-03T15:52:00.000+11:00

This article by Eric Brown at New Urbanism Blog explains how his firm was commissioned to 'fix' a cul-de-sac. To turn it into something a little bit more usable for those that aren't on four wheels. The technique, he explains, is thus:

1. Make a place beautiful. Places that are not visually appealing are not valued as highly as other places. Here we add a squared up center green with a large oak tree planting (and other small details such as lighting etc.)
2. Define the place (space): A place must be defined or enclosed in some manner. Here we focus moving the building form and mass around to create walls for our new space. It’s the same number of houses, but they are moved around to create something of value.
3. Approach of the space: This is the one that most designers overlook. Every interesting space has some type of approach to it. Here we use a row of palmetto trees to create a tighter street section and rhythm that then opens up to the main space.

And an alternative:

Read on here.

Small Site, Unique Design, Big Usability

2011-11-03T15:30:00.001+11:00

Tokyo is famous for its unique architectural styles, and efficient use of minimum space. This house is a perfect example of both. The absolutely tiny site area of 29sqm (that's smaller than a new studio apartment in Melbourne) and the triangular shape gave the architect - Mizuishi Architect Atelier - some serious challenges. The result is fantastic, and perhaps an example of how we can live tightly into the future without compromising internal amenity.

UN Human Development Index 2011 Puts Australia Second, Norway First, Again

2011-11-03T11:35:00.000+11:00

With no change from 2010, Australia remains the second most "liveable" country on earth under the UN's widely regarded Human Development Index. Norway slipped in front of us, as it did last year. Holding us back from the top spot is our lower average income, and fairly bad income equality. Maybe if we let the Occupy protesters gain a little traction we can take out 2012?

Australians are not a particularly equal society (Norway's income distribution puts us in the shade) and far from impressive when it comes to equality of the sexes. On gender equality Australia is the 18th-ranked nation in the world; Sweden is No. 1

Plantastic Wins Planning Award!

2011-11-02T14:42:00.000+11:00

A belated thank you to all involved: PIA, Judges, Sponsors, Readers, Attendees!

Expect more stories and more regular updates to the blog in future! See the list of all the worthy winners here.

Population 7 Billion

2011-11-02T14:36:00.000+11:00

The Atlantic brings this stunning photo set of our worlds booming population. Photos from around the world that are personal, natural, cities, roads, life, death, everything. Sometime around about now the population ticks over from 6,999,999,999 to 7,000,000,000 as one old dying person is replaced by slightly more than one screaming baby. Chances are, that baby will be born somewhere in China or India, as those two nations lead the procreation charge.

Should we ease up a little? Can Earth sustain more people? Can Earth sustain the current population?

It's worth noting that this growth is largely driven by developing nations. As nations achieve "first world" lifestyles and social orders, growth rates tend to invert (like Australia - we would be declining if not for immigration). Perhaps that means we will top out one day?

Anyway, just look at the pretty pictures already.

Crazy Looking Vertical Forest That's Actually Being Built

2011-10-19T17:22:00.000+11:00

You all know how much I love insane architectural ideas, no matter how preposterous, and how they almost never actually get built. Well here's one that is! It's an apartment tower that has a serious density of trees at each floor. Each planter box is offset so they have room to grow, and should hopefully (once fully grown) create a stunningly green tower. I can only imagine that the complications of having such deep soil volumes at each balcony of an apartment tower. It's in Milan if you're passing through in a couple of years.

Read more at designbuildsource.

The Age Launches Bicycle Offensive in Lead Up to Ride To Work Day

2011-10-11T17:10:00.000+11:00

Seriously, I love bikes, I love reading about them almost as much as I like riding them (OK probably not), but The Age is taking it to a whole new level.

Check out the following articles and videos of the last few days:

Build the paths and they will ride;

Cyclist finds the work ride balance;

Tessa rides to work: road safety;

Car vs Bike, Wife vs Husband;

Cycle Tribes of Melbourne; and

Wintry City a Wonderland for Cyclists.

There was some more, but I think you get the point. Of these, I'd recommend reading the 'Wintry City' for lessons for Melbourne from another cycling city, Minneapolis; and Build the Paths for an interesting look at relative cycling infrastructure spending in Melbourne.

Who else reckons The Age should have a 'Ride' magazine in the same vein as it's 'Drive' magazine?

PS. I hope to see you all on the road tomorrow for Ride to Work day!

Housing Affordability is Bloody Complicated, But Bloody Important

2011-10-11T16:49:00.000+11:00

Michael Pascoe writes in The Age about the wicked problem that is housing affordability and land taxation in Australia. It's a good article, requiring a little economic knowledge to figure out what's going on though.

Last week I watched all nine federal, state and territory treasurers either explicitly or implicitly acknowledge that they're running taxation policies that are bad for the nation because of their impact on housing, perverting the more efficient use of land, worsening affordability, making poverty worse.

If their nine shadow counterparts had been in the room, we would have had 18 politicians equally guilty of taking the politically expedient course rather than attempting politically dangerous change.

They might well call it politically suicidal change.

It's a problem that effects planners like few others, and there are even a few fingers pointed in our direction here. One of these fingers is the Reserve Bank of Australia in this article:

Noting that Australian cities were far less dense than others overseas, the report said zoning limits encouraged people to live further from the central business district than they would otherwise. This had the effect of increasing the footprint of the city and pushing up prices.
With demand for housing in well-located areas set to grow, the Reserve said there was a risk house prices could be pushed higher across the board.

''As population grows and land prices increase, the expected response would be cities to become denser and for land to be used more intensively. However, any fixed set of zoning restrictions will slow this adjustment,'' the report said.

Chicago Green Art on Rails

2011-09-28T16:04:00.000+10:00

It's live plants on Chicago's trains. Why? Because art you, that's why.

Read more and see more pictures here.

The End of Motoring?

2011-09-28T15:51:00.000+10:00

Young people today would rather have the latest smartphone than a flashy car. And the number of them who can drive is plummeting. Is Britain's love-affair with the car really over?

The Guardian tackles the changing nature of car ownership in Britain. The kids don't care about cars, they'd rather an iPhone, the traffic is hellish, the petrol costs too much and the congestion charge is keeping cars out of the city.

In Britain, the percentage of 17- to 20-year-olds with driving licences fell from 48% in the early 1990s to 35% last year. The number of miles travelled by all forms of domestic transport, per capita per year, has flatlined for years. Meanwhile, road traffic figures for cars and taxis, having risen more or less every year since 1949, have continued to fall since 2007. Motoring groups put it down to oil prices and the economy. Others offer a more fundamental explanation: the golden age of motoring is over.

The article looks at more than just a decline in car-ownership. Car companies can clearly see the writing on the wall, and are doing what capitalism does best when faced with economic pressures- adapting.

Peugeot, for instance, has launched a European project called Mu," says Pollard. "You become a member and can then rent whichever Peugeot best suits your mobility needs that day. So you can borrow a van to move house at the weekend. Then get into a 308 for the school run, Monday to Friday. Then hop into an electric car to scoot silently around town. Then borrow a Peugeot bicycle to cycle to the pub in the evening. It's an attempt to second-guess how we'll run cars in future, and a pilot scheme at present, but you can do this today in London. Other car manufacturers are studying similar ideas."

Read more at the Guardians website here.

What do you think of Peugeot's idea - would it work in Aus?

The Never Ending Docklands Debate: Evolution Over Time or 'Soul' Design

2011-09-28T15:17:00.001+10:00

Another day another series of articles ragging on the poor old docklands. Once again it's the Age swinging in, with this piece in today's paper:

Lack of 'soul' has Docklands tenant ready to leave

Medibank Managing Director is disappointing in the ole 'docks, saying it lacks 'soul'. Presumably, it should have been designed with one. Saying the Docklands lacks soul happens a fair bit in such debates, but what does it really mean? The Age has a larger piece in todays paper that goes some way to explaining what honestly most people just 'feel' when walking around the 'docks. A lack of public space, interesting alleys and smaller shops, a diverse range of...well anything just isn't available. Buildings are big, the ground floors are catalouge-picked shops designed to service the local well-off apartment owners, but none of it is...interesting. I've never found myself thinking "gee i'd like to visit that place in the docklands" because there's nothing interesting going on or being sold. But that's just, like, my opinion, man.

The question is: can one design-in soul into a new large scale development? Is 'soul' a feature of a gradual organic evolution of a space, or is it built environment feature that we can 'design'. A classic problem, evolution or design.

Thoughts?

The Bicycle Visionary That's Changing New York

2011-09-23T16:24:00.000+10:00

Against what can only be described as a hysterical, fanatical opposition, New York's transportation commissioner Sadik-Khan has championed bike infrastructure and bike use with amazing results.

Since the mayor appointed her in 2007 and she began to bring her agency’s work more closely in line with his vision of a greener New York, the city has roughly doubled its miles of bike lanes, to about 500.

This article in the New York Times looks at the small amounts of recognition being received, and the problems of bringing change to a world that loves its cars.

Biking, it seems, is an uphill ride, due largely to mathematics and a sort of Catch-22: with only a small percentage of Americans using bicycles as their primary method of transportation, there’s no huge public outcry for — or immediate political benefit to — remaking city streets so that they’re a little less friendly to cars and a lot more hospitable to bikes.
But without that hospitality, primarily in the form of better bike lanes and more bike racks, biking isn’t convenient and attractive enough to win all that many converts and thus a political constituency.
So if a city believes that biking is part of a better future, it must sometimes muscle through a reluctant, rocky present. That’s precisely what Bloomberg and Sadik-Khan have done, in a fine example of the way the mayor’s frequent imperiousness and imperviousness to criticism can work to the city’s long-term advantage.

Read on at the New York Times.

Much To Do Without a Car in Melbourne

2011-09-23T16:08:00.000+10:00

An entertaining write-up in The Age about things to do in Melbourne that are all in walking distance from train stations. Ordered by line, it gives a good list of places to go and things to do without needing to be stuck in traffic! Remember kids, you aren't stuck in traffic. You are traffic.

Read on here.

VCAT Reintroduces Major Cases List, For a Price

2011-09-23T16:02:00.001+10:00

In an attempt to speed up the often slow VCAT process, the Tribunal has brought back the Major Cases List that proved so popular it rapidly exhausted its own funding. Rather than waiting 40 weeks for your case to be heard, developers can now drop 3 grand, then 3 grand per day onward, to have it heard in under 18.

Will it be worth it for developers? You bet. Will it speed up VCAT? Probably, as they'll be able to afford more sessional members to hear more cases.

Understandably, some justice organisations are mildly concerned. The idea that paying more brings swifter justice is...not really what justice is about. In an ideal justice system, ones financial situation doesn't influence the outcome - but should it influence the speed at which that outcome is reached. I've no doubt the VCAT members will treat every case with objectivity, whether they are paying through the nose or not, but the ability to pay up and move up the queue does seem...dangerous.

How else could they have free'd up VCAT to process appeals quicker? Any ideas - post below.

Read the article at The Age here.

Melbourne - The Most Livable City?

2011-09-14T16:35:00.000+10:00

So unless you've been living under a rock (or overseas like me), you'll have heard Melbourne has been rated the most 'livable' city on Earth, ahead of Vienna and Vancouver by the Economist Intelligence Unit. I won't bore you with the obvious reasons (healthcare, political stablity, crime etc), but a few of the metrics they used are far more interesting. The ones that make me pause are: 'Culture' and 'Environment'. Firstly, how do you assess culture, that's absurd. Secondly, how is Australia (who had several cities in the top ten) ranking so well in environment - we have one of the highest per capita emissions in the world. This seems critical to me, but is apparently not a factor. There are many more questions about what metrics are used, and how subjective so much of it is, but an opinion piece in the age focusses on one other aspect: density.

From a planning point of view, the Economist Intelligence Unit analysis is a catastrophe, because it confirms our resistance to urban density. It now seems provident that we have so many obstinate building restrictions and setbacks to maintain our low density. Alas, the Australian fear of living close to other Australians has had the unfortunate consequence of creating a vast sprawl which is unliveable without millions of cars.

The question is: will Melbourne rank so well when petrol prices are triple what they are now?

Don't get too cocky, we have a lot to do yet...

Have a read of the BBC article here, and the Age Opinion piece here.

Pop-Up Playgrounds to Combat Youth Obesity

2011-08-17T14:57:00.000+10:00

Courtesy NYT

Obesity is a growing world-wide problem and the USA is widely considered the cholesterol-filled heartland of the issue (3 puns, 1 sentence!). Unfortunately, like so many issues that we face it seems to be the poorer areas that suffer the most. In NYC, pop-up parks are being trialed to help get the youngens interested in exercise. The NYT’s reports:

During a two-month period last year, seven civic coalitions in New York neighborhoods like East Harlem and the South Bronx got permits from the city to close certain local streets to traffic for designated periods of time — say, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on a summer weekday. Working with the police and other city agencies, they re-designated the areas as temporary “play streets,” encouraging neighborhood children to use them forexercise and offering a range of free games, athletic activities and coaching.

The article notes that’s a key challenge when combating obesity in low-income neighbourhoods is that the urban environment itself often discourages activity. NYC is hoping pop-up parks will go some way to changing that. Could we see such a thing over here? Do such things happen here already? Let us know in the comments.

Solar Powered Boat Sails the World Using Only Renewable Energy - Wait...Hold On...We've Been Doing That for Hundreds of Years

2011-08-17T14:39:00.000+10:00

Given that the shipping industry alone is apparently responsible for 4.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions (that seems high to me), it’s a good thing someone is looking into alternatives. Much like the Solar Roadways idea, this is a working concept that is not yet commercially viable. From inhabitat:

The solar sucking ship cost around $26 million. This may seem hefty, but its reliance on solar power alone saves the vessel exponentially. The solar panels on PlanetSolar power two electric motors, which can reach 15 miles per hour. Combined with other renewable sources (wind) it could move even faster. The panels can also soak up enough stored energy to power the boat in cloudy weather for three whole days. The excess energy is stored in a giant lithium-ion battery.

Solar Roadways Gets More Funding – Keeps on Designing Our Future Transport Network

2011-08-17T14:25:00.000+10:00

I've reported on these fine folks efforts before, and it seems as if they are still alive and kicking. The company, Solar Roadways, are developing…well… solar roadways. The idea is:

The panels, designed by Solar Roadways founder Scott Brusaw, contain embedded LED lights that might eventually act as a “smart” system that illuminates lanes while displaying timely warnings to drivers about roadblocks and wildlife up ahead. At the same time, embedded heating elements in the panels could prevent snow and ice from building up on the road.

Further to that, and more importantly, the panels are constantly producing clean solar energy and feeding it directly back into the grid. Or, in the ideal scenario – the roads ARE the grid. Deep, huh? The concept is still in early development, though they do have working prototypes. The team has just received a boost from the US Federal Government to the tune of $750k, which will no doubt see them continuing their efforts for a while longer. The primary issue to overcome is of course cost. The panels are currently prohibitively expensive – which no doubt causes many skeptics to pass off this idea as fanciful. But, like with any epic infrastructure project, the more you build the cheaper it would get.

2011-08-17T14:16:00.000+10:00

Bid to Boost Bikes in Melbourne Fails

2011-08-17T14:12:00.000+10:00

The 2009 Victorian Cycling Strategy has failed according to the auditor general. The project was apparently "hastily developed without a proper understanding of current cycling trends or what was required to make it mainstream". While cycling accounts for roughly 1.6% of trips on a weekday in Victoria, Germany, Denamrk and the Netherlands are apparently averaging between 10-27%. The Age reports:

Dr Pearson said cycling had grown in those countries due to extensive infrastructure and promotion and measures to make driving more expensive and less convenient.

My impression is that bicycle growth in Melbourne has been fairly strong of late, though perhaps not due to government actions.

Read on.

Sustainable Star Trek Theme Park to be Built by Jordanian King

2011-08-17T14:06:00.004+10:00

It seems oil money can buy happiness! From designbuildsource.com:

When envisioning theme parks many images come to mind. From an industry view point an emphasis is made on the structures, huge engineering feats that leave many wondering at their possibility. Whether fans of the noise, crowds and frivolity or otherwise, energy efficient is not stereotypically the first adjective that appear in relation to theme parks.

Breaking tradition is King Abdullah of Jordan in his creation of the Red Sea Astrarium in the country’s port of Aqaba. The news has come to the delight of Star Trek fans (or “Trekkies”) as well as environmentalists, as the $1.5 billion theme park will be both Star Trek themed, as well as completely powered by alternative energy systems.

I...have no words. At least it proves that sustainability is so ingrained in our design culture that building something outrageous (like a Star Trek Theme Park in the desert) is only really going to happen if you spin it as 'sustainable'.

Read more.

Narrowing Streets - Creating a Different Urban Reality

2011-08-16T17:40:00.000+10:00

This blog is based upon a simple idea. What if the streets of L.A. weren’t so wide? How would that look, what would the place feel like, would it be different? The photographer goes out to streets people recommend could look good without so many lanes, and then shoots and photoshops. With amazing results. Check out this map of all the streets that have been narrowed: http://www.davidyoon.com/narrow_streets/big_map.htm. Click on them and view post to see in full glory (often you need to click the photo itself). The resulting narrowed streets create such a radically different feel than the wider existing streets. I certainly found it illuminating just how much impact street width has on the feel of the street.

Take a look!

Moscow to Double in Size to Solve Congestion Problems

2011-08-03T15:06:00.001+10:00

I love that soviet architecture!

Russian officials have announced plans to more than double Moscow's territory in a bid to alleviate the city's crippling traffic and overcrowding, but critics worry the move could prove to be an environmental fiasco and leave thousands displaced.

It seems nobody gave Russia the memo that sprawl is out and density is in. They are moving all the government buildings and offices into the new expanded region to kick start it. It would seem that while Russia’s population declines, Moscow’s grows. I wonder how long their oil supplies will last.

Copenhageners Taking Bikes on Trains Designed for Taking Bikes

2011-08-03T14:59:00.002+10:00

How sweet does that look. Bicycle Victoria has the word:

Ten S-Trains are being remodelled with the new compartments, which are in the middle of the train so that there is more space for bikes on the platform.

The train system in the Danish capital is being gradually improved for travellers with bikes as increasing numbers of passengers are combining bike and train for their commute.

The railway is installing bicycle pumps at a number of stations, making bicycle ramps, more and building more bicycle parking.

Hey Metro – do this. Read on.

Google (Finally) Updates Streetview in Australia

2011-08-02T07:39:00.000+10:00

For a good chunk of last year, Google-cars were driving around Australia taking high resolution streetview imagery of every street in the country. For some reason it took them ages to get them online, but they have finally arrived. Check it out!

Put Your Budget Where Your Bike Is

2011-08-01T14:55:00.001+10:00

There’s been bikes all over the news in Australia of late, thanks largely to a certain local with an uncanny ability to ride around France very quickly. A few days before Cadel’s victory, the Victorian government jumped on a report calling Melbourne a ‘bike city’, which drew laughter from those who actually ride around Melbourne. Copenhagen is a bike city because they’ve had years of serious government investment in bike infrastructure. Melbourne is built for cars, by car drivers. Until the funding emphasis shifts, we are a ‘car city’. Vacuous statements from politicians about how much they love cycling and think its super dandy and fun doesn’t impress those who actually ride this city.

How Many Properties are ACTUALLY Available in Melbourne

2011-08-01T14:45:00.001+10:00

Earthsharing Australia has done their own investigation of vacancy rates in Melbourne and found that 4.95% of all potential housing stock is vacant, double the rental vacancy according to Real Estate Institute of Victoria. Earthsharing have done it using water usage data, and gathered some interesting results.

The group's Speculative Vacancy Report says that in Docklands, almost a quarter of residential properties there, 23.32 per cent, are vacant. The official vacancy rate for Docklands is 3.62 per cent.

Other established suburbs with many empty homes, according to the report, include East Melbourne (18.64 per cent), Carlton (11.51 per cent) and Essendon North (13.07 per cent).

Either there is a drastic problem with Earthsharings methodology, or something is stuffed with the ‘official’ vacancy rates. Earthsharing are releasing a documentary on the topic titled Real Estate 4 Ransom, it should make for some interesting viewing.

Read on at The Age, or the EarthSharing website.

Student Container Farms…err… Apartments in Amsterdam

2011-07-21T16:11:00.000+10:00

These videos show a huge shipping container apartment complex built for student housing in Amsterdam. Cheap, sustainable, reasonably sized living for today’s student! There is something about the semi-permanency of container homes that I find strangely attractive. Videos here and here.

More Train News: Concept for Moving Platforms Could Allow Trains That Don’t Need to Stop

2011-07-21T15:40:00.000+10:00

Inhabitat reports:

There is nothing worse than having to wait an hour or more for your next train. Luckily, leading British transport designers Priestmangoode have revealed a concept for a high-speed train that would allow passengers to transfer from one connection to another while they are in motion, negating the need to stop at a station.

I love the concept, and it’s just that at the moment, a cool idea with some rad photomontages. But theoretically, it’d allow for much improved trip times, stop the clogging that occurs around stations and allow for new high speed networks to connect to existing networks seamlessly. Read on here.

Shinkansen Not Fast Enough for Japan, Now Building a MagLev

2011-07-21T15:38:00.002+10:00

I’ve taken the Shinkansen in Japan, and let me tell you: It’s fast. But only around 250km/h, which is apparently not fast enough. The Japanese are building a MagLev for the backbone route of Japan: Tokyo in the north to Nagoya in the south. Because, why travel at 250km/h when you can cruise at 500km/h+ 10cm off the ground! Probably because its insanely expensive, like $112 Billion expensive (we could send humans to Mars several times over for that price). Read on if you like trains and/or speed.

Crowd-Sourced Urban Planning Leads to Statue of Robocop in Downtown Detroit

2011-07-21T15:38:00.000+10:00

It all started this February, when a flippant remark on Twitter about the city needing a statue of the android police character spurred a response from the city's mayor Dave Bing, who stated that the city had no such plans. But almost instantly, those plans organically emerged. A Facebook page gathered more than 9,000 fans within a day, and that overwhelming interest inspired a few locals to start the fundraising campaign.

The money was successfully raised, and the project is now a reality. “Philanthrodorks” from all over the world have joined up to help get a piece of urban art installed in the decaying city. It probably won’t reverse the woes of Detroit on its own, but it can’t hurt!

The real story here is about the potential for online crowd-sourced participation in matters of urban life. If every project put forward by local planners received this level of interest, planning would be in a different place today.

Domus goes into more detail on ideas of Open Source Urbanism in this op-ed.

Irritate Drivers – Create Great Cities?

2011-07-21T14:43:00.000+10:00

The NYT’s reports on the difference between European and American public policy, finding that Americans try and make things easy for cars, while Europeans want to annoy them. It’s an odd way to phrase policy direction, but it gets to the essence of matter quite well.

While American cities are synchronizing green lights to improve traffic flow and offering apps to help drivers find parking, many European cities are doing the opposite: creating environments openly hostile to cars. The methods vary, but the mission is clear — to make car use expensive and just plain miserable enough to tilt drivers toward more environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

In Australia we have the odd situation where politicians publically claim to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists over cars, but the funding is arranged exactly opposite. Read on.

China Replicating a UNESCO World Heritage Austrian Village

2011-07-21T14:40:00.000+10:00

Above: You can kind of see why you’d want one in your country…

Apparently a Chinese corporation has been drawing up plans for an exact copy of the Village for years, some locals of the village feel outraged and there are plans to sue for, get this, copyright infringement. Can you copyright an entire town? Others think it’s flattering, and offers a good tourist opportunity for Austria. Either way, China is going insane and I love it. Read more at this link, or from Der Spiegel.

New York Architecture is Focusing on the Small-Scale

2011-07-21T14:31:00.000+10:00

Above: The High Line Park

Perhaps because competing with China for giant buildings is pointless and so last decade. This article from the Guardian looks at the range of smaller scale architectural, landscape and urban design projects that have New Yorkers talking at the moment. I guess a recession is a good time to focus on the smaller scale. Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jun/24/new-york-architecture

China Gets a New Skyscraper Every 5 Days and The Vast, Empty Cities of China

2011-07-21T14:22:00.000+10:00

Somewhere in China, a skyscraper (or two) is ‘topping out’ this week. They are building the equivalent of Chicago every year. Read more in this article from The Telegraph.

Makes you think. But it is seemingly leading to …

Meanwhile, China builds, builds and builds. I guess they need to put their money into something, and real estate’s always been a popular choice. The problem, apparently, is that all these new epic apartment developments are out of the price range of most Chinese. So they just sit there, empty. Check out Time Magazines photo series on the phenomena here.

Baillieu Reviewing Green Wedges, Creating Replacement Melbourne 2030

2011-07-21T14:12:00.000+10:00

It seems a new ‘metropolitan planning strategy’ is being created, that will simultaneously review the green wedges, looking at the potential for the them to absorb some more development. Just a few more drags of the ciggie for the ‘green lungs’ of Melbourne eh. Meanwhile this ‘new' strategy:

''We have got to get it right,'' Planning Minister Matthew Guy told The Age. ''It is not about trashing everything in the past, it is about creating a document that has broad community input, and not sham input … about how Melbourne is going to change.

Given this is the first information we’ve had on it, and that Baillieu is developing it within his own office (not the planning minister’s office?) with his recently headhunted man, David Vorchheimer (got to be a big job for one guy?), I don’t know how well this ‘broad community input’ is really going.

Will it be different from directing development to activity centres and transport hubs? Will it do something positive like lay down a UGB that actually respects the ‘B’ part of the acronym? Let’s wait and see. Also see more on the planning minister in this article from the Age’s Jason Dowling.

Urban Acupuncture: Small Solutions for Big Problems

2011-07-02T15:06:00.000+10:00

The Guardian explains:

Could urban design infused with Chinese medicinal theory offer a solution? Watch for the "urban acupuncture" movement to transform urban life in the coming decade. Traced to Finnish architect Marco Casagrande, this school of thought eschews massive urban renewal projects in favour a of more localised and community approach.

"Urban acupuncture is a surgical and selective intervention into the urban environment," said Los Angeles architect and professor John Southern in an interview, "instead of large scale projects that involve not only thousands of acres, but investment and infrastructure that municipalities can no longer provide."

The idea seems to be to find small things that can be easily fixed/upgraded and do hundreds of those, rather than doing that one big ball-buster of a redevelopment. For instance, rather than building some giant Marine Park or exhibition centre, invest that 150 million dollars into creating 150 high quality small parks for $500,000 grand a pop, and put the other 75 million into upgrading a hundred dilapidated local libraries and community buildings. The article notes that with modern mapping and GIS technology, it’s pretty damn easy to run a database of every building/space in a city that could use an upgrade. That’s just my interpretation of this trendy new idea, it may be little more than a buzzword, we’ll see.

There is a definite desire by governments to go for the ‘big ticket’ items that cost a lot and look great on a poster behind the mayors head at a press conference. Would the idea of many smaller revitalisation projects work in your municipality?

Read on.