DIAMOND

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Racial Cleansing In Sydney's Inner West - First The Block, Now Waterloo

Racial Cleansing In Sydney’s Inner West – First The Block, Now Waterloo

The Baird Liberal Government Seize Their Chance The announcement that Waterloo will be the site of Sydney Metro’s 31st station, winning out over Sydney University heralds a death knell for the infamous Waterloo towers (sometimes called the Suicide Towers). While the news of the Metro station is good news for the area, that is, any public transport investment in Sydney is good news – using it as…

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More Working Ecology In My Neighbourhood Please

More Working Ecology In My Neighbourhood Please

Christina Borcke argues that landscape should inform urban development as opposed to being subjected to rigid patterns of repeated urban patterns the world over (Borcke 2013).   What if new developments we designed to assist natural ecosystem services that are present at that sight? If every suburb was an individual reflection of the biome in which it is situates. What a wonderful and diverse…

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From March, riding without photo identification will result in a $106 fine and not wearing a helmet or holding onto a moving car will incur one of $319. Running a red light will cost $425.

From March, riding without photo identification will result in a $106 fine and not wearing a helmet or holding onto a moving car will incur one of $319. Running a red light will cost $425.

New South Wales police have launched an internal investigation after an officer reportedly pushed a cyclist off his bike at a major Sydney intersection during peak hour. Witnesses said the police officer on a motorcycle rode up alongside the cyclist at the intersection of College and William streets about 8.25am on Wednesday and pushed him off his bike and into the middle of the road. NSW…

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In defence of ecovillages: the communities that can teach the world to live sustainably

In defence of ecovillages: the communities that can teach the world to live sustainably

What types of communities do the best job of living with a minimal impact on the planet? I asked myself this question when I read a recent article on The Conversation, which argued that even if everyone on Earth lived in an ecovillage we would still be using too many resources. I am more optimistic — some ecovillages provide a much better blueprint than others. As a 2013 study of 14 ecovillages…

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How large shops are making you fat

How large shops are making you fat

As you load up the car boot with shopping bags from your weekly trip to the supermarket, have you ever thought about how the particular supermarket you shop at might affect your health? Two studiespublished this year suggest a link between how often people go shopping and the healthiness of the food they buy. Large supermarkets are undoubtedly very convenient. They’re a one-stop shop with a huge…

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Genius of Biome Report

Genius of Biome Report

What can we learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience? Does the forest hold the answers to sustainable design? HOK partnered with Biomimicry 3.8 to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment. The result, Genius of Biome, is a highly visual report filled with…

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Entering the Ecological Age - the engineer's role

Entering the Ecological Age – the engineer’s role

Bringing together Arup director Peter Head’s landmark lectures on sustainability at the Institution of Civil Engineers. In a series of landmark lectures for the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Arup director Peter Head explores how the world can begin to make the transition towards an ecological age of civilisation. “Human development is following a dangerously unsustainable path globally,”…

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Health / Designing from the inside out

Health / Designing from the inside out

20 August 2015 / 2 / Becci Taylor I believe that placing people at the heart of built environment design is vital and I’m convinced that any additional costs this involves would be more than offset by productivity gains. People are an intrinsic part of the building environments we inhabit (natural or otherwise) – they influence us strongly and we influence them in return. So buildings should make…

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Bioinformed Design

Dr Jessica Green “We’re covered in germs. Let’s design for that” Greens ‘bioinformed design’ is cutting edge built environment thinking. Humans carry 10 times as many Bacterial cells as human cells and they are essential for health. They are everywhere and we need to be more aware of microorganisms in our ecological planning. Trying to eradicate bacteria from the human habitat is pointless (yet…

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How Buildings Learn - Stewart Brand

I’ve had about 3 different lecturers tell me to read Stuart Brand’s “How Buildings Learn”. Was very happy to find this 1997 BBC Series by Brand. This six-part, three-hour, BBC TV series aired in 1997. I presented and co-wrote the series; it was directed by James Muncie, with music by Brian Eno. The series was based on my 1994 book,…

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Is cycling really declining in Australia?

Participation in cycling for recreation and transport is falling in Australia according to a national survey published last week. Fortunately, the news isn’t as bad as it sounds Alan Davies – The Urbanist According to this press report, “cycling is on the wane” in Australia. Another observer says “the National Cycling Strategy’s vision of doubling bike rider numbers by 2016 is set for…

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Ecologically Smart Cities

Keeping Urban Ecosystems Centre Stage in India’s Smart Cities Programme Harini Nagendra, Bangalore. July 26, 2015 On a path of accelerated urbanization, India is going through substantial changes in its land cover and land use. In 1950, shortly after Indian independence, only 17 percent of the country’s population lived in cities. Today, India’s urban population stands at 33 percent. India…

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The true cost of green energy

  The arguments against renewable energy are not just without scientific basis, they lack economic credibility. There are lies, damned lies and Alan Jones statistics. The figure with which the climate change sceptic shock jock misled the million-odd viewers of the ABC’s Q&A program last Monday was a whopper. Jones was arguing against renewable energy, on the basis of cost. “Eighty per cent of…

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How Walking in Nature Changes the Brain A walk in the park may soothe the mind and, in the process, change the workings of our brains in ways that improve our mental health, according to an interesting new study of the physical effects on the brain of visiting nature.

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China’s Pedestrianization: Reviving a Tradition of Walking for Healthier Cities

Pedestrian-oriented streets not only are safer, improve air quality, and encourage physical activity, but also facilitate commercial and social activity. Although China has rapidly urbanized in the past few decades, many cities across the country are still not easily walkable. According to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment (CCICED), 82 percent of Chinese residents…

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On my daily walk to work I pass this bus stop ouside Central Station in Sydney. This scene (below) baffles me every day. Obviously the commuters here are sheltering from the wind and rain and maybe lining up for the bus in an orderly way but what function is the bus shelter providing other than a windbreak? I wonder why no-one is seated. Maybe the rain was coming in from the other side. But it is…

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