Recap: all the issues discussed by The Urbanist in July

Wow, the Dutch really know the Wei to park bicycles

Including walking, buses, parking, High Speed Rail, the city centre, cycling, greyhounds, the suburbs, taxing tobacco, and the environmental benefit of building rail

Will new rail lines save the planet?

The justification for a big investment like the $11 Billion Melbourne Metro isn’t to save the planet (it will do very little to reduce GHGs); it’s to improve transport

Is it time to rethink how smoking is taxed?

Should greyhound racing history be forgotten?

It would be unfortunate if the appalling findings of the Special Commission meant the historical role of greyhound racing in the social and cultural life of NSW was overlooked

Can cyclists travel happily with pedestrians?

Cyclists and pedestrians aren’t the same; mixing them up in busy public places on the dubious grounds they’re both “not cars” inevitably leads to conflict

What revitalised central Melbourne?

Planners made an important contribution to the oft-noted and widely admired vitality of central Melbourne but success really does have many mothers

Will business really pay for High Speed Rail?

A new company reckons it can build Sydney-Melbourne HSR without calling on government coffers. It says the proposal is commercially viable; it’s not a Trojan horse

What can history tell us about land values and HSR?

The association between rail infrastructure like High Speed Rail and increases in land value is nothing new; it was there when much of Victoria’s rail network was built

Should commuters pay to park at the station?

Commuter parking at outer suburban railway stations is usually free, leading to peak period shortages. The first step should be to charge for it

Are buses “visible” enough?

There’s a dense system of useful bus routes in most cities that’s often invisible to prospective users. Bus routes needs to be improved but also made more legible

Is “the suburbs” a useful idea anymore?

Tall residential towers are widely seen as inappropriate in the suburbs. But maybe the idea of “the suburbs” is itself no longer appropriate

Is walking to work the way to go?

Walking accounts for only a small share of journeys to work but has enormous potential. Its great advantage is it doesn’t require huge licks of money for specialised infrastructure