Shouldn’t we have an Australian Museum of Popular Music?

The demolition of Melbourne’s Palace Theatre suggests it’s time to create a museum that showcases the history and breadth of the Australian popular music industry

Shouldn’t we have an Australian Museum of Popular Music?

Shouldn’t every state have a one-metre cycling law?

The one-metre overtaking law sends the message that cycling matters, is here to stay, is going to get bigger, and motorists must adapt their behaviour and attitudes

Shouldn’t every state have a one-metre cycling law?

Should removal of this level crossing get priority?

Two deaths this week at a Melbourne level crossing prompted calls to prioritise its removal. But it’s a much more complex decision; there are other important issues that must also be taken into account

Should removal of this level crossing get priority?

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

Why is the centre of Sydney so dull?

Sydney’s CBD is pretty lifeless compared to Melbourne’s. Is it the result of the lock-out law? Are Melbourne’s laneways just too good? Or is it more likely there are structural reasons?

Why is the centre of Sydney so dull?

So what if India has more mobile phones than toilets?

It’s true India has more mobile phones than toilets but the meme demeans the population and contributes little to improving sanitation

So what if India has more mobile phones than toilets?

Getting gender balance in politics

“There is a straightforward way to achieve gender balance in any parliament: halve the number of electorates and have each elect a man and a woman”

Getting gender balance in politics

Should bicycle lanes be abolished?

Bicycle lanes are a necessary evil in Australian cities but they should be regarded as interim. There are much better ways of encouraging greater bicycle use

Should bicycle lanes be abolished?

Are regional dormitories the way to grow our cities?

It seems inevitable regional centres will take a much bigger share of metropolitan population growth, but the case hasn’t been made that creating regional dormitories is the best policy

Are regional dormitories the way to grow our cities?

Should trailer parks be trashed?

With declining affordability we need to take a flexible approach to alternative housing options. We can learn from trailer parks; they’re an important and sought-after housing option in the US

Should trailer parks be trashed?

Are city centre apartment towers really slums?

It’s a common charge but Melbourne’s city centre apartment towers aren’t remotely like real slums and nor are they likely to be in the forseeable future

Are city centre apartment towers really slums?

Is the risk of dying on a motorbike increasing?

Is the risk of dying on a motorbike increasing?

Do high-rise apartment towers promote social isolation?

Of all the many criticisms of high-rise living in Australia’s capitals, the charge that it reduces “chance encounters” and is socially isolating is the weakest

Do high-rise apartment towers promote social isolation?

What to do about sleeping rough?

The factors leading to living on the streets are different from other forms of homelessness and suggest conventional approaches to housing support might not always work

What to do about sleeping rough?

Recap: all the issues discussed by The Urbanist in June

Including trams, election promises, infrastructure costs, High Speed Rail, funding for cycling, city size, airport rail, congestion charging, transport social divide

How big is the “transport divide” between inner and outer suburbs?

The “transport divide” between the inner and outer suburbs assumes time spent travelling increases significantly with distance from the city centre. But does it?

Do motorists pay their way?

The idea of congestion charging would be easier to “sell” if the focus were on replacing revenue from existing taxes and charges like the fuel excise and registration fees

Is the Greens’ transport policy mostly vote-bait?

Just like the major parties, the Greens’ transport policy for the 2016 election is mostly about looking good rather than proposing policies that will make a real difference

Should cycling get a huge increase in funding?

It’s an ultra low-cost option with real potential to provide mobility in increasingly congested inner areas. Cycling warrants a massive increase in funding for infrastructure

Does Turnbull’s ’30-minute city’ work for secondary school trips?

If Malcolm Turnbull’s idea of the 30-minute city is going to work anywhere it should work for traditionally local trips like getting to high school, shouldn’t it?

Should Melbourne Airport rail be an election issue?

The Greens election promises include $1 Billion to build a rail line to Melbourne Airport. Probably good politics but it’s doubtful such an evidence-free promise is good policy

Are cities bigger than we imagine?

Cities are invariably much “bigger” than they seem. Administrative boundaries almost always fail to capture the full extent of a city’s economic and social influence

Is the one-metre cycling law a sensible reform?

There are doubts about whether the one-metre overtaking law increases safety for cyclists, but that’s not the only rationale for the law; it has an important symbolic role in promoting cycling

Is the High Speed Rail bandwagon slowing down?

In an astonishing display of sanity – especially during an election campaign – the Turnbull Government has backed away from its earlier enthusiasm for High Speed Rail

Is this the time to ramp-up infrastructure spending?

Biz Shrapnel reckons it’s time to build; construction costs are plummeting and governments have a “window” of opportunity – it might not last – to spend on infrastructure

Is the Greens’ Transit City a good idea?

A “dispersed network” is the smart approach to public transport but politics means the Greens’ Transit City plan for Perth leaves most of the important questions unanswered

Infrastructure costs: is like compared with like?

Comparing the costs of ostensibly similar infrastructure projects is a fraught exercise. Differences in scope are often overlooked; it’s vital to compare like with like

Is this a fair comparison of transport promises?

This table showing the election promises of the three major parties on public transport should be useful but it frames the information in a way that blatantly favours one party

Is this tram project good policy?

Labor’s election promise to extend Melbourne’s Route 11 tram by one kilometre isn’t about good transport policy; it’s a political move to protect incumbent David Feeny

Are these standards worth $62,500 per apartment?

An independent analysis puts the extra cost of new amenity standards proposed by the Victorian government at $62,500 per apartment

Are these standards worth $62,500 per apartment?

Is a $2 tax on Uber and taxi trips over the top?

Victoria will put taxis and Uber on a common footing with light regulation. It will impose a $2 per trip tax on both modes to fund compensation for taxi license owners

Is a $2 tax on Uber and taxi trips over the top?

Is transport too expensive?

The Australian Automobile Association reckons transport – especially driving – costs too much: it says households spend a “staggering” 13.3% of their weekly budget on transport

Is transport too expensive?

Why didn’t we win more medals?

The “host city effect” from the Sydney games has gone. The Australian team won as many medals at the Rio Olympics as it could plausibly expect to

Why didn’t we win more medals?

Will these standards really make apartment residents better off?

The Victorian government has no idea if its draft standards for apartments will make future residents better off or worse off. That’s poor policy-making

Will these standards really make apart apartment residents better off?