Land Use & Public Transport Accessibility Index (LUPTAI) tool : the development and pilot application of LUPTAI for the Gold Coast

LUPTAI is a decision-aiding tool to enable local and state governments to optimise land use and transport integration. In contrast to mobility between land uses (typically via road), accessibility represents opportunity and choice to reach common land use destinations by public transport and/or walking. LUPTAI uses a GIS-based methodology to quantify and map accessibility to common land use destinations by walking and/or public transport. The tool can be applied to small or large study areas. It can be applied to the current situation in a study area or to future scenarios (such as scenarios involving changes to public transport services, public transport corridors or stations, population density or land use). The tool has been piloted on the Gold Coast and the results are encouraging. This paper outlines the GIS-based methodology and the findings related to this pilot study. The paper demonstrates benefits and possible application of LUPTAI to other urbanised local government areas in Queensland. It also discusses how this accessibility indexing approach could be developed into a decision-support tool to assist local and state government agencies in a range of transport and land-use planning activities.

Elective foot and ankle surgery : activity and perioperative complications in Queensland public hospitals, Australia

Objective: To conduct an audit of elective foot and ankle surgery in Queensland public hospitals and to compare the frequency of these procedures performed to other states and territories of Australia. ---------- Methods: ICD-10-AM data was used to extract elective foot and ankle procedures from the Data Services Unit of Queensland Health, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare between the years of 2000 and 2004. ---------- Results During the 4-year audit period 3846 primary procedures were performed during the 4-year period with a complication rate of 2.2% during the hospital admission period. Mean length of stay was 1.7 days. Post-operative infection rates were 0.26%. With the exception of Tasmania and the Northern Territory, Queensland performs the least number of elective foot and ankle procedures per capita per year in Australia. ---------- Conclusions This is the first reported audit of elective foot and ankle surgery for Queensland public hospitals. Complication rates cannot be directly compared to the literature as this data could only capture complications within hospital admission period. Fewer elective foot and ankle procedures were performed in Queensland public hospitals compared to all other mainland states of Australia during the data collection period.

Non-motorized public transport : a global review and analysis of trends and issues

Over recent decades there has been growing interest in the role of non-motorized modes in the overall transport system (especially walking and cycling for private purposes) and many government initiatives have been taken to encourage these active modes. However there has been relatively little research attention given to the paid form of non-motorized travel which can be called non-motorized public transport (NMPT). This involves cycle-powered vehicles which can carry several passengers (plus the driver) and a small amount of goods; and which provide flexible hail-and-ride services. Effectively they are non-motorized taxis. Common forms include cycle-rickshaw (Bangladesh, India), becak (Indonesia), cyclos (Vietnam, Cambodia), bicitaxi (Columbia, Cuba), velo-taxi (Germany, Netherland), and pedicabs (UK, Japan, USA). --------- The popularity of NMPT is widespread in developing countries, where it caters for a wide range of mobility needs. For instance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, rickshaws are the preferred mode for non-walk trips and have a higher mode share than cars or buses. Factors that underlie the continued existence and popularity of NMPT in many developing countries include positive contribution to social equity, micro-macro economic significance, employment creation, and suitability for narrow and crowded streets. Although top speeds are lower than motorized modes, NMPT is competitive and cost-effective for short distance door-to-door trips that make up the bulk of travel in many developing cities. In addition, NMPT is often the preferred mode for vulnerable groups such as females, children and elderly people. NMPT is more prominent in developing countries but its popularity and significance is also gradually increasing in several developed countries of Asia, Europe and parts of North America, where there is a trend for the NMPT usage pattern to broaden from tourism to public transport. This shift is due to a number of factors including the eco-sustainable nature of NMPT; its operating flexibility (such as in areas where motorized vehicle access is restricted or discouraged through pricing); and the dynamics that it adds to the urban fabric. Whereas NMPT may have been seen as a “dying” mode, in many cities it is maintaining or increasing its significance and with potential for further growth. --------- This paper will examine and analyze global trends in NMPT incorporating both developing and developed country contexts and issues such as usage patterns; NMPT policy and management practices; technological development; and operational integration of NMPT into the overall transport system. It will look at how NMPT policies, practices and usage have changed over time and the differing trends in developing and developed countries. In particular, it will use Dhaka, Bangladesh as a case study in recognition of its standing as the major NMPT city in the world. The aim is to highlight NMPT issues and trends and their significance for shaping future policy towards NMPT in developing and developed countries. The paper will be of interest to transport planners, traffic engineers, urban and regional planners, environmentalists, economists and policy makers.

Defining the public values in airport development decision-making

Residents, businesses, local, state and national government stakeholders all want to have their say when airports expand or develop. While stakeholder engagement is increasingly a strategy employed for managing the tensions attracted to airport development, different stakeholders have different expectations and demands of airports. This requires different approaches to stakeholder engagement. Identifying the public values that are at stake in developing airports provides an initial step towards building a platform for selecting and applying stakeholder engagement strategies in airport and more general infrastructure contexts. -------- This paper uses the existing literature of public values to build a general typology of public values for the stakeholders of airport development. A range of semi-privatised and state owned airport case studies from Europe have been used to demonstrate the universal nature of the identified values. The result is a framework that identifies both the substantive and procedural values, separated into local, state/regional and national levels of interest. The typology provides a generalised view of public values in airport development; however, the public values identified may be limited to more western oriented societies due to the skew of airport cases reviewed. --------- Contributions are made to the literature with a typology of public values derived from existing knowledge and explored using empirical case examples. The provided typology enables research of airport development decision-making to delineate public values both within and between stakeholder groups, and helps to explain the different perspectives that stakeholders have towards airport development. Future research may focus on refining the typology for different types of airport governance structures, such as differences between public values in state and market-led airport development; include more airport cases from eastern societies to draw parallels or differences between western and eastern societies; or utilise the typology as a framework for analysing changes in public values of airports over time.

Positioning public relations as an academic discipline in Australia

Academic public relations in Australia appears to be entering a new phase in its relatively short history. The early model, in which tertiary courses were confined to teaching – focused institutions and conducted largely by teacher-practitioners, is being supplanted by one in which the discipline is now offered in most Australian universities, is increasingly embracing research, and is being taught by staff following more traditional academic career paths. Despite the formal association with the communication discipline through Australian and New Zealand Communication Association, public relations academics have increasingly asserted the independence of their discipline and in reality have very little dialogue with the other strands of the communication discipline. These developments call into question the most appropriate knowledge base for public relations as an academic discipline in Australia and its proper relation to the profession (and the Public Relations Institute of Australia as the professional body). One danger associated with the assertion of disciplinary independence lies in the risk of excessive reliance on a relatively narrow body of work emanating from the more established United States public relations academy, in the process ignoring much richer work in surrounding disciplines such as social theory, rhetoric, organisation communication, and business and society. The emphasis on disciplinary demarcation also seems curious during a time of growing ‘interdisciplinarity’ in the humanities and the social sciences. This paper critically reviews the construction of public relations as an academic discipline in Australia, drawing on some of the literature on academic disciplinarity to propose a repositioning of the discipline, one that is less focused on asserting difference than on finding connections with other bodies of knowledge while maintaining close links with professional practice.

Practising public relations in the global community of the 21st century : a comparison of business practices and culture in three world regions

Non-Western practitioners across the globe instinctively attempt to implement Western-based public relations models and theories, often unsuccessfully, regardless of their surrounding environment. This paper reviews business practices and reveals that in Europe, company interests are a main priority, while in Asia, the line between business and personal relationships is extremely blurred. Cultural dimensions and topois were even more varied between the three regions. Implications for the adoption of Western models of public relations practice are discussed.

The land use and public transport accessibility index : phase two final report

The Urban Research Program (URP) was established in 2003 as strategic research and community engagement initiative of Griffith University. The strategic foci of the Urban Research Program are research and advocacy in an urban regional context. The Urban Research Program seeks to improve understanding of, and develop innovative responses to Australia's urban challenges and opportunities by providing training assistance. The authors aim to make the results of their research and advocacy work available as freely and widely as possible.

Public asset management framework for local governments : opportunities and challenges for public asset managers

The aim of the study is to identify the opportunities and challenges a local government public asset manager is most likely to deal with when adopting the appropriate Public Asset Management Framework especially in developing countries. In order to achieve its aim, this study employs a Case Study in Indonesia for collecting all data i.e. interviews, document analysis and observations at South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The study concludes that there are significant opportunities and challenges that local governments in developing countries, especially Indonesia, might be required to manage if apply public asset management framework appropriately. The opportunities are more effective and efficient local government, accountable and auditable local government organization, increase local government portfolio, reflect up to date information for decision makers in local government, and improve the quality of public services. On the other hand, there are also challenges. Those challenges are local governments has no clear legal and institutional framework to support the asset management application, non-profit principle of public assets, cross jurisdictions and applications in public asset management, the complexity of public organization objectives, and data availability required for managing public property. The study only covers the condition of developing countries where Indonesia as an example, which could not represent exactly the whole local governments’ condition in the world. Further study to develop an asset management system applicable for all local governments in developing countries is urgently needed. Findings from this study will provide useful input for the policy maker, scholars and asset management practitioners to develop an asset management framework for more efficient and effective local governments.

The significant of public asset management framework application for Indonesian local governments : Opportunities and challenges

The purpose of this paper is to emphasis the significance of public asset management in Indonesia that is by identifying opportunities and challenges of Indonesian local governments in adopting current practice of Public Asset Management System. A Case Study, in South Sulawesi Provincial government was used as the approach to achieve the research objective. The case study involved two data collection techniques i.e. interviews followed by study on documents. The result of the study indicates there are some significant opportunities and challenges that Indonesian local government might deal with in adopting current practice of public asset management. There are opportunities that can lead to more effective and efficient local government, accountable and auditable local government organization, increase local government portfolio, and improve the quality of public services. The challenges include no clear institutional and legal framework to support the asset management application, non-profit principle of public assets, cross jurisdictions in public asset management, complexity of local government objectives, and unavailability of data for managing public property. The study only covers condition of South Sulawesi Province, which could not represent exactly the whole local governments’ condition in Indonesia. Findings from this study provide useful input for the policy makers, scholars and asset management practitioners in Indonesia to establish a public asset management framework that suitable for Indonesia.

Non-motorised public transport : the past, the present, the future

Non-motorized public transport (NMPT) involves cycle-powered vehicles that carry several passengers and a small amount of goods; and provide flexible hail-and-ride services. Effectively they are non-motorized taxis. NMPT is widespread in developing countries, where it caters for a wide range of mobility needs. Common forms include cycle-rickshaw (Bangladesh, India), becak (Indonesia), cyclos (Vietnam, Cambodia), bicitaxi (Columbia, Cuba). Over the last 10-15 years there has also been a re-emergence of NMPT in the form of pedicabs in many developed countries because of the operating flexibility of NMPT, its eco-sustainability, and its ability to operate where use of motorized vehicles is restricted. In particular, in cities such as Berlin, London, New York and Vancouver, pedicabs are making the transition from ‘novelty’ to ‘serious’ transport mode. This is creating new transport policy/planning questions about pedicab operation and integration. This paper examines the phenomenon of NMPT and where it is heading. It uses case studies from Asia/Latin America and Europe/North America to examine emerging NMPT issues and possible responses, and how this may affect NMPT in Australia and New Zealand where it is still somewhat a ‘novelty’ but has potential as both an opportunity and a challenge.

Factors contributing to successful public private partnership projects : comparing Hong Kong with Australia and the United Kingdom

Purpose: With the increasing interest in Public Private Partnership (PPP) there is a need to investigate the factors contributing to successful delivery of PPP projects. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong and Australia. The survey respondents were asked to rate eighteen factors which contribute to delivering successful PPP projects. Findings: The findings from this survey were further compared with the results achieved by a previous researcher (Li, 2003) in a similar survey conducted in the United Kingdom. The comparison showed that amongst the top five success factors ranked by Hong Kong respondents, three were also ranked highly by the Australians and British. These success factors included: ‘Commitment and responsibility of public and private sectors’; ‘Strong and good private consortium’; and ‘Appropriate risk allocation and risk sharing’. Originality/value: These success factors were therefore found to be important for contributing to successful PPP projects irrespective of geographical locations.

The public sector’s perspective on procuring public works projects : comparing the views of practitioners in Hong Kong and Australia

Hong Kong has been one of the early jurisdictions to adopt Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for delivering large public infrastructure projects. The development of this procurement approach in Hong Kong has followed an intricate path. As such, it is believed that there are a number of areas which are interesting to unveil. As part of a comprehensive research study looking at implementing PPPs, interviews with experienced local industrial practitioners from the public sector were conducted to realize their perspective on the topic of procuring public works projects. Amongst these interviews, fourteen were launched government officials and advisers. The interview findings show that the majority of the Hong Kong and Australian interviewees had previously conducted some kind of research in the field of PPP. Both groups of interviewees agreed that “PPPs gain private sector’s added efficiency/expertise/management skills” when compared to projects procured traditionally. Also, both groups of interviewees felt that projects best suited to use PPP are those that have an “Economic business case”. The interviewees believed that “Contractor’s performance” could be used as key performance indicators for PPP projects. A large number of critical success factors were identified by the interviewees for PPP projects; two of these were similar for both groups of interviewees. These included “Project objectives well defined” and “Partnership spirit/commitment/trust”. Finally it was found that in-house guidance materials were more common in the organizations of the Australian interviewees compared to the Hong Kong ones. This paper studies the views of the public sector towards the topic of PPPs in Hong Kong and Australia, which helps to answer some of the queries that both academics and the private sector in these jurisdictions are keen to know. As a result the private sector can be more prepared when negotiating with the public sector and realise their needs better, academics on the other hand are provided a wider perspective of this topic benefiting the research industry at large.