Six million in Melbourne or a network of sustainable midi-cities? A thought experiment

By 2050, it is projected that Melbourne will have a population of between 5.6 and 6.4 million (DPCD, 2012), an increase of nearly 50% above its current level. Despite Melbourne's status as the world's most liveable city, a recent survey found that Australians in general found smaller cities are better places to live and bring up families (Perkins, 2013). The Grattan Institute's report entitled "The Cities We Need" was "an invitation to a conversation" about our future cities (Kelly, 2010:5). One idea not canvassed in the report was that of decentralization to accommodate Melbourne's projected growth. In its discussion paper, "Let's Talk about the Future", the Victorian State Government proposes that Melbourne become a 'polycentric city' linked to its regional cities (DPCD, 2012). While growth in the present regional cities is acknowledged, the possibility that these and other new regional cities could absorb the future population projected for Melbourne is not considered, nor that these regional cities could be transformed into 'sustainable cities'. This paper explores the idea that a network of smaller 'midi-cities, based on the sustainable city concept of Sweden, might provide a better alternative to concentrated growth in one city. Fifteen new cities of 150,000 would be required to absorb the projected extra 2.3 million Victorian residents. The paper analyses the energy, food, water and land requirements of a typical sustainable city. The new cities would require approximately 12% of the State's land area for food and energy supply, as well as the built environment.

Streetwise Asia, a practical guide for the conservation and revitalisation of heritage cities and towns in Asia.

This is a practical and accessible guide for residents and professionals concerned to preserve and revitalise heritage cities in Asia. Heritage cities (many listed by UNESCO) are of course of major interest to one of the world's largest industries, tourism. Using inset colour photographs to complement the text, the realities of destructive and constructive development, repairs, restoration and usage are made clear. Legal, financial, administrative, historical and educational aspects of conservation policies, incentives and implementations are discussed. With outlines for strategy, goals and bibliography.

Utility-driven evidence for healthy cities : problems with evidence generation and application

The question whether the WHO Healthy Cities project ‘works’ has been asked ever since a number of novel ideas and actions related to community health, health promotion and healthy public policy in the mid 1980s came together in the Healthy Cities Movement initiated by the World Health Organization. The question, however, has become more urgent since we have entered an era in which the drive for ‘evidence’ seems all-pervasive.

The article explores the nature of evidence, review available evidence on Healthy Cities accomplishments, and discusses whether enough evidence has been accumulated on different performances within the realm of Healthy Cities. A main point of reference is the European Healthy Cities Project (E-HCP).

Building on the information gathered through documentary research on the topic, it is concluded that there is fair evidence that Healthy Cities works. However, the future holds great challenges for further development and evidence-oriented evaluations of Healthy Cities. There are problems with (1) the communication of evidence, (2) the tension between the original intention of the Healthy Cities Movement and its current operations, and (3) the complex nature of Healthy Cities and the methodological tools currently available.

The cultural role of capital cities : Hanoi and Hue, Vietnam

Hanoi promotes itself both as a place for foreign investment in urban development and as the 'cradle of Vietnamese civilisation'. Special status is given to places of national heritage significance, and policy makers and planners face challenges of balancing heritage conservation and modern development. By contrast, the former capital, Hue, continues to decline economically relative to other Vietnamese cities and is discovering value in its imperial heritage as a 'vector for development'. These Vietnamese capital cities demonstrate that heritage conservation is a key consideration in government efforts to improve the position of their constituencies in the newly-shaping global and national economic systems.

Housing price diffusion pattern of Australia's state capital cities

The ripple effect of house prices within metropolitan areas has recently been recognised by researchers. However, it is very difficult to formulate and measure this effect using conventional house price theories particularly in consideration of the spatial locations of cities. Based on econometrics principles of the cointegration test and the error correction model, this research develops an innovative approach to quantitatively examine the diffusion patterns of house prices in mega-cities of a country. Taking Australia's eight capital cities as an example, the proposed approach is validated in terms of an empirical study. The results show that a 1-1-2-4 diffusion pattern exists within these cities. Sydney is on the top tier with Melbourne in the second; Perth and Adelaide are in the third level and the other four cities lie on the bottom. This research may be applied to predict the regional housing market behavior in a country.

Knowledge, risk perceptions and condom usage in male sex workers from three Australian cities

The study identifies factors associated with knowledge and perception of risk of HIV/AIDS, as well as attitudes to and usage of condoms by a sample of male sex workers (MSW). One hundred and eighty-five male sex workers completed a self-reported questionnaire, including knowledge about HIV transmission, attitudes to condom use and perceptions and personal susceptibility to HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk, and a two-week diary recording use of condom during commercial sex encounters. The findings reveal that condom use was found in 77.7% of the encounters with clients and the majority of the respondents perceived themselves to be at no risk for HIV because of sex work. Independent sex workers from Melbourne and workers who owned their place of residence used condoms in a significant lower proportion. Generally speaking, knowledge about the risks associated with AIDS was high, with respondents showing lower knowledge about the risks associated with unprotected receptive or active oral sex. Participants held a positive attitude to condom use; most considered the provisions of condoms to be their responsibility rather than clients; and they were more worried about contracting an STI than HIV. Those who scored higher on the knowledge scale had more positive attitudes to condom use and those who had a more positive attitude to condom use recorded a perceived lower risk of contracting STI but not HIV. The study discusses the relevance of these findings for public health risk reduction and sexual health education campaigns.

Housing price diffusion pattern of Australia's state capital cities

The ripple effect of house prices within metropolitan areas has recently been recognised by researchers. However, it is very difficult to formulate and measure this effect using conventional house price theories particularly in consideration of the spatial locations of cities. Based on econometrics principles of the cointegration test and the error correction model, this research develops an innovative approach to quantitatively examine the diffusion patterns of house prices in mega-cities of a country. Taking Australia's eight capital cities as an example, the proposed approach is validated in terms of an empirical study. The results show that a 1-1-2-4 diffusion pattern exists within these cities. Sydney is on the top tier with Melbourne in the second; Perth and Adelaide are in the third level and the other four cities lie on the bottom. This research may be applied to predict the regional housing market behavior in a country.