Posts tagged with ‘australia’
Brisbane’s bus network features bus-only highways, entirely separate from the roads. Launched in 2001 to much success, there are now plans to further expand the network. As the world’s cities seem to be waking up to the potential of the bus, Brisbane sets an enviable standard.
Will the City of the Future be a Car-free Zone?
With the League of American Cyclists declaring May as Bike Month, and cities all over the world increasing pedestrianisation and cycling facilities, now seems like a good time to ask: will the city of the future be a car-free zone?
You could argue that our cities have already started to evolve in that direction. London currently has many shared-space schemes planned, including one on Exhibition Road that will see curbs, signage and road lines removed. The theory is that pedestrians, cyclists and drivers are more likely to use their own judgement and create a safer city, a belief supported by various shared-space schemes successfully and safely implemented in mainland Europe.
Will the Australian City of the Future be Underwater?
Head over to Inhabitat for a great article exploring Arup Biomimetics proposed underwater city for the Australia of 2050. Their idea is one of many designs on display as part of the Now + When Australian Urbanism Exhibition, though not all take such a dramatic view of Australia’s future.
Successfully improving the sustainability of old buildings quickly and cheaply may sound like a pipe dream, but the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) thinks they have a solution.
This video shows their plans to re-skin Sydney’s UTS tower, built in the 1960s, effectively creating a cooling microclimate around it. The skin would be made from a mesh-type textile, which could collect rainwater, house solar panels and also act as a media facade, containing information such as train times and advertising, or contemporary light shows.
LAVA’s Director, Chris Bosse believes:
A re-skinned UTS Tower could be an example of sustainability, innovation, cutting edge design and creative education, without demolishing and rebuilding the 1960s icon. The reskinning technology could be easily applied to other buildings in need of a facelift such as the Colliers Wood Building and the Barbican Centre in London, and the postindustrial abandoned buildings across Hong Kong. We can quickly and cheaply enhance their performance and aesthetics through this minimal intervention.
Unfortunately, re-skinning buildings completely transforms their facade, which raises a lot of questions. These buildings may be environmentally inefficient, but are we prepared to lose their visual contribution to our skylines? Should we consider retrofitting from within before wrapping, and totally changing, iconic buildings such as London’s Barbican? Or does the simplicity, lower cost and environmental benefits of re-skinning justify this radical change?
One of the principal justifications for adoption of more prescriptive land use regulation has been the belief that the resulting higher population densities would reduce future infrastructure costs. However, higher densities require more intense infrastructure and the necessary upgrades are expensive. In fact, the higher housing costs typical of more prescriptively-regulated markets far exceed any conceivable increase in infrastructure costs from allowing demand-driven housing expansion. The loss of housing affordability in Sydney and Melbourne can be traced to their more prescriptive land use regulation, which has virtually eliminated affordable land for building.
