In a time of acute housing crisis, belonging, home and care have never been more present. Urban renewal projects are imagined as solutions yet cause displacement of lives and livelihoods. As people struggle to maintain home, community and belonging, a disjuncture emerges between state imaginaries of urban renewal and community concepts of care and belonging grounded in place. Who is renewal really for and whose imaginaries of belonging and home are at work? David Kelly addresses contemporary public housing policy in Melbourne and its role in processes of racial banishment. Farhana Akther bring ..read more

As well as high-level meetings with the Australian High Commission and the Vice Chancellor of Solomon Islands National University (SINU), the intention of the trip was to set up a local implementation team to deliver climate actions as part of the Climate Resilient Honiara project. Prof. McEvoy said, “a local project team (consisting of World Vision, PacSol consultancy, SINU, and the UN-Habitat local office) will deliver water tanks, drainage upgrades using nature-based solutions, and local disaster planning training in five vulnerable informal settlements. RMIT will provide the necessary scie ..read more

Prior to the war on Ukraine, poor housing conditions prevailed – including overcrowding, lack of maintenance, energy inefficiency (and energy poverty) and severe unaffordability for low-to-middle-income groups entering the housing market in major cities. Ukraine continues to face the problem of homeowners unable to sell or invest to renovate their buildings.  A rapid evidence review led by RMIT CUR with New Housing Policy, CEDOS and Housing Europe,  demonstrates the magnitude of need, its dynamic spatial distribution and the vulnerability of households affected. By 202 ..read more

CUR researchers have contributed to sessions on the climate action day at the 6th Pacific Urban Forum, held at the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat Conference Centre in Suva, Fiji (5–7 September). The event was attended by 300 delegates from across the region. The Pacific Urban Forum (PUF) is the premier event for urban practitioners, thinkers, leaders, and advocates in the Blue Pacific, to further regional consideration of urban issues. Prof. Darryn McEvoy says, “this important regional event, organised by UN-Habitat and held every 4 years, provided a valuable platform to showcase the real-wo ..read more

The multitude of challenges facing the construction industry in Australia seems to keep accumulating. Supply chain shortages, labour shortages, price increases, insurance and financial difficulties, mental health issues, and gaps in skills and training have variously exacerbated during, or as a result of, the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges not only impact workers within the industry and the ability to deliver projects on time and on budget, but ultimately the end consumer. In a recent research report led by Master Builders Victoria in partnership with RMIT Un ..read more

In 2021, the Transport Health Assessment Tool for Melbourne (THAT-Melbourne) was launched as a free web-based simulation model and tool that presents data on the health benefits gained when driving is replaced by walking or cycling in Melbourne. Since winning the Planning Institute of Australia’s Planning Research Award for THAT-Melbourne last year, the research team, led by Gunn, received funding from The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre to extend the tool to Brisbane. THAT-Brisbane will improve planning practitioners’ literacy on the health impacts of active transport to support ..read more

The event was attended by more than 60 people, including many of our industry partners, with catering generously supported by Tract Consulting. As well as providing an opportunity for new, continuing and graduating students to meet each other, teachers and industry members, it also allowed students to be recognised for their achievements. Awards were given out to students for Outstanding Academic Achievement in all degree programs (Bachelor of Environment and Society; Bachelor of Environmental Science; the Environment and Society/Environmental Science degree; Bachelor of Urban and Regional Pla ..read more

The Forum for Dwelling Justice, held in Naarm (Melbourne) in August 2022, aimed to examine the colonial relations of housing precarity and forge solidarity between sites of resistance. The Forum brought together leaders, activists, community-based practitioners, scholars and film-makers to stage a conversation about precarity, racial violence, incarceration and dispossession and how these dynamics shape the ways we dwell, and fight for dwelling justice, here on stolen land. In one panel at the Forum, peer-led dwelling justice projects were the theme, with film-makers Jazmine Barzani, Lucie McM ..read more

The Centre for Urban Research was established in late-2012/early-2013 with the objective of connecting people and ideas for sustainable cities and regions. The Centre was formed by bringing together researchers from the RMIT AHURI Centre, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science group, National Centre for Design, and Sustainability and Urban Planning program. The founding Director was Robin Goodman who was supported by David Hayward, Dean of GUSS, and the multi-disciplinary community of researchers and leaders that have collaborated under the CUR banner. Since 2012 CUR has grown to become one of ..read more

The election of a Labor Government at the 2022 federal election has brought new attention to policies for climate change mitigation and energy transition, with an accelerated minimum target of 43 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 now legislated. Cities and suburbs will be central to achieving the climate target as concentrated sites of energy consumption in homes, workplaces and consumer activity. The energy transition demands new approaches to infrastructure and urban policy, among a much wider set of transformations necessary across economic, social and environmental spheres. Infrastru ..read more