Brisbane’s media scene has been abuzz with talk of ‘Robin Hood planning,’ thanks to the recent spotlight on a UQ|UP team (Yuzhen Lin, Dorina Pojani, Jonathan Corcoran). This media blitz signifies more than just publicity for UQ|UP – it’s a shift in public consciousness, recognizing the profound impact of urban design on community life. Read more on Brisbane Times (pdf below). Listen to Dorina’s interviews: ABC Radio Brisbane (May 7, 7.20am, time 2:13:00) ABC Radio Sunshine Coast (May 8, 7.00am, time 2:05:30) 4BC Radio (May 9, 6.10am) Brisbane_Times_article_Pojani_9May2024Download ..read more

Before 1990, in the communist era, the bicycle was the preferred means of transport in Tirana. A growth in car usage during the post-communist transition created a unique challenge to redevelop cycling as a viable alternative. Now, Tirana is on a path to becoming a cycling city once again. On the 4th of May 2024, Iden Petraj, Tirana’s new Bike Mayor, organised a conference on cycling which brought together students, urbanists, and mobility professionals from Albania and the rest of Europe to share their experiences and strategies and work through practical solutions for Tirana.  ..read more

The shift from motorcycles to cars is rapidly accelerating in Vietnam – traditionally, a motorcycle-oriented country. Given high levels of pollution, a switch to e-cars as opposed to conventional cars is seen as a lesser evil. This study examines the intention to switch to e-cars among riders of conventional and electric motorcycles. The empirical data consist of nearly 1,000 original surveys collected in Hanoi in 2023, which are analysed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Theoretically, the study adapts the Push-Pull-Mooring (PPM) model. We find that younge ..read more

This week a delegation from KONEKSI (Australia-Indonesia partnership) and DFAT (Australia Government) visited the site locations of the joint research project in Semarang, Indonesia, conducted by UQ, UNDIP (Universitas Diponegoro), Brisbane City Council and Semarang Local government. The project aims to assess the social, environmental and spatial impacts of flood infrastructure in Semarang, using a GEDSI (gender equity, disability and social inclusion) lens. It will transfer the project findings into policy recommendations for the local government. The project is funded by KONEKSI/DFAT. The p ..read more

Worldwide, the gender gap in urban cycling is considerable, with most cyclists being young to middle-aged men. In the current study, we first capture the suite of cycling barriers facing women before empirically investigating whether and how much three natural barriers (inclement weather, hilliness, and darkness) impact female users of bikesharing systems. For the analysis, we spatially integrate gender for more than 200 million bikesharing trips with fine-grained weather, gradient, and sunset/sunrise data. Computing a suite of the generalized additive models for ten cities worldwide covering ..read more

New publication alert: UQ|UP’s Sonia Roitman and Peter Walters write on urban informality in the Global South. This chapter provides an in-depth conceptual discussion on urban informality as a logic of organisation in the Global South that requires overcoming binary conceptual approaches, interwoven with research findings on informality in cities located in the Global South. The book – a Research Handbook on Urban Sociology published by Edward Elgar – is a very impressive collection of innovative and contemporary approaches to understanding the urban space. Bringing together expert contributor ..read more

Australia’s housing crisis has become one of the worst in the world, with owning your own home becoming an out-of-reach dream for young Australians. What’s the solution to all of this? Cut immigration. At least, that’s what many people will tell you. The net overseas migration in the year to June 2023 reached a record-breaking 518,090 people, the highest in Australia’s history. Now, surely that’s contributing to the housing crisis. So why exactly would cutting immigration be a mistake? Check out Dorina’s interview in “The Housing Struggle” series at Building Beautifully, by Sharath Mahend ..read more

Over the past century, the dramatic increase in private vehicles has resulted in a growing demand for parking spaces. Governments have sought to develop and adopt various parking policies to manage and regulate parking, but the results are mixed. Current research studies on parking policies often focus on a single aspect of parking. A comprehensive review and comparison of on-street and off-street parking policies (existing, proposed, and recently adopted) has been missing. This study addresses this gap by surveying 57 parking experts in 18 countries across six continents. In addition to revie ..read more

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In built-up areas, creating segregated bicycle lanes involves trade-offs with other modes, such as repurposing existing kerbside parking. Can parking be eliminated without financially impacting local businesses? This study answers this question empirically, employing as a case study Boundary Street – the high street of a gentrifying inner-city suburb in Brisbane, Australia. It seeks to elucidate (1) the current use of on-street parking along Boundary Street; (2) the necessity for driving to Boundary Street, based on distances travelled; and (3) Boundary Street patrons’ spending habits and visi ..read more