Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemReevaluating the Land Use Impact of a Li-ion Battery Related Mining Project: A Case Study of Greenbushes Mine(Elsevier BV, 2024)The mining industry plays a pivotal role in the global transition towards clean energy, driven by the escalating demand for critical elements like lithium. However, this growth raises profound environmental concerns, particularly regarding land use, global warming potential, water consumption, acidification, eutrophication, and toxicity. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has historically relied on approximations and theoretical methods, resulting in systematic underestimations of these impacts. This study begins to address part of this discrepancy by leveraging remote sensing technologies to gather empirical evidence. Focusing on the Greenbushes mining site in Australia, a comprehensive investigation was conducted to quantitatively evaluate the direct land use impact from satellite imagery over the life of the project. Comparative analyses were performed against various mid-point Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods. The findings unequivocally reveal a substantial under-reporting of the land use impact, highlighting the critical need for more accurate assessments in the context of mining activities. This research underscores the importance of empirical data in refining our understanding of the environmental footprint associated with mining operations, particularly in the critical context of clean energy transition. The study emphasises the imperative to reevaluate and adjust existing approaches to accurately account for the full scope of environmental impacts associated with mining operations.
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ItemAn exploration of public perceptions of place character in the Pathuriaghata neighborhood of Kolkata, India(AMPS (Architecture, Media, Politics, Society), 2023)People living in one location for a considerable period of time often form what has been termed ‘place attachments’ to those locations and their associated features. In historic cities continuously inhabited by generations of people, long-time residents interact with the landscape settings, associating meanings, uses, and values to different landscape features to form person-place bonds, such that these features in the landscape become integral to their own sense of personal identity― Proshanky has termed this as ‘person-place identity’ since it conveys the person’s own aspect of individual identity that gets mediated by the physical environment and the meanings and values associated with particular places and associated features to which they have become attached. In this way certain features in the landscape can serve as perceptual cues that remind residents of where they belong and who they are and can become ingrained as their ‘place-memory’. As early as 1925 it was suggested by Maurice Halbwachs that landscape features in a place are not remembered in isolation, but together as ‘collective memory’ of a landscape setting. Groups of people residing in one place for long periods of time can share similar memories and person-place bonds that give rise to ‘cultural memories’ allowing the ‘concretion of identity’ of a place to occur. This is experienced as the distinctive ‘feel’ or ‘character’ of a place as expressed by its landscape and associated place features, people, history, and ways of life. In the case of any historic city, historical urban patinas collage together conveying place identity through cultural memory that is often of heritage value and an important resource for sustaining good quality of life. Natural and cultural (tangible and intangible) heritages support the livability of residents through providing sustainable local economies, traditional livelihoods, use of local resources in traditional arts and crafts, and environment-friendly methods of construction. According to the ICOMOS Burra Charter 1999 “places of cultural significance enrich people’s lives, often providing a deep and inspirational sense of connection to community and landscape, to the past and to lived experiences”; this charter further suggests that changes to such places should entail “as little as possible so that its cultural significance is retained.”
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ItemExploring residents' definition and use of neighbourhood leftover spaces in Colombo, Sri Lanka(Amps (Architecture, Media, Politics, Society), 2023)Urban leftover spaces are the residual spaces or cracks in cities that form due to rapid urban development. "urban voids" These types of spaces have also been referred to as "lost spaces", "loose spaces", They are typically vacant, neglected, or underutilized spaces within highly urbanized areas and can be permanent or temporary. They are often considered urban spaces awaiting future use. and "informal urban green spaces". These types of spaces have been studied for over five decades, with much of that research aimed at understanding their characteristics and potential uses in urban environments. The specific socio-economic and environmental context in which the spaces occur often influences the results. While these spaces occur at different urban scales and land use zones, their presence at the neighbourhood level has often been overlooked. Furthermore, although interest in these spaces has dramatically increased in recent years, their specific uses and definitions are often unclear due to the various ways they are interpreted and perceived.
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ItemImpacts of irrigation scheduling on urban green space cooling(Elsevier, 2024-08)The increasing heat stress in cities due to climate change and urbanisation can prevent people from using urban green spaces. Irrigating vegetation is a promising strategy to cool urban green spaces in summer. Irrigation scheduling, such as daytime vs night-time irrigation and the frequency of irrigation in a day, may influence the cooling benefit of irrigation. This study aimed to investigate whether irrigation scheduling can be optimised to increase the cooling benefit and determine how the cooling benefit changes with weather conditions. A field experiment with twelve identical turfgrass plots (three replicates × four irrigation treatments) was set up to measure the afternoon cooling benefits of irrigation. The four treatments included: no irrigation, single night-time irrigation (4 mm d–1), single daytime irrigation (4 mm d–1) and multiple daytime irrigation (4 x 1 mm d–1). The cooling benefit was defined as the air temperature difference measured at 1.1 m above the turfgrass between the irrigated and unirrigated treatments (air temperature sensor accuracy ± 0.2 °C). The afternoon (12:00–15:59) mean cooling benefit of multiple daytime irrigation (–0.9 °C) which was significantly stronger than that of single night-time irrigation (–0.6 °C) and single daytime irrigation (–0.5 °C). Regardless of irrigation scheduling, the afternoon mean cooling benefits of irrigation were greater for days when background air temperature, vapour pressure deficit and incoming shortwave radiation were greater. The findings suggested that irrigation scheduling can be optimised to increase the cooling benefit of urban green space irrigation without increasing overall water use.
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ItemCommunity-perceptions of place-character and associated meanings in the context of a contemporary cultural landscape: the case of the historic neighbourhood of Pathuriaghata in Kolkata, India(AMPS (Architecture, Media, Politics, Society), 2023)In 1925, Carl Sauer defined a cultural landscape as the “union of physical and cultural elements of the landscape” wherein “cultures … grow with original vigor out of the lap of a maternal natural landscape, to which each is bound in the whole course of its existence.” In 1992, for the first time, UNESCO considered cultural landscapes as holding Outstanding Universal Values (OUV) based on heritage values and promoted the idea of the necessity of protecting such landscapes. Cultural landscapes are shaped through the interaction between humans and the natural geography of places wherein different features in these settings become associated with human activities, memories, and histories over time, thereby accruing meanings and values. Such human-nature interactions contribute to specific settings' place identities. Place identity represents that part of people’s self-identity is defined by elements within their everyday environment to which they are affiliated. Communities living in a particular cultural landscape for a considerable period often share similar perceptions with others inhabiting the same landscape setting. They form emotional bonds, or place attachments, with key features in the landscape that others can also share in the same environment. As places and their societies evolve, new meanings and values concerning the landscape emerge, adding new features to urban landscapes, often transforming valuable heritage settings to ones of global uniformity devoid of deep meanings. Over time, important features in the landscape develop patinas and coexist as collective memories that convey meanings and values from different periods referred to this as the collective historic urban fabric composing a ‘collage city’, suggesting that places with distinctive identities can transform over time the image of a city, within cultural landscapes. Rowe and Koetter over generations, to attain heritage value for society. thereby defining ‘cultural identities’ Identifying the tangible and intangible cultural and heritage value associated with landscape features can provide clues as to what is most important to be conserved to maintain the distinctive character of the place into the future and, conversely, what might be able to be sacrificed for newer development.
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ItemUnveiling the nocturnal workforce: Taking a closer look at Australia’s after-hours employees(Ingenium Research, 2024-02-27)
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ItemMeasuring the Australian Night Time Economy 2021-22(Council of Capital City Lord Mayors, 2023)This report provides the latest insights into the Australian Night Time Economy (NTE) during the 2021/22 financial year. During this time, businesses continued to experience considerable restrictions and uncertainty, leading to significant fluctuations in activity. The start of the financial year began with lockdowns and restrictions – particularly in the eastern states and the Australian Capital Territory – but by January 2022 most Australians had been vaccinated and the nation had begun its transition towards ‘living with COVID’. As restrictions lifted, Core NTE businesses provided an opportunity to draw people back to our cities, enabling Australians to socialise and spend some of the savings they had accumulated during the pandemic. Core NTE businesses showed considerable innovation in navigating pandemic restrictions and adapting to evolving consumer habits. Although Core NTE businesses were able to trade again, they faced challenges such as staff shortages, changes in footfall patterns (contributing to demand unpredictability) and reduced lead-times for bookings. Some of these challenges persist in 2023. These challenges and opportunities have prompted states, territories and local governments to recognise and promote the advantages of fostering safe and vibrant NTEs through actively pursuing strategies, action plans and partnerships to support their development. This year’s report provides details on some of the initiatives that local governments have been implementing in their cities. It then analyses the economic performance of the sector – beginning with an overview of Australia, followed by a summary of trends in the states and territories and detailed analysis for each participating CCCLM member city (although detailed data has been prepared for 88 Australian cities, with a high level summary provided in Table 5, page 77). In many cases, Core NTE businesses have experienced growth in sales turnover in 2021/22, however, above average inflation is a factor in this performance; with the cost of goods and services in 2021/22 4.4% higher than in 2020/21 and 7.6% higher than in 2018/19 – an important factor to bear in mind when reviewing results. This report introduces more localised and unique insights for cities, via temporal analysis using the data behind Google Maps. This data complements the economic analysis by providing an understanding of where night time businesses cluster and the typical trading patterns of consumer-facing business activities in each city. Through 2022/23 and beyond, continued increases in inflation and associated cost pressures – on businesses and individuals – will continue to affect the NTE, and there is already evidence that while recent consumer spend has improved, this is driven more by use of credit than debit cards. The growing interest in the NTE from both the public and private sectors, combined with the latest evidence and insights provided in this report and other datasets, should support the sector going forward.
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ItemGrowing up in Victoria, Australia, in the midst of the climate emergency(SAGE Publications, 2024-03)Children and young people (henceforth referred to as young people) are one of the groups most affected by climate change and are at the forefront of climate action. Yet, there is scarce evidence on how young people navigate the challenges presented by climate change using their personal strengths and the resources accessible to them. This study aimed to address this gap by drawing on qualitative data from workshops with 31 young people between 12 and 22 years of age from metropolitan Melbourne and a bushfire-risk region in Victoria, Australia. An inductive thematic analysis of workshop transcripts showed that participants had progressively become aware of climate change in an increasingly uncertain world and sought to gain a sense of connection, agency, and hope. Participants aimed to achieve the latter by becoming aware of opportunities for climate actions in everyday life and developing themselves as agents of change. We discussed our findings from a developmental perspective to gain a better understanding of how supporting young people in learning about and acting on climate change can benefit their mental health and sense of agency.
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ItemArchitecture for Housing | Understanding the value of design through 14 case studies(Birkhäuser, 2024)This book shows how architectural design can improve housing. It follows a series of talks curated by the Melbourne School of Design to extend the debate on the missing links between architectural practice and housing research. It examines 14 innovative multiunit dwelling projects through the lenses of current studies on urban housing systems, driven by questions on social, environmental, and economic sustainability. Residential buildings designed for diverse cultural contexts are brought together and examined according to spatial antonyms: the individual and communal, the interior and exterior, and the determined and undetermined. The book concentrates on design decisions and incorporates rich illustrations and conversations with residents and the following architects José Toral (Peris+Toral Arquitectes), Verena von Beckerath (Heide & von Beckerath), Osamu Nishida (ON design partners), Marcelo Faiden (adamo-faiden), Graham Haworth (Haworth Tompkins), Fernando Brunel and Tomás Balparda (BBOA), Marc Frohn (FAR frohn&rojas), Ramon Bosch and Bet Capdeferro (bosch.capdeferro arquitectura), Hervé Potin (Guinée*Potin), Roger Riewe (Riegler Riewe Architekten), Juliane Greb and Petter Krag (Büro Juliane Greb), Verena Lindenmayer (EM2N), Luis Basabe (arenas basabe palacios arquitectos), Cristina Gamboa Masdevall and Carles Baiges Camprubí (Lacol).
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ItemIdentifying the mechanisms by which irrigation can cool urban green spaces in summer(Elsevier, 2024-05)High temperatures in summer can prevent people from using urban green spaces. Irrigating urban green spaces is a promising strategy to reduce temperatures. In this study, we aimed to a) identify the proportional contribution of different irrigation cooling mechanisms and b) quantify the impacts of different irrigation amounts (from 2 to 30 mm d−1) on the cooling effect of irrigating turfgrass in Melbourne, Australia. We first used a field experiment in Melbourne to provide empirical data to calibrate and verify the performance of an urban ecohydrological model, UT&C. Then, we used UT&C to predict the impacts of irrigating turfgrass on evapotranspiration, the energy balance and microclimate. UT&C predicted that irrigating turfgrass 4 mm d−1 would increase the evaporation from grass canopy and soil surface by 0.2 and 0.6 mm d−1, respectively, whereas it would reduce transpiration by 0.6 mm d−1 due to intercepted water covering part of the grass canopy following the irrigation. UT&C predicted that daytime (10:00–16:59) mean air temperature reductions would increase from 0.2 to 0.4 °C when the irrigation amount increased from 2 to 4 mm d−1. However, increasing the irrigation amount beyond 4 mm d−1 would not increase the cooling benefits.