Conference

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Owning Institution

The State of Australian Cities (SOAC) national conferences have been held biennially since 2003 to support interdisciplinary policy-related urban research. SOAC 7 was held in the City of Gold Coast and hosted by Griffith University.

The 164 peer reviewed papers were organised into seven broad themes but all shared, to varying degrees, a common focus on the ways in which high quality academic research can be used in the development and implementation of policy. The conference featured leading national and local politicians and policy makers who shared their views on some of the current challenges facing cities and how these might be overcome in the future.

Papers from all past and subsequent SOAC conferences can be found at the State of Australian Cities Conferences Collection on APO.

Conference paper

Building transformation through housing expos: a multi-pronged strategy to help address the wicked problem of affordable housing

11 Dec 2015

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Housing expos have the potential to demonstrate alternative living environments as viable options to the current housing choices which are largely limited to new apartments for singles and couples and detached suburban housing designed for families.

Conference paper

Improving design outcomes in the built environment through design review panels and design guidelines.

11 Dec 2015

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

This paper presents findings from interviews with 22 building industry stakeholders from Australia. These interviews explored the role, benefits and limitations of design guidelines and design review panels.

Conference paper

Tiny houses: a radical new solution for addressing urban housing affordability, or a just another niche market?

11 Dec 2015

Heather Shearer

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

The emergent tiny house movement originated in the USA in the late 1990s; driven by housing affordability issues and sustainability goals. Tiny houses are generally very small (under 40m2), often mobile, and more affordable than conventional houses. The tiny house movement is most active in those OECD countries with the most unaffordable housing markets, and...

Conference paper

Shading liveable cities: exploring the ecological, financial and regulatory dimensions of the urban tree canopy

11 Dec 2015

Nicole Cook,

Rachel Hughes

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Trees are known for their positive impacts in cities including: the provision of shade, reducing heat island effects, improving amenity, reducing social vulnerability, processing carbon and improving health outcomes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, greening policies at the local and state level have proliferated. Despite these initiatives, tree cover remains stubbornly uneven.

Conference paper

Walkable neighbourhoods, physical activity and wellbeing in Melbourne, Australia

11 Dec 2015

Christopher L. Ambrey

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Employing data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey for 2013 and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this study finds a link between a more walkable neighbourhood and wellbeing, mediated to a very marginal degree by physical activity.