In the late 1990s a group of Victorian local government councils addressed a sustainability void in the building codes and planning regulations by developing capacity to implement Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) via the planning system. What began as a collection of largely independent initiatives progressed to an integrated suite of mechanisms to embed ESD in...

Urban green spaces provide many benefits to urban dwellers, from the environmental functions of cooling, air purification, stormwater mediation and biodiversity habitat, to contributions to mental and physical well-being, sense of place and connections to community. Urban environmental justice requires that there is equitable access to urban green spaces, distributed throughout the city.

Objecting to a planning application is one of the most visible and direct methods for the public to participate in the shaping of their urban environment. Unlike many planning systems around the world, Victoria includes rights for third-parties to lodge a submission in favour or against a proposal. This democratic principle is one at the...

This project analysed the role of building and planning policy and regulations in delivering sustainable buildings and cities. It reviews policy and best practice, analyses VCAT data and cases, and draws on focus group results.

This paper revises the multi-level perspective to analyse policy innovations within urban transitions. This investigation is concerned with demonstrating how live/work accelerates as a sustainability transition and which governance structures, approaches to planning, and actors influence the process