Following World War II, Australia was confronted by a severe shortage of dwellings. In 1944, the Commonwealth Housing Commission Report estimated that Australia needed 700,000 new homes within a decade in order to overcome both the existing deficit and meet anticipated demand. Initial plans intended that half this number would be supplied as public housing...

In the 1960s and 1970s the deficiencies in the 1945 Hobart city plan (Cook 1945) were clearly evident in Battery Point and North Hobart. Overly-ambitious transport plans, and over-zoning for industrial/commercial uses threatened houses and depleted the residential neighbourhood (Vincent 1984).

Australia’s population is ageing rapidly, yet we continue to make housing choices as though we will never grow old. New housing typologies, including alternative finance and governance models, will be needed to provide housing options suitable to our ageing population. An emerging response is cohousing, which has the potential to provide liveability, affordability and connectivity...

This paper addresses the questions of the geography and characteristics of room sharing, advertised via online shared accommodation listings, and its impact in terms of residential overcrowding and rental affordability. The findings may provide insights for policymakers and development practitioners that address issues of monitoring and regulation of informal practices of room sharing.

Susan Fainstein has called on planners to resume advocating for disadvantaged communities in their urban plans and policies to create the ‘just city.’ Such an approach would assess land-use policy against the principles of equity, diversity and democracy. However, planning systems strongly influenced by the ‘new public management’ ideology characterised by decentralisation, privatisation, and deregulation...