There is a growing imperative for infrastructure decisions in Australia to be based on evidenced based approaches which are data driven. Urban growth modelling is increasingly being used in strategic infrastructure planning practice. However, current models tend to be "once-off" applications based on static equilibrium approaches that represent little or no behavioural validity.

This paper is a critical exploration of visual representation of urban places. The paper examines extracts from one Australian case study, the document An Urban Design Framework: A Vision for Perth 2050 (UDF), and makes comparisons between prior analysis of urban plans and the visual language of the UDF.

This research traces the emergence of the compact housing agenda in Australian cities with a particular reference to the early experiments in Canberra during the early 1960s and 1970s.

Given the size of existing parcels in urban areas, amalgamation and redevelopment will be needed in order to increase dwelling density. Land amalgamation is a fundamental step in the development process that allows for the unpicking of the existing ‘sticky’ property boundaries.

Due to the unsustainable nature of urban sprawl, Australian metropolitan strategies have increasing been pushing for increased levels of infill: the redevelopment of existing urban (typically residential) land. However, the current infill models of Brownfield and lot-by-lot redevelopment are largely incapable of generating the volume or range of future housing needs. This issue has led...