Despite abundant knowledge and research highlighting the significance of urban planning for improving health outcomes, there remains an absence of understanding of how health evidence can be translated into planning policy and practice, particularly for higher density urban development. This paper presents the findings of combined systematic and narrative review of academic literature pertaining to...

The lure of suburbia clearly remains strong for people around the world. If planners are to deal with the problems of sprawl, they need to increase urban density in a way that resonates with the leafy green qualities of suburbia that most people desire (at very least in Australia).

High-rise housing has many benefits and quite a few shortcomings. The challenge is to shift the balance towards likeability.

This briefing draws upon the expertise of RMIT’s housing research community to inform policy makers and the wider community on critical challenges in addressing Melbourne’s housing needs.

Following the decline of manufacturing at the end of the twentieth century, land and infrastructure speculation continued to drive suburban expansion at the edges of the city of Melbourne. Mass transit technologies allowed suburban sprawl in the 1870s through the construction of light and heavy rail, and again in the 1950s with the mass adoption...