Australian local governments and the early national broadband network roll-out: an online survey

A recent decision by the Australian Federal Government to reassess the scale of the National Broadband Network (NBN) will leave the country with a patchwork of different levels of access to the infrastructure. This intensifies the need to investigate and evaluate the implications of telecommunication at the local level. The paper opens a discussion on the different approaches taken by local government authorities towards the NBN in the early roll-out localities. Building upon the international literature, it analyses the empirical data collected from the Australian local governments involved with the early NBN roll-out using an online survey. The findings reveal an interesting diversity in the approaches taken at the local level, and show how decision-making at higher levels of government can impact local outcomes

Managing ubiquitous eco cities: the role of urban telecommunication infrastructure networks and convergence technologies

A successful urban management system for a Ubiquitous Eco City requires an integrated approach. This integration includes bringing together economic, socio-cultural and urban development with a well orchestrated, transparent and open decision making mechanism and necessary infrastructure and technologies. Rapidly developing information and telecommunication technologies and their platforms in the late 20th Century improves urban management and enhances the quality of life and place. Telecommunication technologies provide an important base for monitoring and managing activities over wired, wireless or fibre-optic networks. Particularly technology convergence creates new ways in which the information and telecommunication technologies are used. The 21st Century is an era where information has converged, in which people are able to access a variety of services, including internet and location based services, through multi-functional devices such as mobile phones and provides opportunities in the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities. This paper discusses the recent developments in telecommunication networks and trends in convergence technologies and their implications on the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities and how this technological shift is likely to be beneficial in improving the quality of life and place. The paper also introduces recent approaches on urban management systems, such as intelligent urban management systems, that are suitable for Ubiquitous Eco Cities

Implementing transit oriented development in Greater London

This book provides new dimensions and a contemporary focus on sustainable transport, urban regeneration and development in eight countries spanning four continents at different stages of development. It examines the role of transit oriented development (TOD) in improving urban sustainability and providing different transport choices, exploring how these can be implemented in modern cities. Establishing a new agenda for TOD, experts in the field critically evaluate the links between urban transport investment and economic, social and environmental sustainability, introducing new methods of analysis. The chapters investigate the international dimensions of TOD, providing crucial insights into issues such as uneven development, transport emissions, global warming, car dependence and the challenge of powering vehicles with sustainable fuels. Urban and regional planning, transport studies and environmental management scholars seeking to understand urban sustainability issues will benefit from this timely book. It will also prove to be a valuable read for urban planners and research consultants looking to widen their knowledge of the role of TOD in enhancing urban sustainability

2011 Strategic roadmap for Australian research infrastructure

The 2011 Roadmap articulates the priority research infrastructure areas of a national scale (capability areas) to further develop Australia’s research capacity and improve innovation and research outcomes over the next five to ten years. The capability areas have been identified through considered analysis of input provided by stakeholders, in conjunction with specialist advice from Expert Working Groups   It is intended the Strategic Framework will provide a high-level policy framework, which will include principles to guide the development of policy advice and the design of programs related to the funding of research infrastructure by the Australian Government. Roadmapping has been identified in the Strategic Framework Discussion Paper as the most appropriate prioritisation mechanism for national, collaborative research infrastructure. The strategic identification of Capability areas through a consultative roadmapping process was also validated in the report of the 2010 NCRIS Evaluation. The 2011 Roadmap is primarily concerned with medium to large-scale research infrastructure. However, any landmark infrastructure (typically involving an investment in excess of $100 million over five years from the Australian Government) requirements identified in this process will be noted. NRIC has also developed a ‘Process to identify and prioritise Australian Government landmark research infrastructure investments’ which is currently under consideration by the government as part of broader deliberations relating to research infrastructure. NRIC will have strategic oversight of the development of the 2011 Roadmap as part of its overall policy view of research infrastructure

Equity, discrimination and remote policy: Investigating the centralization of remote service delivery in the Northern Territory

Two hypotheses have been advanced to explain the spatial patterning of service accessibility. The bureaucratic hypothesis holds that spatial inequalities are unpatterned and result from the application of decisions rules, while the competing political hypothesis suggests that politically-motivated decision making results in discriminatory outcomes. We use the example of the centralization of service provision in remote Indigenous communities in Australia's Northern Territory to show that these hypotheses may in fact be complementary. In recent years, government rhetoric about Australia's remote Indigenous communities has moved to focus on economic viability instead of social justice. One policy realization of this rhetoric has been the designation of ‘growth towns’ and ‘priority communities’ to act as service hubs for surrounding communities. The introduction of such hubs was examined and substantial inequality in access to service hubs was found. Inequality and overall system efficiency could be reduced with by optimizing the selection of hubs but the imposition of any hub-and-spoke mode in the study area was associated with racially-patterned patterned inequality of access. We conclude that when policy contexts are politically motivated, the application of racially-blind decision rules may result in raciallydiscriminatory spatial inequalities

Challenges and opportunities to develop a smart city: A case study of Gold Coast, Australia

With the rapid growth of information and communication technologies, there is a growing interest in developing smart cities with a focus on the knowledge economy, use of sensors and mobile technologies to plan and manage cities. The proponents argue that these emerging technologies have potential application in efficiently managing the environment and infrastructure, promoting economic development and actively engaging the public, thus contributing to building safe, healthy, sustainable and resilient cities. However, are there other important elements in addition to technologies which can contribute to the creation of smart cities? What are some of the challenges and opportunities for developing a smart city? This paper aims to answer these questions by developing a conceptual framework for smart cities. The framework is then applied to the city of Gold Coast to identify challenges and opportunities for developing the city into a ‘smart city’. Gold Coast is a popular tourist city of about 600,000 populations in South East Queensland, Australia, at the southern end of the 240km long coastal conurbation that is centred by Brisbane. Recently, IBM has nominated Gold Coast as one of the three cities in Australia for its Smarter Cities Challenge Grant. The grant will provide the Gold Coast City Council with the opportunity to collaborate with a group of experts from IBM to develop strategies for enhancing its ICT arrangements for disaster response capabilities. Gold Coast, meanwhile, has potential to diversify its economy from being centred on tourism to a knowledge economy with focus on its educational institutions, investments in cultural precincts and high quality lifestyle amenities. These provide a unique opportunity for building Gold Coast as an important smart city in the region. As part of the research methodology, the paper will review relevant policies of the council. Finally, lessons will be drawn from the case study for other cities which seek to establish themselves as smart cities

The urban environment : agendas and problems

The United Nations estimate that by 2025 there will be around 5 billion people living in urban areas, more than the total world population 20 years ago. Currently, the developed nations are the most urbanised with, on average around three-quarters of their population living in cities, but this is changing. Increased levels of economic growth, of migration, of population expansion and, in some cases, of unprecedented industrial growth, mean that Asia and Africa will be the regions most radically affected by urban development over the next twenty years. Increasing debate on issues of urban sustainability has led to the consolidation of environmental agendas and the definition of a specific body of problems and policy issues on two levels. The first involves green agenda problems occupying the concerns of many in the developed nations such as global warming, ozone-layer depletion, loss of bio-diversity, deforestation, and the exhaustion of non-renewable resources. For the developing world, however, these global environmental problems are less immediate than the need to resolve acute problems relating to poverty and the so-called brown agenda problems of air and water pollution, inadequate waste management, the lack of basic services and green areas, declining infrastructure, and poor housing conditions, as well as issues of health, crime, violence, and social exclusion. It is now a commonly held belief that the green agenda cannot be addressed until the urgent problems of urban social deprivation and inequalities are resolved. This paper reviews the scale and character of contemporary urbanisation and the rapid growth of cities, particularly within the developing nations, and examines associated implications with respect to the physical arrangement of cities, their resource consumption and their environmental impact

Urban management revolution: intelligent management systems for ubiquitous cities

A successful urban management support system requires an integrated approach. This integration includes bringing together economic, socio-cultural and urban development with a well orchestrated transparent and open decision making mechanism. The paper emphasises the importance of integrated urban management to better tackle the climate change, and to achieve sustainable urban development and sound urban growth management. This paper introduces recent approaches on urban management systems, such as intelligent urban management systems, that are suitable for ubiquitous cities. The paper discusses the essential role of online collaborative decision making in urban and infrastructure planning, development and management, and advocates transparent, fully democratic and participatory mechanisms for an effective urban management system that is particularly suitable for ubiquitous cities. This paper also sheds light on some of the unclear processes of urban management of ubiquitous cities and online collaborative decision making, and reveals the key benefits of integrated and participatory mechanisms in successfully constructing sustainable ubiquitous cities