The Golden Jubilee Congress of the Eastern Regional Organisation of Planning & Human Settlements (EAROPH)

Congress Objectives and Philosophy

The main theme of the Congress is the impact of population change related to climate management and the associated issues that are being debated at an international level including infrastructure planning, water security, renewable energy and sustainable tourism.  The conference aims to draw these themes together to allow debate about their impact on the Asian Pacific rim. The key purpose of the conference will be to focus the various opinions presented by international speakers into a forum that allows for policy directions coming from the Congress to be directed to the EAROPH Executive, the Planning Institute of Australia and all spheres of Government within the region.

Local Government Caucus

A parallel session to be hosted by the Lord Mayor of the City of Adelaide, The Right Honourable Michael Harbison, will be conducted at the Town Hall on Wednesday, 3rd November 2010 to allow visiting Mayors and Executive Local Government Staff to address the topic of Leadership as a Catalyst for Change within the region.  It is proposed that the Lord Mayor will lead a forum of speakers during a morning session that will focus upon the need for strong leadership at a Local Government level to address the impacts of growing cities on environmental sustainability through ‘green initiatives’.  The afternoon will be devoted to inner-city inspections of buildings and sites devoted to the principles of sustainability. The conducted tour will be undertaken on the World’s First Solar Electric Bus, “Tindo”.

Student Forum

On Sunday, 31st October 2010, the combined Universities of Adelaide, Flinders and South Australia will come together to present a forum for students and young professionals.  The objective of this forum is to provide a platform for students and young professionals to raise issues and concerns related to congress themes. The guest speakers will include those delivering keynote addresses to the Congress. The forum wil be facilitated to enable students and young professionals to focus on the topics from their perspective and learn from each other.

October 31 – November 4, 2010
Adelaide, South Australia

Visit the website for registration and further information.

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© Stockholm Resilience Centre

The world is turning increasingly urban with more than 5 billion people projected to live in cities in 2030. More than 300 cities have already a population of more than 1 million and 20 megacities exceed 10 million. Urban landscapes everywhere are changing faster than we can understand the diverse forces that are conditioning these changes.  Coinciding with the “Better city, better life” theme of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, Stockholm Resilience Centre launched the first version of the online platform Urban Planet.

The platform, which was presented at the Swedish pavilion virtual exhibition, provides an innovative and attractive learning environment with interactive statistics, maps, and best practices in the field of urban sustainability. It focuses on the the close connections between social and natural systems, and on the fundamental role ecosystem services play for human wellbeing.  Urban Planet makes it possible for citizens, policy-makers and scientists to get involved early in the processes of creating a sustainable urban environment, says project leader Danil Lundback.

With case studies and real live illustrations from all over the world, the Urban Planet provides ways to involve different stakeholders in sustainable urban planning.

Read the full article.

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Simulated urbanism and its effects on the negotiation of hyperreal cities
Rowland Atkinson and Paul Willis / Housing and Community Research Unit, University of Tasmania
Urban spaces have become blended even more seamlessly with their portrayal. Such representations are generated via a broad range of media which both influence and sculpt our sense of their constitution so that our sense of what the urban ‘is’ is inflected by a range of interpretations, atmospheres, inherited viewpoints, dialogues and scenarios derived from these media.

In this paper the authors look at this interpretive skew as generated through intense video gaming activity and from a particular simulated urban context, the city of the game Grand Theft Auto 3: Liberty City. Their objective is to conceptualise the linkages between gamers’ apprehension of the relative realism of this in-game environment and its influence on their experience of traversing ‘real’ urban environments. They suggest the notions of slipped and segued viewpoints as a means of understanding the differential degrees to which real and artificial interactive representations, based around violence, gang ecologies and dystopian urban space, bleed unevenly into the everyday urban life of these players.

This sense of space appears to influence perceptions of risk, the navigation of urban space, and received understandings of social ecologies and stereotypes which overlap with the non-game world. Gamers move within what we call the ludodrome – a mediated space between immersion in urban simulation and a real world that is simultaneously generated, destabilised and blurred by the effect of such gameplay.

To view the full text click here.

Built Environment Meets Parliament 2008

Showcasing leading industry and professional practice in the built environment

Join the Green Building Council of Australia, Planning Institute of Australia, Australian Institute of Architects, Property Council of Australia, and the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia for Built Environment Meets Parliament “BEMP” 2008 at Parliament House, Canberra.

Taking place from 1-2 September 2008, this is your opportunity to discuss policy priorities for the built environment, including:

• Infrastructure;
• Climate Change;
• Red Tape Reduction;
• Housing Affordability; and
• Innovation

Hear from confirmed keynote speakers such as The Hon. Tanya Pilbersek and The Hon. Peter Garrett and be inspired.

Network with speakers, BEMP (Built Environment Meets Parliament) representatives and fellow delegates at the welcome cocktails and the Gala dinner – which will also feature the presentation of the Australia Award for Urban Design.

Register now online at www.bemp.com.au .