travel, tech, planning & urban design: Australia

Gun Control

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:17:21 +0930

More people shot and injured in the US in New Orleans at a Mother’s Day parade. But alas, to bare arms is a constitutional right to protect oneself against the government… Or kids wanting to celebrate with their mothers.

FixMyStreet & FixMyTransport - Let us take Adelaide back

Sun, 05 May 2013 23:27:00 +0930

As a lot of my followers would know, I have been looking at ways in which we can use technology to help make planning more accessible and accountable to the community.

I was looking at some ideas that have been implemented in the United Kingdom and came across FixMyStreet and FixMyTransport.

On FixMyStreet, people can take images of things that need fixing in their local community, whether it be a pot hole or graffiti. This gets pinpointed on a map and then this report is sent automatically to the local government authority or relevant body in charge of fixing the issue - i.e. in Adelaide, fixing street lights would in some cases be ETSA.

FixMyTransport allows people to report where trains, trams or buses have run late, not at all. Dirty trains, crimes, rude staff - report it and let the government know about it. Sure, you could send an email or a letter. Highly unlikely the Government would try and make it easier for the public to report problems.

Reports are generated, where local Councillors or MPs can see what needs doing and whether the Council is responding. It is a ‘name and shame’ platform to ‘keep the bastards honest’, as the Democrats once famously said.

The platform is open source and has been implemented in a few other countries around the world, mainly in Europe. I have emailed the team to investigate ways in which I could port the platform here to Adelaide and give it a crack.

Here is the catch - I will need a team to help out. Firstly, I am particularly looking for someone passionate about Adelaide but also has some programming experience. The platform is easy enough to port, however if you want to set up additional functionality, such as the ability to SMS issues, you will need some customisation.

I would also need people for other roles - of which I am not quite sure what they are - to help manage the site and get some word out.

Voluntarily of course. For the good of our great city.

Please repost this and help spread the word if you think you may have other followers that would be interested.

Send me a PM if you have any questions or would like to get involved.

Li Ning Corporate Headquarters Cox Architects

Sat, 04 May 2013 18:53:25 +0930

Li Ning Corporate Headquarters

Cox Architects

Energex Headquarters, Brisbane Cox Architects

Sat, 04 May 2013 18:47:28 +0930

Energex Headquarters, Brisbane

Cox Architects

Beijing Central Tower Cox Architects

Sat, 04 May 2013 18:14:11 +0930

Beijing Central Tower

Cox Architects

AAMI Park Melbourne, Australia Cox Architects

Sat, 04 May 2013 18:08:11 +0930

AAMI Park

Melbourne, Australia

Cox Architects

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Expansion Cox...

Sat, 04 May 2013 18:00:00 +0930

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Expansion

Cox Architects

Thuringowa Riverway Arts Centre + Lagoons Cox Architecture

Sat, 04 May 2013 17:49:15 +0930

Thuringowa Riverway Arts Centre + Lagoons

Cox Architecture

National Wine Centre, Adelaide Cox Architects

Sat, 04 May 2013 17:44:53 +0930

National Wine Centre, Adelaide

Cox Architects

Flinders Street Revitalisation Townsville, Queensland Cox...

Sat, 04 May 2013 17:42:22 +0930

Flinders Street Revitalisation

Townsville, Queensland

Cox Architects

Albany Entertainment Centre Cox Architects

Sat, 04 May 2013 17:06:16 +0930

Albany Entertainment Centre

Cox Architects

Visual Development Data

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:53:00 +0930

I have been playing around with open access data on development applications lodged in Adelaide. Trying to create a visual resource that would tell people where new development is proposed and where it has been approved. Gradually expanding on this until we have data that shows where applications are on public notice, which streets are being resurfaced, which areas are being rezoned etc.

There is so much text in the world. Teachers never said that ‘a picture is worth 1000 words’ for no reason, apart from allowing students to use this as an excuse to write less. We have the resources to present this mountain of data in such visual, more easy to understand ways and we still fail to do this. So this is my pet project at the moment and something that I am trying to find ways to change.

See the map below (or click here for a full screen version) for an example of what I am working on.

City Central Substation

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:02:00 +0930

What a challenge that would be… making an electrical substation into a work of art; something that will blend in with and compliment its surroundings. These facilities are unfortunately a typically ugly necessity. Tectvs has attempted to do as such and the end result is undoubtedly more attractive than what you would typically see in the suburbs. The pictures show what the end result will be… if constructed.

Art Apartments, Adelaide Loucas Zahos Architects

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 09:57:16 +0930

Art Apartments, Adelaide

Loucas Zahos Architects

Planning Portal - How do we make simple Planning simple? Now...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:20:50 +0930

Planning Portal - How do we make simple Planning simple?

Now that I have finished university and work full time, I am exposed to many problems on a daily basis that I sit down try and think of creative ways in which to solve them.

Almost daily, the Government (state and local) receives a lot of fairly basic planning enquiries. These are often simple to answer and often the information is already available online - customers have just not been able to find it. Some enquiries are more difficult and could have multiple answers. For example, someone wants to investigate where a mixed-use development might be allowed on a certain road or in a certain town or suburb. A lot of planning code is difficult for people to navigate. People fear that a planning consultant will cost too much money. They ring or email the relevant authority and then potentially wait for a week for a response, or never receive one, in some circumstances.

So I have come up with the idea of the ‘Planning Portal’. There would be subscription access and free access. The free access would be a one-stop-site for all information related to planning and will mean that people do not have to crawl through webpages for different councils or acts, regulations or codes in order to find the information that they want. Simple animations, diagrams, definitions and very easy to understand process and language. Taking the bureaucracy out of bureaucracy. The subscription access would be for developers, real estate agents etc. (i.e. non personal use).

As you can see from the image above, there could also be a submission facility where people could request advice or further direction on more difficult questions. Experts could register with the site and then bid to answer questions. This could also similarly be developed into a sort of tender system. A local authority could want to develop a structure plan for their main street and not have the internal resources to undertake a study and generate the report. This could then be tendered online. I understand that some places already have this, however this could be a central point of access for an entire state or even country.

At the end of the day, this is about trying to find a simple, one stop, easy to navigate solution that takes pressure off local government and provides the public with the answers that they want.

As with community ‘consultation’ we often do not ask the public what they want. Who wants to read through a dozen ‘development guides’ trying to find out whether they need approval to construct a garage? No, I will just ring or email council, who often cannot provide a ‘yes or no’ answer to me anyway until an application is formally lodged.

There are many faults with this idea, but I think that even planners would love to have a central access point for all information. I would love to hear some ideas or constructive feedback from people.

How about no. Carefully managed population growth is essential...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:37:57 +0930

How about no.

Carefully managed population growth is essential for the turnover of new skills, new knowledge and encouraging a young, active workforce. Without any population growth, we would be looking at the same problems that Japan is experiencing today.

The Depot. Followers from Adelaide will know where this and what...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:56:46 +0930

The Depot. Followers from Adelaide will know where this and what it represents for vibrancy on our streets.

The future of Victoria Square, Adelaide

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:55:39 +0930

The future of Victoria Square, Adelaide

Apartment Development - Anzac Highway

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:54:45 +0930

Apartment Development - Anzac Highway

#Adelaide

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:54:07 +0930

#Adelaide