Australian Urbanism; State of the Art

Abstract

This book on Contemporary Urban Design Thinking focuses on the Australian approach. Australia, often compared with the US in the ways its cities have grown, has its own particular way cities are developed. Though the cities are car-based, even car-dependent, and landownership is a dominant in the development process, the Australian cities are also characterised by a strong community sense at the neighbourhood level. At the same time, Urbanism and Urban Design are disciplines that are somewhat under the radar in the design education in the country, still thought leadership on the design of cities is provided through urbanists, originally educated as landscape architects or architects. In this first volume of the series ‘Contemporary Urban Design Thinking, the Australian Approach’, illuminates these cutting edge visions and practices from a suite of perspectives.