Brisbane City Research Articles

A Shift from Motorised Travel to Walking, Cycling and Public Transport: What Are the Potential Health Gains for an Australian City?

Background An alarmingly high proportion of the Australian adult population does not meet the National Physical Activity (PA) recommendations. This is a concern given the well-established evidence of a causal association between PA with chronic diseases. In recent years an increasing emphasis has been placed on the potential for transport and urban planning to contribute to increased PA and improve air quality. In this study we aim to estimate the potential health gains and savings in health care costs of an Australian city achieving its proposed travel targets for the use of active transport and public transit by 2026. Methods A mode share of 14% for public transport, 15% walking, 5% cycling and 66% private motor-vehicle was proposed for the travel targets. We used survey data for the city of Brisbane in Australia to estimate the additional minutes of walking, cycling and walking for public transport per adult per week for the hypothetical scenario of achieving proposed travel targets. A multi-state life table model was used to estimate the number of health adjusted life years (HALYs) and the health care costs associated with changes in physical activity, air pollution (fine particles with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5)) and road trauma attributable to a shift from motorised travel to walking, cycling and public transport. Sensitivity analyses were used to test assumptions made. Results Over the life course of the Brisbane adult population in 2013 (860,000) slightly over 37 thousand HALYs could be gained if the proposed travel targets were achieved by 2026. We also estimated gains in life years at 33 thousands. We calculated that significant savings (A$ 323 million, 2013 values) in health care costs could be accrued from reductions in physical activity and PM2.5 related diseases and road trauma. However, increase in life years would translate into additional health care costs of diseases and injuries not included in the model of A$149 million. Conclusions In cities such as Brisbane, where over 80% of trips are made by private motor-vehicles, shifts towards more sustainable modes such as walking, cycling and public transport would translate into health and environmental benefits. However, for changes in modes to take place the right investments needs to take place to ensure safe and convenient travel.

An alternative method for estimating total impervious area in catchments using high-resolution colour aerial photography

Estimation of total impervious area (TIA) is a pre-requisite for ecohydrological research to allow for a direct prediction on stream ecosystem health within catchments. This paper presents an alternative to using multi-spectral imagery for estimating TIA at a catchment scale, by using high-resolution colour aerial photography. The method was applied to a number of catchments in South East Queensland, Australia, some of which were gauged and some of which were part of an Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program (EHMP). The results from this method were compared to TIA estimates, for some of the same catchments, that were derived through three other techniques, i.e. manual digitization of geo-referenced aerial photos, Brisbane City Council data derived from image analysis using Landsat TM imagery and rainfall runoff depth relationship. The high-resolution colour aerial photography method compared favourably to the other techniques with standard deviations of TIA (%) ranging between 0.8% and 8%. The major constraints were shading effects, particularly on roads and grassed areas, and from the similarity in colours between some surface types, some of which can be reduced by appropriate selection of signature colours and multiple iterations of a supervised classification. It was concluded that while infra-red spectral wave bands could help considerably, the high-resolution colour photography could be applied with confidence to derive catchment-scale TIA estimates.

A memetic algorithm for real world multi-intersection traffic signal optimisation problems

Traffic signals play a significant role in the urban transportation system. They control the movement of traffic on urban streets by determining the appropriate signal timing settings. Due to the stochastic nature of the traffic flow, deciding on the best signal timing settings is a computationally complex problem, with the result that traditional analytical methods have been found to be inadequate in dealing with real world scenarios. This issue has already been tackled using computational intelligence algorithms such as the genetic algorithm (GA). However, despite good results, GA may experience slow convergence, especially when dealing with constrained optimisation problems. To address this issue, we propose an adaptive memetic algorithm (MA) for optimising signal timings in real world urban road networks using traffic volumes derived from induction loop detectors. The proposed MA combines the strengths of GA with the exploitation power of a local search algorithm, in an adaptive manner, so as to accelerate the search process and generate high quality solutions. In this work, we propose two important techniques for improving the performance of a traditional MA. First, we use a systematic neighbourhood based simple descent algorithm as a local search to effectively exploit the search space around GA solutions. Second, to achieve a proper balance between the exploration of GA and the local search algorithm, we propose an indicator scheme to control the local search application based on the diversity and the quality of the search process. The proposed MA was tested in two different case studies for the cities of Brisbane, Australia, and Plock, Poland, using the well-known microscopic traffic simulator, AIMSUN. Results demonstrate that our MA is better than GA and traditional fixed-time traffic signal settings.

A GIS based spatial decision support system for analysing residential water demand: A case study in Australia

Managing water resources and the need to adapt both supply and demand side policies to a changing environment has become a priority in both developed and developing countries. This research demonstrates the application of the geographic information system (GIS) in modelling residential water demand in order to develop a spatial decision support system (SDSS). Household level survey data covering 90 suburbs within the Brisbane City Council (BCC), Queensland, Australia, are used for the analysis. First, residential water demand was estimated and the most significant variables found to predict high water use at the suburban level. These variables included household size, presence of a swimming pool, income and people over 65 years of age. By integrating this model with an SDSS, a spatial decision support system for residential water demand (SDSS-RWD) is developed. By producing maps which clearly display the different factors affecting residential water demand, the benefit of the SDSS-RWD is found in its use as a policy making tool for manipulating and evaluating effective water management strategies. In particular, the flexibility of the SDSS-RWD offers in evaluating changing determinants of residential water demand creates the capacity for local government bodies to analyse a range of alternative policies.

Forecasting Evaporative Loss by Least-Square Support-Vector Regression and Evaluation with Genetic Programming, Gaussian Process, and Minimax Probability Machine Regression: Case Study of Brisbane City

Daily evaporative loss (EpEp) forecasting models are decisive tools with potential applications in hydrology, the design of water systems, urban water assessments, and irrigation management. This paper performs a case study for forecasting daily EpEp for Brisbane city using least-square support-vector regression (LSSVR). A limited set of predictor data with solar radiation and exposure, maximum/minimum temperatures, wind speed, and precipitation (March 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015) is adopted to develop the predictive model. The results are evaluated with Gaussian process regression (GPR), minimax probability machine regression (MPMR), and genetic programming (GP) models. In the testing phase, a correlation coefficient of 0.895 is attained between the observed and forecasted EpEp by LSSVR that contrasted 0.875 (GPR), 0.864 (MPMR), and 0.628 (GP). A sensitivity test of predictor variables shows that approximately 28.5% of features are extracted from solar radiation data with 18.1% (wind speed), 16.6% (precipitation), and 10–15% (minimum and maximum temperature). The root-mean square error for LSSVR is lower than the GPR, MPMR, and GP models by 16.2, 11.4, and 79.4%, and the cumulative frequency of forecasting error attained for LSSVR is the highest within the smallest error band. The results confirm the better utility of LSSVR in relation to GP, GPR, and MPMR models for forecasting daily evaporative loss.

Maintaining experiences of nature as a city grows

Experiences of nature contribute to human health and well-being, yet as the world's population continues to concentrate in towns and cities there is mounting concern that these experiences are diminishing. Despite this, little is known about how we can maintain experiences of nature as cities grow. Here, we quantify how people's opportunities to experience nature might change with future urban growth in the city of Brisbane, Australia. We simulated the addition of 84,642 houses under compact and sprawling growth scenarios and modeled changes in people's opportunities to experience nature by estimating changes in backyard size, public green space provision, and bird species richness close to households. We discovered that the form of urban growth could strongly influence people's opportunities to experience nature in a way that is highly nonrandom across the socioeconomic gradient. Under a sprawling pattern of development, with low residential densities and few interstitial green spaces, our models suggest severe declines in access to public green space and bird species richness around people's homes. These declines are predicted to be concentrated in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas of the city. Compact development leads to greater reductions in backyard size, but smaller declines in access to public green space and bird species richness. Our results point to a difficult trade-off; residential infill will maintain larger green spaces and higher overall bird diversity but reduce backyard sizes, impacting people's opportunities to experience nature in a different way. Careful planning is needed to balance the availability of public and private urban green spaces to ensure that the opportunities for people to experience nature are maintained as urbanization continues.

Putting process into routine activity theory: Variations in the control of crime opportunities

This article extends the basic tenets of routine activity theory by explicating three unique mechanisms that influence crime prevention actions: relationality, relativity and responsibility. We assess how macro variations in crime opportunities influence the social processes associated with readiness for three crime control actions: offender handling, target guarding and place managing. We explore the utility of these theoretical advancements using multilevel survey data from the Australian Community Capacity Study that includes 4390 residents across 148 suburbs in the Greater City of Brisbane. Incorporating individual measures of perceptions of routine activity dynamics and community-level measures of social structure, we use multilevel mixed-effects ordinal logistic regression to explain variations in the three different crime control actions. We find moderate support that some social processes are more strongly paired with some types of crime control actions than others: relationality most strongly predicts offender handling, relativity is most significantly associated with target guarding, and responsibility is most influential for place managing. We argue that the routine activities of crime can be better understood by delineating the social processes of crime prevention, and that these should be modeled on a continuum and considered in context of community variations in social structures.

Perspectives of resettled African refugees on accessing medicines and pharmacy services in Queensland, Australia.

The aim of this study was to explore the barriers to accessing medicines and pharmacy services among refugees in Queensland, Australia, from the perspectives of resettled African refugees. A generic qualitative approach was used in this study. Resettled African refugees were recruited via a purposive snowball sampling method. The researcher collected data from different African refugee communities, specifically those from Sudanese, Congolese and Somalian communities. Participants were invited by a community health leader to participate in the study; a community health leader is a trained member of the refugee community who acts as a 'health information conduit' between refugees and the health system. Invitations were done either face-to-face, telephonically or by email. The focus groups were digitally recorded in English and transcribed verbatim by the researcher. Transcripts were entered into NVIVO© 11 and the data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Four focus groups were conducted between October and November 2014 in the city of Brisbane with African refugees, one with five Somali refugees, one with five Congolese refugees, one with three refugee community health leaders from South Sudan, Liberia and Eritrea and one with three refugee community health leaders from Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan. Eleven sub-themes emerged through the coding process, which resulted in four overarching themes: health system differences, navigating the Australian health system, communication barriers and health care-seeking behaviour. With regard to accessing medicines and pharmacy services, this study has shown that there is a gap between resettled refugees' expectations of health services and the reality of the Australian health system. Access barriers identified included language barriers, issues with the Translating and Interpreter Service, a lack of professional communication and cultural beliefs affecting health care-seeking behaviour. This exploratory study has established a foundation for further research into the barriers to accessing medicines and pharmacy services for resettled refugees. The findings are likely to be applicable to a wider population.

Mapping outcomes of four Queensland city futures initiatives

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to map the outcomes of four influential South East Queensland city visioning and foresight initiatives conducted by the cities of Maroochy, Logan, Gold Coast and Brisbane. Design/methodology/approach This paper applies causal layered analysis to map the outcomes of four city visioning and foresight initiatives. Findings It is averred in this paper that cities need to map their experiences of past futures initiatives for what worked and what has resulted today, and for recommendations of futures actions and innovations. Originality/value This paper deepens the discussion about the critical features of the four initiatives by focusing on their outcomes and alternatives they could produce to influence the futures of their cities.

Public Space for Street-Scape Theatrics. Guerrilla Spatial Tactics and Methods of Urban Hacking in Brisbane, Australia

It could be argued that architecture has an inherent social responsibility to enrich the urban and spatial environments for the city’s occupants. However, how we define quality, and how ‘places’ can be designed to be fair and equitable, catering for individuals on a humanistic and psychological level, is often not clearly addressed. Lefebvre discusses the idea of the ‘right to the city’; the belief that public space design should facilitate freedom of expression and incite a sense of spatial ownership for its occupants in public/commercial precincts. Lefebvre also points out the importance of sensory experience in the urban environment. “Street-scape theatrics” are performative activities that summarise these two concepts, advocating the ‘right to the city’ by way of art as well as providing sensual engagement for city users. Literature discusses the importance of Street-scape Theatrics however few sources attempt to discuss this topic in terms of how to design these spaces/places to enhance the city on both a sensory and political level. This research, grounded in political theory, investigates the case of street music, in particular busking, in the city of Brisbane, Australia. Street culture is a notion that already exists in Brisbane, but it is heavily controlled especially in central locations. This study discusses how sensory experience of the urban environment in Brisbane can be enriched through the design for busking; multiple case studies, interviews, observations and thematic mappings provide data to gather an understanding of how street performers see and understand the built form. Results are sometime surprisingly incongruous with general assumptions in regards to street artist as well as the established political and ideological framework, supporting the idea that the best and most effective way of urban hacking is working within the system. Ultimately, it was found that the Central Business District in Brisbane, Australia, could adopt certain political and design tactics which attempt to reconcile systematic quality control with freedom of expression into the public/commercial sphere, realism upheld. This can bridge the gap between the micro scale of the body and the macro of the political economy through freedom of expression, thus celebrating the idiosyncratic nature of the city.

Deterioration of flood affected Queensland roads – An investigative study

The aim of this paper was to investigate the impact of recent flooding events on the structural and surface condition (such as roughness and rutting) of the pavements of the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland, and the Brisbane City Council. The paper also reviewed the major flooding and cyclone events that occurred in the last six years in Queensland. Generally, a rapid increase in deterioration of the structural and surface conditions such as roughness and rutting was observed in pavements after the flood as a result of the inundation. An increasing need for road rehabilitation was also observed after the recent flooding events from 2010 to 2015 in Queensland. Assessing the rapid deterioration of the structural and surface condition of the flood affected pavements is a prerequisite for the accurate prediction of pavement performance, a better decision making process and the management of these roads. Although this paper did not include any model for roughness and rutting, deterioration models for roughness and rutting of flood affected pavements are currently being developed as a part of the future scope of this research.

Fragility analysis of roof damage to industrial buildings subject to extreme wind loading in non-cyclonic regions

A fragility analysis is conducted for loss of roof cladding for low rise metal-clad industrial buildings located in non-cyclonic regions of Australia. The stochastic analysis includes possible component and connection failures, load redistribution based on progressive failure, spatial distribution of wind load, and internal pressure variation caused by roof sheeting failure. This spatial and time-dependent reliability analysis will enable fragility curves to be developed that relate likelihood and extent of roof cover damage with wind speed. Industrial buildings representative of new construction in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne are considered. Fragility functions are proposed for industrial buildings designed and constructed to existing codes, and also for improperly designed or constructed buildings where a roller door or other dominant opening prematurely fails during a storm for a building designed as nominally sealed. It was found that damage risks double if a roller door or other dominant opening prematurely fails during a storm.

Up close and personal with those experiencing homelessness: Pharmacist involvement in a multidisciplinary healthcare team.

Introduction - The Brisbane City Council holds a biannual Homeless Connect event which brings together business and community groups on one day to provide free services to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Pharmacists were involved in this initiative and provided health services in a multidisciplinary healthcare environment building on the lessons of previous Homeless Connect events (Chan et al, 2015) Aims - To explore pharmacists reflections on their role in a multidisciplinary healthcare team providing services at a community outreach event for those experiencing homelessness. Methods - The pharmacists (n=2) documented the types of services provided during the Homeless Connect event. A semi-structured interview was conducted post-event to investigate barriers, facilitators and changes that would be recommended for future events. Their perceptions of their role in the multidisciplinary healthcare team were also explored. Results - Primarily, the services provided included delivery of primary healthcare, advice on accessing cost effective pharmacy services and addressing medication enquiries. The pharmacists also provided moisturiser samples and health information leaflets. Interdisciplinary referrals were primarily between the pharmacists and podiatrists; no pharmacist-medical practitioner referrals occurred. The pharmacists did believe they had a positive role in this health initiative but improvements could be implemented to improve the delivery of these services in future events. Discussion - Pharmacists can play an important role in providing services to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness and the overall experience was positive for the pharmacists. They were able to integrate into a multidisciplinary healthcare team in this setting but strategies for further collaboration were identified. The possibility of involving pharmacy students in future events was identified.

Improved Urban Flooding Mapping from Remote Sensing Images Using Generalized Regression Neural Network-Based Super-Resolution Algorithm

Urban flooding is a serious natural hazard to many cities all over the world, which has dramatic impacts on the urban environment and human life. Urban flooding mapping has practical significance for the prevention and management of urban flood disasters. Remote sensing images with high temporal resolutions are widely used for urban flooding mapping, but have a limitation of relatively low spatial resolutions. In this study, a new method based on a generalized regression neural network (GRNN) is proposed to achieve improved accuracy in super-resolution mapping of urban flooding (SMUF) from remote sensing images. The GRNN-SMUF algorithm was proposed and then assessed using Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 images of Brisbane city in Australia and Wuhan city in China. Compared to three traditional methods, GRNN-SMUF mapped urban flooding more accurately according to both visual and quantitative assessments. The results of this study will improve the accuracy of urban flooding mapping using easily-available remote sensing images with medium-low spatial resolutions and will be propitious to the prevention and management of urban flood disasters.

‘They say I’m not a typical Blackfella’: Experiences of racism and ontological insecurity in urban Australia

Racism and racialisation can be framed as a threat to one’s ontological security. This article draws from qualitative life history interviews conducted with 11 Aboriginal people who are part of an existing longitudinal health study based in the city of Brisbane. The narratives revealed that perceptions of racism and racialisation were a significant consideration for these people when asked to reflect on their identity and wellbeing over time. Though less frequently overt, racism was often seen to be perpetrated from within one’s social circle, revealing the complicated process of engaging, contesting, rejecting, ignoring, minimising, avoiding and defining racism. The findings highlight the agency of Aboriginal people in adapting their behaviour to avoid or minimise the dread of ontological insecurity.

Evaluation of the Veloway 1: A natural experiment of new bicycle infrastructure in Brisbane, Australia

Bicycle infrastructure is being constructed in Australia to encourage safer and faster cycling trips. However, there has been limited evaluation of the impact of infrastructure investments. This study examined the behavioural impact of a new segment of a dedicated bikeway (Veloway 1 [V1] Stage C) that links southern suburbs with Brisbane city centre. The V1 Stage C opened in June, 2013. Cyclists who used a pre-existing shared path that links southern suburbs with the city centre completed an intercept survey pre- and post-V1 Stage C opening. Cyclists who used the V1 Stage C after it opened completed the same survey at the same time post-V1 Stage C opening. Survey data were complemented by GPS bicycle count data from cyclists riding on the main cycle routes into the city centre from southern suburbs: the V1 Stage C, the pre-existing shared path and a major arterial road. Survey data showed that pre- to post-V1 Stage C opening, average bicycle trip distance of cyclists using the shared path decreased (p=0.002), and the main catchment area of that path narrowed to suburbs to the west of it (p<0.001). Compared to cyclists using the shared path post-V1 Stage C opening, those using the V1 were travelling longer distances (p=0.02) and were more committed to making their trip by bicycle (p=0.001). The GPS bicycle counts increased monthly on the V1 Stage C after it opened (p<0.002). GPS bicycle counts on the alternative routes did not change (p=0.84). There were greater increases in monthly counts of cyclists approaching Brisbane from the south post-V1 Stage C opening than pre-opening. The findings suggest that veloways like the V1 can attract cyclists travelling from outer suburbs into a city centre.

A Focus Group on Dental Pain Complaints with General Medical Practitioners: Developing a Treatment Algorithm.

Objective. The differential diagnosis of pain in the mouth can be challenging for general medical practitioners (GMPs) as many different dental problems can present with similar signs and symptoms. This study aimed to create a treatment algorithm for GMPs to effectively and appropriately refer the patients and prescribe antibiotics. Design. The study design is comprised of qualitative focus group discussions. Setting and Subjects. Groups of GMPs within the Gold Coast and Brisbane urban and city regions. Outcome Measures. Content thematically analysed and treatment algorithm developed. Results. There were 5 focus groups with 8-9 participants per group. Addressing whether antibiotics should be given to patients with dental pain was considered very important to GMPs to prevent overtreatment and creating antibiotic resistance. Many practitioners were unsure of what the different forms of dental pains represent. 90% of the practitioners involved agreed that the treatment algorithm was useful to daily practice. Conclusion. Common dental complaints and infections are seldom surgical emergencies but can result in prolonged appointments for those GMPs who do not regularly deal with these issues. The treatment algorithm for referral processes and prescriptions was deemed easily downloadable and simple to interpret and detailed but succinct enough for clinical use by GMPs.

Modelling and analysing effects of complex seasonality and weather on an area's daily transit ridership rate

Adverse weather is generally perceived as deterrent for public transit uses. This has also been highlighted in previous literatures. In contrary, our previous study found no association between weather and transit ridership while investigating the underlying temporal influences behind variation in daily ridership across the sub-tropical city of Brisbane, Australia. This contraindication led to the primary focus of this research. This research acknowledged that Inclusion of weather variables in conjunction with other relatively strong independent variables might result in washout of the weather effects on ridership. Variables such as rainfall do not recur on a daily basis throughout the year. Thus, generalising their effect on ridership with other independent variables that consistently influence ridership may create a similar problem. Hence, weather variables were converted into their normalised factors and combined with other independent variables while formulated the optimised the daily ridership rate estimation model. Several models were developed concerning various combinations of weather variables and through rigorous analysis it was identified that only the rain variable has noticeable effect on daily ridership. Evidently, this study functions as an update of our former study by directing towards a new approach to the analysis of the relationship between weather and transit ridership.

Modeling the Postflood Short-Term Behavior of Flexible Pavements

The January 2011 flood in Queensland caused severe damage to road infrastructures, which presented new challenges for the efficient management of the roads. To date, no deterioration model can accurately predict the impact of floods on pavements. To understand the impact of the January 2011 flood on the structural performance of flood-affected pavements, falling weight deflectometer (FWD) deflection data on flood-affected roads managed by the Brisbane City Council (BCC) and Roads and Maritime Services, New South Wales (RMS, NSW), Australia, were collected and examined. This paper proposes a deterministic model that expresses structural strength of pavements as a function of time. The model predicts the short-term behavior of a flexible pavement immediately after flooding. A comparison of before- and after-flood data, and flooded and nonflooded sections of the same road, indicates a consistent trend of decrease in strength due to its sustained submergence under flood water. The literature review indicates that structural strength deterioration was also observed for the pavements in New Orleans and Louisiana following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. However, a trend of strength gain and even, in some cases, strength loss was also observed in the BCC data, which were collected 2 and 4 years postflood. The flood-affected pavements lost their structural strength faster than the predicted deterioration rate for which the road was designed. Importantly, the proposed model would facilitate the pavement engineers to quantify the postflood rapid deterioration of the structural strength. The model is sufficiently robust and can be adapted to other regions by calibrating for the local condition.

Flood Risk Information, Actual Floods and Property Values: A Quasi‐Experimental Analysis

Hedonic property price analysis tells us that property prices can be affected by natural hazards such as floods. This paper examines the impact of flood‐related variables (among other factors) on property values, and examines the effect of the release of flood risk map information on property values by comparing the impact with the effect of an actual flood incidence. An examination of the temporal variation of flood impacts on property values is also made. The study is the first of its kind where the impact of the release of flood risk map information to the public is compared with an actual flood incident. In this study, we adopt a spatial quasi‐experimental analysis using the release of flood risk maps by Brisbane City Council in Queensland, Australia, in 2009 and the actual floods of 2011. The results suggest that property buyers are more responsive to the actual incidence of floods than to the disclosure of information to the public on the risk of floods.