Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailablePublic support for proposed government policies to optimise the social benefits of autonomous vehicles(ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2024-04)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAustralians' perceptions of the potential effects of increased access to alcohol via autonomous delivery services: A multi-method study(PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2024-01)INTRODUCTION: Rapid technological change will affect how people access harmful products. For example, automated delivery services are forecast to provide fast and affordable product access options for those purchasing alcohol. Information about the potential impacts of such innovations on alcohol purchase and consumption behaviors is lacking. The aim of this study was to explore how consumers may respond to future scenarios where alcohol is available via a range of autonomous alcohol delivery options. METHODS: In a two-stage process, qualitative individual interviews (n = 100) and a quantitative online survey (n = 1078) were conducted with Australians aged 18+ years. Quotas were used to achieve national representation on key demographic variables. Participants were exposed to scenarios outlining how autonomous vehicles are likely to be used for alcohol deliveries in the future and asked to discuss their intentions to use such services and their perceptions of any impacts on alcohol consumption at a societal level. RESULTS: Automated alcohol deliveries were generally considered to be highly convenient and therefore likely to be popular. Around one-third (37%) of survey respondents reported an intention to use such automated alcohol delivery services once they are available and almost half (47%) expected overall levels of alcohol consumption to increase across the population. CONCLUSION: Given potential levels of uptake, careful consideration needs to be given to the development and implementation of appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks to minimize the increased risk of alcohol-related harm associated with enhanced alcohol availability resulting from the emerging availability of autonomous delivery services.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAnticipated Transport Choices in a World Featuring Autonomous Transport Options(MDPI, 2023-07)(1) Background: The automation of transport systems is well underway; however, it is unclear how this will affect people’s mobility choices. Changes in these choices have implications for health and the sustainability and efficiency of transport systems, making it important to understand how the advent of autonomous vehicles might affect people’s transport behaviors. The aim of the present study was to address this knowledge gap in the Australian context. (2) Methods: Respondents reported their demographic information, current transport behaviors, the perceived importance of transport-related factors, and attitudes toward autonomous vehicles. They then read a vignette describing a future scenario involving autonomous vehicles that was informed by expert stakeholders. After reading the vignette, the respondents selected those transport options that they would anticipate using in the depicted scenario. Descriptive analyses were conducted to examine changes in transport choices, while regression models were employed to identify the predictors of choices in the future scenario. (3) Results: Most respondents envisaged making greater use of active, shared, and public transport options in an autonomous future, compared to their current use of these options. The intended use of private transport options halved. The most consistent predictor for selecting a certain mode of transport was the current use of that option or its non-autonomous equivalent. (4) Conclusion: Overall, favorable changes in the envisaged use of transport were observed for the hypothetical scenario, which was characterized by improved public transport, a practical active transport infrastructure, and relatively cheap shared autonomous vehicles. If policymakers can act to realize these outcomes, the autonomation of transport is likely to lead to positive societal change.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableThe inexorable rise of automated food deliveries and potential anticipatory policy actions(ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC, 2023-08)OBJECTIVE: Food deliveries to consumers using autonomous vehicles are forecast to become commonplace in Australia and globally. The aims of this study were to (i) explore the anticipated nature of AV food delivery services in Australia and (ii) identify available policy options to optimise positive outcomes and minimise any negative consequences for health and well-being. METHODS: In total, 36 interviews were conducted with 40 expert stakeholders across a range of relevant sectors including transport, urban planning, health and telecommunications. Interviewees discussed the ways in which automated food deliveries are likely to be implemented and the potential implications for lifestyles and health. RESULTS: The interviewees expected automated food deliveries to constitute an extension of current trends towards online food ordering and rapid home deliveries, with potential adverse implications for diet quality at the population level. CONCLUSIONS: Effective regulation of automated food and beverage delivery services will be needed to anticipate and address this emerging phenomenon. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: There is the opportunity to optimise the public health outcomes associated with automated food deliveries while minimising potential negative consequences through proactive anticipatory action. Delays could result in undesirable and irreversible changes to the food environment.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableExpert stakeholders' views on the potential nature and impacts of autonomous alcohol home delivery(WILEY, 2023-07)INTRODUCTION: The emergence of autonomous vehicles (AV) heralds new methods of alcohol delivery that are likely to have substantial implications for home drinking. The aim of this study was to explore the factors that have the potential to hasten or restrict widescale increases in alcohol availability resulting from AVs. METHODS: Thirty-six interviews were conducted with 44 stakeholders across diverse sectors. Interviewees discussed their perceptions of how AVs will evolve and the implications for alcohol access. The interview transcripts were analysed to develop a typology of factors that need to be addressed to minimise harms associated with greater home alcohol consumption due to AVs. RESULTS: The interviewees identified a range of demand-side (e.g., enhanced convenience for consumers) and supply-side (e.g., increased efficiency for providers) factors associated with AV home deliveries that could increase the prevalence and volume of home drinking. A third category of factors related to potential forms of regulation: suggested harm-minimisation options related to appropriate enhancements of licensing restrictions and responsible service requirements and the use of various fiscal levers to introduce price barriers. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The suggested strategies will require collaborative efforts across government and non-government organisations to address the potential issues arising from the advent of AV alcohol deliveries. Technological and policy solutions will be needed to ensure responsible service of alcohol. This study provides policy makers with insights into forms of intervention that may be required to minimise the harms associated with the use of AVs in alcohol home delivery systems.
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ItemWalking in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles(MDPI, 2022-09)(1) Background: The emergence of autonomous vehicles (AVs) is likely to have substantial implications for walking behaviours due to the availability of new transport options and altered physical environments within cities. The aim of this exploratory study was to identify AV-related factors that could affect walking at the population level and strategies to ameliorate any negative effects. (2) Methods: A total of 46 Australian expert stakeholders were interviewed about their perceptions of the potential impacts of AVs on walking behaviours. The interviewees represented government departments (state and federal), non-government organisations (NGOs), private sector companies, peak bodies, and academia. (3) Results: Interviewees expected AVs to have different effects on individuals’ ability and motivation to engage in planned versus incidental walking. While those with innate motivation to walk as a form of exercise or leisure may experience enhanced participation opportunities, it appears that incidental walking could be adversely impacted through the availability of convenient AV door-to-door transport options and automated home delivery services that reduce walking related to commuting and shopping. (4) Conclusions: Proactive policy actions are needed to optimize the potential positive impacts of AVs on walking and circumvent the potential negative impacts on valuable incidental walking that constitutes a key component of many people’s total physical activity.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableIsolating the impacts of urban form and fabric from geography on urban heat and human thermal comfort(Elsevier, 2022-10-01)Public health risks resulting from urban heat in cities are increasing due to rapid urbanisation and climate change, motivating closer attention to urban heat mitigation and adaptation strategies that enable climate-sensitive urban design and development. These strategies incorporate four key factors influencing heat stress in cities: the urban form (morphology of vegetated and built surfaces), urban fabric, urban function (including human activities), and background climate and regional geographic settings (e.g. topography and distance to water bodies). The first two factors can be modified and redesigned as urban heat mitigation strategies (e.g. changing the albedo of surfaces, replacing hard surfaces with pervious vegetated surfaces, or increasing canopy cover). Regional geographical settings of cities, on the other hand, cannot be modified and while human activities can be modified, it often requires holistic behavioural and policy modifications and the impacts of these can be difficult to quantify. When evaluating the effectiveness of urban heat mitigation strategies in observational or traditional modelling studies, it can be difficult to separate the impacts of modifications to the built and natural forms from the interactions of the geographic influences, limiting the universality of results. To address this, we introduce a new methodology to determine the influence of urban form and fabric on thermal comfort, by utilising a comprehensive combination of possible urban forms, an urban morphology data source, and micro-climate modelling. We perform 9814 simulations covering a wide range of realistic built and natural forms (building, roads, grass, and tree densities as well as building and tree heights) to determine their importance and influence on thermal environments in urban canyons without geographical influences. We show that higher daytime air temperatures and thermal comfort indices are strongly driven by increased street fractions, with maximum air temperatures increases of up to 10 and 15 °C as street fractions increase from 10% (very narrow street canyons and/or extensive vegetation cover) to 80 and 90% (wide street canyons). Up to 5 °C reductions in daytime air temperatures are seen with increasing grass and tree fractions from zero (fully urban) to complete (fully natural) coverage. Similar patterns are seen with the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), with increasing street fractions of 80% and 90% driving increases of 6 and 12 °C, respectively. We then apply the results at a city-wide scale, generating heat maps of several Australian cities showing the impacts of present day urban form and fabric. The resulting method allows mitigation strategies to be tested on modifiable urban form factors isolated from geography, topography, and local weather conditions, factors that cannot easily be modified.