Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications

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    Inside the Front Door A seven-year longitudinal study of six high volume homelessness services in Melbourne
    Kavaarpuo, G ; Johnson, G ( 2024)
    Over the past two decades, homelessness has become an entrenched feature on Australia’s social landscape and pressure on homelessness services has continued to rise. While a great deal is known about who presents to homelessness services, much less is known about service utilisation patterns among households ‘at risk’ of homelessness and experiencing homelessness. Service utilisation patterns have been a foci of research studies in several areas, particularly public health and one particularly important strand focuses on ‘heavy service users’. Interest in heavy service users is largely motivated by the fact that despite typically accounting for approximately 10-20% of services users, heavy service users consume a disproportionate amount of resources. The identification of heavy service users and what contributes to heavy service use is therefore important information that policy makers and service providers can use to devise less expensive ways to meet their needs, optimise service design and improve service outcomes. Using a novel dataset that combined administrative records from six Initial Assessment and Planning (IAP) services across Metropolitan Melbourne, this report examines the characteristics and service utilisation patterns of 70,552 unique households over a 7-year period. The aim of the report was to determine if there are distinct patterns of service use, and whether different patterns of service use are associated with distinct household characteristics.
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    Measuring the Australian Night Time Economy 2021-22
    Edwards, A ; License, A (Council of Capital City Lord Mayors, 2023)
    This report provides the latest insights into the Australian Night Time Economy (NTE) during the 2021/22 financial year. During this time, businesses continued to experience considerable restrictions and uncertainty, leading to significant fluctuations in activity. The start of the financial year began with lockdowns and restrictions – particularly in the eastern states and the Australian Capital Territory – but by January 2022 most Australians had been vaccinated and the nation had begun its transition towards ‘living with COVID’. As restrictions lifted, Core NTE businesses provided an opportunity to draw people back to our cities, enabling Australians to socialise and spend some of the savings they had accumulated during the pandemic. Core NTE businesses showed considerable innovation in navigating pandemic restrictions and adapting to evolving consumer habits. Although Core NTE businesses were able to trade again, they faced challenges such as staff shortages, changes in footfall patterns (contributing to demand unpredictability) and reduced lead-times for bookings. Some of these challenges persist in 2023. These challenges and opportunities have prompted states, territories and local governments to recognise and promote the advantages of fostering safe and vibrant NTEs through actively pursuing strategies, action plans and partnerships to support their development. This year’s report provides details on some of the initiatives that local governments have been implementing in their cities. It then analyses the economic performance of the sector – beginning with an overview of Australia, followed by a summary of trends in the states and territories and detailed analysis for each participating CCCLM member city (although detailed data has been prepared for 88 Australian cities, with a high level summary provided in Table 5, page 77). In many cases, Core NTE businesses have experienced growth in sales turnover in 2021/22, however, above average inflation is a factor in this performance; with the cost of goods and services in 2021/22 4.4% higher than in 2020/21 and 7.6% higher than in 2018/19 – an important factor to bear in mind when reviewing results. This report introduces more localised and unique insights for cities, via temporal analysis using the data behind Google Maps. This data complements the economic analysis by providing an understanding of where night time businesses cluster and the typical trading patterns of consumer-facing business activities in each city. Through 2022/23 and beyond, continued increases in inflation and associated cost pressures – on businesses and individuals – will continue to affect the NTE, and there is already evidence that while recent consumer spend has improved, this is driven more by use of credit than debit cards. The growing interest in the NTE from both the public and private sectors, combined with the latest evidence and insights provided in this report and other datasets, should support the sector going forward.
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    Report on the place name: Moreland
    Lesh, J (Moreland City Council, 2022-04)
    Explores the links between the “Moreland” name and British Caribbean Slavery.
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    Assessment on accessibility of Unhas campus for women and people with disabilities
    Martel, A ; Wikantari, R ; Nasir, S ; Nurdin, N ; Day, K ; Mateo-Babiano, D ; Raisbeck, P (The Australian-Indonesia Centre, 2024)
    This report examines diversity and inclusion in the university context, focusing on two key tertiary education institutions, the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia and Universitas Hasanuddin in the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. Our research is based on two studies and aims to contribute to the development of initiatives that promote studying environments that are fair, diversified and allow for the participation of all.
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    Designing for the Future in Australia: A Retrospective on the ALIA Library Design Awards
    Given, LM ; Day, K ; Partridge, H ; Howard, K (Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), 2023)
    Library designs shape people's expectations and experiences of what libraries can be. Their physical spaces house collections, provide safe spaces for people to meet and engage, and enable access to services and activities designed to meet community needs. Libraries' digital spaces extend these services and supports beyond the physical walls, enabling after-hours access to the world's knowledge. When library buildings are designed well, they serve as beacons in their communities. Their interiors inspire people to learn, to create, to think, and to engage with digital and physical platforms to satisfy information needs.
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    Water sensitive outcomes for infill development: final report
    Sochacka, B ; Kenway, S ; Bertram, N ; London, G ; Renouf, M ; Sainsbury, O ; Surendran, S ; Moravej, M ; Nice, K ; Todorovic, T ; Tarakemehzadeh, N ; Martin, DJ (Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, 2021)
    Australian cities have experienced significant growth recently, a trend that is expected to continue. One response from governments has been to promote ‘infill development’, which increases urban density, but also has significant adverse effects on urban water cycles, resource use efficiency, and the amenity and liveability of urban areas.
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    City Rankings: Benchmarking Beyond the Headlines
    PEJIC, D ; Acuto, M
    Although there is significant and increasing interest in comparative city benchmarks (such as rankings and indexes) from media outlets and cities themselves, there has been very limited research on the nature of these studies and their potential utility for urban policymaking. To begin to address this knowledge gap, The Melbourne Centre for Cities at the University of Melbourne designed a scoping study consisting of:1. A review of scientific literature2. Analysis of a database of 500 current urban benchmarks conducted by The Business of Cities3. A small pilot study to understand the way benchmarks shape the ‘comparative thinking’ of professionals in global cities.This report presents findings from these activities.
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    Introducing peer review assessment to improve student engagement in learning and assessment activities - Part 2: Final Report
    Vaz Serra, P ; Fleckney, P ; Thompson, J (The University of Melbourne, 2023-12-11)
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    Reimagining capabilities of children in India: Child well-being report 2022
    Tiwari, P ; Purkayastha, A ; Kar, B ; Sardar, S ; Shukla, J (World Vision India, 2023-11-15)
    In 2020, the global child population was estimated by UNICEF India to be around 444 million, approximately one-sixth of the world’s population. For any country, the well-being of its child population directly impacts its future. Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the United States, said in one of his addresses that “Children are our most valuable resource.” Childhood is the most crucial stage of a person’s life and it’s imperative that they are brought up in a safe and secure environment to be able to contribute towards the country’s economy in the future. For a country like India with vast differences in culture and a growing economic disparity, children’s well-being plays an indispensable role in its developmental discourse. Despite the many strides taken by multiple stakeholders to address child-related issues, India is yet to improve the quality of life for children, especially those under 18 years of age. World Vision India, being a child-focussed organisation, has been working towards improving the lives of children, especially the most vulnerable, their families and communities, together with partners. Decades of experience have shaped the organisation’s understanding of child well-being as an integral multidimensional concept. Since its launch in 2019, the India Child Well-being Report is an annual publication by World Vision India that brings forth the Status of Children in the country, both in terms of well-being and access to services. This is the fourth edition of the report which seeks to provide a comprehensive look at child well-being under four essential domains – Health & Nutrition, Education, Protection and Livelihood. The uniqueness of this study is that uses primary data collected from Area Development Programmes (ADPs) of World Vision India to get a more profound analysis of the issues at hand. The findings of this study are not generalised to all children as the data pertains to most vulnerable children from underprivileged societies,viewing the situation through the lens of equity and justice. The report also cover the impact of Covid-19 on the overall growth and development of children. The results depict the accurate picture of the most vulnerable children and seek to initiate meaningful discourses that will aid in strengthening the social policy of marginalised communities. Child well-being is an essential conversation in the development sector, and it is critical that we understand it in a holistic way. We hope that this report will serve as a guide for policymakers, practitioners and civil societies to understand and prioritise areas of improvement based on facts and evidence.