Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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ItemInfrastructure investment decisions - issues surrounding the use of financial analysis(Nanyang University, 2001)
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ItemRacking behaviour of residential light framed walls(The Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2001)
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ItemAssessment of plasterboard properties and relationship to lateral capacity of residential structures(The Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2001)
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ItemAre SDIs serving the needs of local planning?: case studies of Victoria, Australia and Illinois, USA( 2001)National spatial data infrastructures (SDI) have been initiated and built throughout 1990s in both Australia and the U.S., initiated and coordinated by the Australia New Zealand Land Information Council (ANZLIC) and the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), respectively. Numerous SDI-related activities at the national, state, and local level in both countries share similar core objectives, which are to stimulate coordinated collection, dissemination, and use of spatial data by public and private entities. This coordination is to result in digital databases that would be easily accessible and seamless across administrative and organizational boundaries and that would help secure social, environmental, and economic benefits to the involved communities. The improved information resources at the local level in particular are expected to contribute to sustainable urban development and to enhance the cooperation between government and nongovernment sectors. This paper raises the question about the actual effectiveness of the existing SDI developments and about the outcomes of the related interactions between the local, state, and national levels. Case study of local governments in Victoria, Australia and Illinois, U.S. are used to evaluate the utility of existing SDIs to local planning activities and to offer recommendations for increasing their effectiveness in supporting sustainable development.
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ItemSpatial data infrastructures: concept, SDI hierarchy and future directions( 2001)The world as we know it is changing. Economies world wide are undergoing a process ofprofound and continuing structural change, and the global village is becoming a reality driven byIT and communication technologies. With this in mind, many countries believe that they canbenefit both economically and environmentally from better management of their spatial data assetsby taking a perspective that starts at a local level and proceeds through state, national and regionallevels to global level. This has resulted in the development of the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)concept at these levels.SDI is fundamentally about facilitation and coordination of the exchange and sharing ofspatial data between stakeholders from different jurisdictional levels in the spatial datacommunity. Understanding of its role and nature are important to the acceptance of the conceptand its alignment with spatial industry objectives.The aim of this paper is to present the nature and concept of spatial data infrastructures,including the SDI hierarchy, which have helped to build understanding about the importance ofthe relationships within different levels of SDIs to support the interactions and partnerships of thespatial data communities. Moreover, the paper will highlight the importance of sharing andunderstanding its special social system, followed by a discussion of the future direction of SDIs. Itis argued that by better understanding the future direction of SDIs, any SDI development can gainsupport from a wider community of both government and non-government data users andproviders.
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ItemSpatial data infrastructure frameworks to support decision-making for sustainable development(Geography Institute of Colombia, 2001)
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ItemDefining a marine cadastre for Australia( 2001)As the world's largest island, Australia has a coastline length of approximately 36,700 km. The nation's relative isolation from its neighbours enables it to claim one of the largest maritime jurisdictions in the world. The ocean territory to which Australia lays claim is about 1.5 times larger than the Australian land mass. Given the diversity and extent of Australia's ocean resources, there is an economic and social need to manage, explore and exploit the nation's ocean territories in a way that will maximise benefit, while at the same time protecting the ocean environment. An essential requirement for the consistent and effective management of the oceans is reliable, comprehensive and accurate spatial information. This introduces the complex issue of defining and quantifying the spatial and temporal interaction of a vast array of rights and responsibilities. Not only are our oceans subject to the interests of a diverse group of individuals and organisations, they are also governed by a complex web of government legislation. International treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS) also need to be considered. Many pieces of legislation contain geographical definitions for areas of jurisdiction. Understanding and managing the relationship and interaction between overlapping and sometimes competing rights is a complex problem. The objective behind the development of a marine cadastre is to provide a comprehensive spatial data infrastructure whereby rights, restrictions and responsibilities in the marine environment can be assessed, administered and managed. This paper describes a multi-faceted, collaborative project between the Department of Geomatics, the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group, the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, and Land Victoria to define the issues relevant to the development of a marine cadastre for Australia.
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ItemLand administration infrastructure: theother side of the coin( 2001)There is a great amount of effort worldwide to understand the problems of shelter, access toland and security of tenure for the urban poor, but very little attention to the mechanics ofpolicy implementation. In other words there is little attention to the practical or"engineering" side of designing, building and managing land administration infrastructureswhich facilitate shelter, security of tenure and access to land for the urban poor- in otherwords "the other side of the coin".In considering the mechanics of policy implementation, this paper reviews thedimensions of land administration, the concept of a land administration "tool box", aholistic approach to developing land administration infrastructures in developing countries,and finally the critical component of capacity building.For a more detailed investigation of this subject see the paper by the author titled"Land Administration Best Practice - providing the infrastructure for land policyimplementation".
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ItemA uniform approach to boundary location discrepancies: promoting and proscribing the reform of the land title register( 2001)Adverse possession of part parcels permits the variation, rectification, and re-adjustmentof boundaries with boundary definition being essential to parcel-based spatial data sets.Adverse possession and part parcel adverse possession address (and provide a possiblesolution to) two distinct problems by providing a single solution. It is suggested thatutilizing adverse possession as a solution to boundary location discrepancy isinappropriate.Also, if a national cadastre is to become a reality, a basic requirement is a unifiednational law regarding land ownership. In turn this will require a unified approach to theissue of adverse possession of registered title land and particularly adverse possession ofpart of a land parcel. The authors view this issue as a major obstacle in achieving aunified national cadastral survey practice. This fundamental distinction requiresresolution as a necessary step towards a unified approach ultimately leading to anintegrated national cadastre.In this paper the authors analyse recent changes and current proposals for reform andoffer the conclusion that reluctance to change is but a small obstacle to reform. Howeverthis optimistic conclusion is offset by misgivings with regard to the manner with whichreforms are accomplished.
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ItemLand administration and spatial data infrastructures: trends and developments( 2001)Historically, the strength of a land surveyor lies in the ability to use and understand bothmeasurement science and land management, and to apply these skills in a wide range ofland related activities ranging from land development to environmental management. Inresponse to the theme of this conference "2001 - A Spatial Odyssey" it is appropriate toconsider how these skills have evolved and are evolving within the broad surveyingdiscipline.It is proposed that a major dimension of the measurement science skill is reflected in thegrowing importance of spatial data infrastructures (SDI) and the land related skills arereflected in the re-discovery that the role of land administration plays in serving economic,environmental and social priorities in society. While SDI play a much broader role thansupporting land administration, land administration could be considered a key driver in SDIevolution.The objective of this paper is to identify SDI and land administration trends anddevelopments by drawing on the research of past and current projects undertaken byresearchers in the Centre for SDI and Land Administration at The University of Melbourne.The paper identifies some new research areas being planned by the Centre.