City Futures Blog

News and research in housing and urban policy, from Australia’s leading urban policy research centre.

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Entries Tagged as 'Construction'

Why investor-driven urban density is inevitably linked to disadvantage

August 23rd, 2017 · No Comments · Affordability, Cities, Construction, Housing, Housing conditions, Housing supply, Sydney, urban renewal

By Bill Randolph, UNSW This article is the third in a series based on new research into the place of lower-income and disadvantaged households in a compact city. Originally published on The Conversation. The densification of Australian cities has been heralded as a boon for housing choice and diversity. The up-beat promotion of “the swing […]

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I’m forever blowing bubbles: Has the Sydney apartment market finally burst?

March 30th, 2017 · No Comments · Affordability, Construction, Housing, Housing supply, Sydney

By Bill Randolph, Director, City Futures Research Centre. Originally published in Around the House, newsletter of Shelter NSW. Much speculation in the property press in recent months has centred on the question of the supposed ‘housing bubble’ (is there one?) and, if so, what is its likely trajectory (will it burst?).  Pundits have vied for […]

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How Australia can spread the benefits of our bulging infrastructure pipeline

February 8th, 2017 · No Comments · Construction, Government, Guest appearance, Social enterprise

By Martin Loosemore, UNSW. Originally published on The Conversation. Good infrastructure can transform the social fabric of local communities, regional economies and national prosperity. The 2012 Olympics’ impact on London’s East End and the Guggenheim Museum’s role in revitalising Bilbao in northern Spain are examples of how infrastructure projects can regenerate disadvantaged communities by creating a […]

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Value Capture: options for funding infrastructure

October 6th, 2016 · 2 Comments · Cities, Construction, Guest appearance, Transport, urban renewal

By Dr Nigel Stapledon and Prof Kevin Fox, Centre for Applied Economic Research, University of NSW. This article draws on the authors’ report, Value Capture Is Not a Magic Pudding: options for funding infrastructure, prepared for the Urban Taskforce. With major new transport infrastructure being built in our major cities, the idea of value capture has been in the […]

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All aboard for the Bankstown corridor – or just the lucky few?

September 21st, 2016 · 1 Comment · Affordability, Cities, Construction, Demographics, Government, Housing supply, Public space, Transport, urban renewal

By Professor Bill Randolph, Director, City Futures Research Centre. This is an extended version of an article published by The Conversation. It would be easy to assume that the new Sydney Metro Rail project will create something of an urban paradise along the new Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Corridor through which it will run. […]

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Apartment construction boom: is this the end of the dream?

July 22nd, 2016 · 1 Comment · Affordability, Cities, Construction, Housing supply

By Laurence Troy Australian Construction Insights (ACI) released their latest brief last Monday 18 July and noted that for the first time in Australia, construction starts for multi-unit housing were higher than for detached housing.  Of course, there ought to be caution in reading these figures, as any decent geographer will tell you, location and […]

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Might Labor’s negative gearing policy yet save the housing market?

May 26th, 2016 · 1 Comment · Affordability, Construction, Government, Housing, Housing supply

Originally published at The Conversation. The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) has unleashed the hounds on Labor’s proposed reforms to negative gearing. The REIA’s campaign, Negative Gearing Affects Everyone, follows the lead of the Property Council, which describes the Australian housing market as a “house of cards”, with the REIA stressing how “fragile” the […]

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Tax reform for affordable housing: Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax proposals

February 18th, 2016 · No Comments · Affordability, Construction, Housing

By proposing to restrict negative gearing to new-built housing and reduce the tax discount for capital gains, Federal Labor has presented a real policy platform for more affordable housing. The high cost of housing in Australia – to buy, and to rent – is largely a product of our current tax settings, which favour highly-geared […]

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Social Enterprises Can Help Drive Social, Economic Growth

July 13th, 2015 · No Comments · Construction, Social enterprise

By Professor Martin Loosemore, Faculty of the Built Environment, UNSW There is a new breed of Australian social entrepreneurs operating in the construction industry who are creating inspiring social enterprises which trade for a social and/or environmental purpose. These social enterprises feed their profits back into the communities in which they operate rather than to […]

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