Melanie Lowe

Ellen Smith/AAP

January 22, 2021

Level‑crossing removals: a case study in why major projects must also be investments in health

Geoffrey Browne, The University of Melbourne; Melanie Lowe, Australian Catholic University, and John Stone, The University of Melbourne

The pervasive impacts of infrastructure projects on public health are often overlooked. New research is teasing out the many ways Melbourne’s level-crossing removals will affect people’s health.

Residents of the outer suburbs like the green spaces and sense of community, but lament the lack of access to transport and other services. theskaman306/Shutterstock

February 20, 2019

Living ‘liveable’: this is what residents have to say about life on the urban fringe

Leila Mahmoudi Farahani, RMIT University; Billie Giles-Corti, RMIT University; Cecily Maller, RMIT University, and Melanie Lowe, Australian Catholic University

Much of the growth in our cities is in the outer suburbs, now home to around 5 million people. And that creates problems like traffic that detract from the advantages residents see in living there.

Australia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gillian Bird, makes a statement at the 2016 Habitat III conference, where the New Urban Agenda was adopted. Alexei Trundle

February 14, 2018

This is why health has to be at the heart of the New Urban Agenda

Melanie Lowe, Australian Catholic University; Alexei Trundle, The University of Melbourne; André Stephan, The University of Melbourne; Billie Giles-Corti, RMIT University; Hayley Henderson, The University of Melbourne, and Hesam Kamalipour, Monash University

Australia and other United Nations member states signed up to the New Urban Agenda more than a year ago. But how well is health being integrated into sustainable urban development?

Meeting the challenges of informal settlements, such as this one in Caracas, Venezuela, calls for integrated approaches that cut across urban scales and disciplines. Hesam Kamalipour

December 5, 2016

When planning falls short: the challenges of informal settlements

Hesam Kamalipour, The University of Melbourne; Alexei Trundle, The University of Melbourne; André Stephan, The University of Melbourne; Hayley Henderson, The University of Melbourne, and Melanie Lowe, The University of Melbourne

Informal settlements are often undocumented or hidden on official maps, but they house about a billion people worldwide. Their existence demands a more sophisticated approach to urban development.

Think of all the resources needed to transform Shenzhen, a fishing town 35 years ago, into a megacity of more than 10 million people. Wikimedia Commons

November 30, 2016

Our cities need to go on a resource diet

André Stephan, The University of Melbourne; Alexei Trundle, The University of Melbourne; Dave Kendal, The University of Melbourne; Hayley Henderson, The University of Melbourne; Hesam Kamalipour, The University of Melbourne, and Melanie Lowe, The University of Melbourne

Our cities need to become much more efficient not just to conserve precious resources but to improve the economy, wellbeing and resilience to environmental change and disasters.

Quito lights up for Habitat III. Alexei Trundle

October 25, 2016

Habitat III is over, but will its New Urban Agenda transform the world’s cities?

Alexei Trundle, The University of Melbourne; André Stephan, The University of Melbourne; Hayley Henderson, The University of Melbourne; Hesam Kamalipour, The University of Melbourne, and Melanie Lowe, The University of Melbourne

Nation states, UN bodies and civil society gathered in Quito for Habitat III to adopt the New Urban Agenda. So how will the UN’s new global urban roadmap transform our cities over the next 20 years?

A distinctive feature of the New Urban Agenda is that it redefines informal settlements, such as Dharavi in Mumbai, India, as an asset based on their potential to promote economic growth. YGLvoices/flickr

September 4, 2016

Habitat III: the biggest conference you’ve probably never heard of

Hayley Henderson, The University of Melbourne; Alexei Trundle, The University of Melbourne; André Stephan, The University of Melbourne; Hesam Kamalipour, The University of Melbourne, and Melanie Lowe, The University of Melbourne

More than 25,000 delegates will meet in Quito in October to set out a New Urban Agenda for the UN, to be implemented over the next 20 years. But Australia is yet to play a major role in the process.

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