life
cities
cities May 3, 2025
From Palaeolithic cave paintings to cruciform churches and Sydney’s Kings Cross, this deceptively primitive intersection of two lines has enduring symbolic power.
cities March 15, 2025
‘Country’ is a learning needed in Australia’s urban planning
The destruction of more than 10,000 homes in the Los Angeles fires is a powerful reminder that Australia needs a total rethink of how and where we build to live.
cities November 16, 2024
Could Plato’s ideal city exist today?
Beauty, truth and justice are at the heart of a functioning, healthy metropolis – three Platonic values our governments and developers too often choose to ignore.
cities October 12, 2024
Sydneysiders have embraced their underground Metro and other new subterranean spaces that explore the shadows of a city often perceived as bright but shallow.
cities September 7, 2024
The perils of turning civilisation into a competitive market
An obsession with measurement has undermined judgement and damaged not just cities but also schools and public trust.
cities July 13, 2024
Landlordism in the ‘lucky country’
Australia’s housing crisis arises from a culture that normalises windfall gains, from the grants of stolen land more than two centuries ago, to the investors who flourish on rental income and tax breaks.
cities May 25, 2024
Why do our cities have to be so hard?
Our hard, cold cityscapes could be replaced with something that better reflects our collective need for connection.
cities April 20, 2024
Why are we building a world that nobody wants?
If buildings are shaped by the values and cultures of the day, those that are now proliferating demonstrate how humanity has been sacrificed for efficiency.
cities March 9, 2024
The quest for the perfect city has a history of epic failure, as civilisation’s deepest desires are shaped by greed, tyranny and human frailty.
cities November 11, 2023
The notion of Australia as an egalitarian society is outdated and the burgeoning class system of this country is becoming etched in its urban landscape.
cities September 9, 2023
The time has come for urban Australia to abandon the British Empire-based bungalow sprawl and follow a more collective European apartment model.
