As I live in Brisbane I can not comment on Sydney, especially its regulations. I moved to Bribane in 1982 when it was not much more than an over-grown country town, a bit backward in fact. Then it grew, in more ways than one. The Expo had a lot to do with this. People came out of their houses and discovered another world. It became a charming mixture of old and new. We had good facilities and it was easy to get around. Unfortunatly this is no longer true, we have endless high blocks of flats in various tones of oppressive. Brisbane has lost its charm and is becoming ugly. I think private greed has over ridden the needs of the residents. I would love to live in a place built for the residents needs and not as ugly dormatories for profit by "developers".

“A balance is needed in meeting the needs of a city in a sustainable way and respecting the rights of locals”

Absolutely, especially in areas with growth pressure.

I concur with all of Brad’s suggestions for making this happen, and suggest that if the will was there at the national and state levels, then it could pretty easily be enforced at the local government level.

I would like to think that the high and increasing frequency of concern about sustainability being expressed on OLO and other forums along with critical primary resource stress issues across the country (most significantly water), the will to undertake a truly sustainable lifestyle is not far away.

Once this takes hold, reform at the local government level should follow pretty well automatically.

There is just one issue I have with Brad’s article, and that is his apparent acceptance that cities are just going to continue to grow…which really is at odds with a true sustainability ethic.

A fundamental part of the balance that must be implemented by local governments is limits to growth. There simply can’t be a real balance if continuous expansion is left open-ended

As for the CUB site mentioned in the article, i lived behind this site for 3 yrs and studied at UTS, and i lust say this unattractive part of the city must be redeveloped.

It is the top of George st for gods sake. It needs to be attractive and reflect an innovative, modern city. Its access to central station, major arterial roads and bus transport is unbeatable.

Crime is rife in this area, and an attractive modern development with new resident demopgraphics is the best possible thing that could happen.

As for town planning, it is disgraceful no matter where you live. On one hand we have councils approving subdivisions in fringe areas lacking public transport infrastucture and encouraging car use, even to the point where the garage is the key facadal feature. Then on the other hand they are discouraging car parking in the city, the key employment hub of the state, and discouraging city residents from driving cars and restricting car spaces. to top it off, there is massive money spent on motoway and tollway infrastructure, generally assisting people in travelling to and from the city. Go figure?

Planning needs to be governed by larger bodies away from councils, there is no scope between councils of working together and the problems we face will only get worse, and the haves and have nots will only get worse