Ryan Falconer, PhD Candidate
Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia

I have been fortunate, through the course of the first year of my PhD candidature, to be at the forefront of research into sustainable urban design. I have found that there is increasing understanding and acceptance among researchers and policymakers that the sprawled, single-use, automobile dependent metropolitan areas often found in Australasia and North America are no longer sustainable.

Increasingly, the adverse health effects of excessive car use are being examined. In Perth, Western Australia the State Government has responded to the issues associated with sprawl by formulating the "Liveable Neighbourhoods" design code. This code is intended to facilitate a more sustainable form of urban development, characterised by increased opportunities for bicycling, walking and public transport use. In particular, liveable neighbourhoods are intended to be walkable environments, where housing is anchored by local services and facilities, and public transport routes. In contrast, conventional neighbourhoods are characterised by low density development, single-use zoning and priority for private motor vehicles.

Prior research shows that car dependent, sprawled urban environments generate numerous unsustainable outcomes. For example, excessive car use leads to higher emissions, which in turn affect people´s health. Other forms of pollution, such as water contamination are associated with such travel patterns. Moreover, the increasing scarcity of oil is a worrying omen for cities which are built round motor vehicles.

My research is being conducted in Perth, Western Australia. It is a comparison of the travel behaviour characteristics and environmental quality between a sample of both `liveable´ and `conventional´ estates. These outcomes will then be compared to selected personal health indicators in order to explore possible linkages. Ultimately, it will use a combination of surveys, observations and focus groups to answer questions about whether the "Liveable Neighbourhoods" design code is making a measurable difference to transport behaviour and health outcomes and the overall transport sustainability of Perth´s suburbs. The study is part of the RESIDential Environments Project (RESIDE) based at The University of Western Australia, a project which aims to the impact on walking, cycling and sense of community of neighbourhoods designed using liveable and conventional sub-division design codes.

In early April I was very fortunate to be able to visit Hong Kong and present the first phase of my research at the 12th Annual Sustainable Development Research Conference. I was part of a large international contingent to the conference, which had the theme of `sustainable cities´. The presenters, of which there were dozens, brought decidedly multidisciplinary content to the occasion. Topics ranged from local scale initiatives to regional development issues, urban hydrology to urban transport, sustainable building principles to corporate philanthropy, and included case studies, theoretical discussion and generalised examples. For me it was a treat to be able to present to such a diverse and esteemed audience. While many of the speakers were discussing issues of especial relevance to Asia, my talk was a reminder that planners in the Western World have often not got it right from a sustainability perspective.

At this stage, it remains to be seen whether liveable neighbourhoods will fulfil its mandate, although early indicators would suggest that it will not. Watch this space for more, when the data collection is complete and results analysed.

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisors, Professors Jeffrey Kenworthy and Billie Giles-Corti. Furthermore, I thank the chief investigators involved in the RESIDE study, namely Matthew Knuiman, Kimberly Van Niel, Max Bulsara, Fiona Bull, Terri Pikora, and Trevor Shilton. Thanks also to the National Heart Foundation, which is the Industry Partner for the Transport Sustainability and Health Study.