Greg Vann

Hmmm Brisbane rates as the 14th most congested city on the 2025 INRX index. Maybe that’s what you get when you keep thinking expanding roads for driving fixes traffic…

16h

Hear hear!

John Munro@johnmunro.bsky.social

Slowly - too slowly - but surely, the tide is turning. #UKCarCulture is entering its terminal phase.

“Most Australians… live in areas that did not meet density & walkability thresholds in line with WHO targets to encourage physical activity” Billie Giles-Corti, a leading researcher on the link between city design & community health.

“richest 1% have accumulated 34 times more additional wealth over the past decade than the poorest 50% of humanity combined… political movements directly funded by billionaires whose central argument is that immigrants are to blame for the decline in living standards.” Carrick Ryan

Changing the balance in investment changes the balance of transport modes.

Melissa & Chris Bruntlett@modacitylife.com

Since 2016, London’s cycling network has grown fivefold, from 90 to 450 kilometres. The results? 1.5 million daily cycle journeys—a 43% increase since 2019—twice as many bikes as cars on City of London streets during the day, and motor traffic in steady decline—having fallen 25% in the same period.

In Chennai for a friend’s wedding. Big city with typical Indian traffic, cars, buses, trucks, tuktuks, motor bikes etc all mixed in & tooting horns, pedestrians often wandering between them. Congested & a bit chaotic but it functions without many incidents because speeds are low.

City has a good metro system and is expanding it significantly too, currently adding 118km across 3 new corridors and plans for further expansion.

I love October in Brisbane, because it’s jacaranda time. They pepper the city with bursts of vibrant purple and are a hallmark of the city. 1/2

My Alma mater, the University of Queensland, has adopted the jacaranda purple as its colour. These trees are throughout its main campus in Saint Lucia in Brisbane. And even its basketball courts and utility covers are purple!

visualcapitalist.comRanked: Where People Have the Most and Least FreedomWhere is freedom highest in the world? See how countries rank, and why the U.S. is falling behind other advanced economies.

Interesting info on freedom. Not surprised to see it dominated by Northern Europe social democracies and pleased Australia is in the top 10. USA plummeted from 22nd to 37th. Australia, beware of leaders who claim they are for freedoms then curtail it. www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-where...

Traders have a tendency to overestimate how many of their customers arrive by car and underestimate the increase in spending that accompanies more walkable and bikeable streets.

Good initiative, Brent. Thanks for including me in the pack, I’m chuffed!

Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social

STARTER PACKS from credible sources are still a key way to find great accounts to follow, and also to BUILD GREAT COMMUNITIES here on Bluesky. They’ve been key for the Urbanist community here. This one supported global urbanists from OUTSIDE North America. I hope you’ll follow them, and SHARE IT.

thenewdaily.com.auTenants pushed to the brink as rents flatline| The Money EditionTenants have hit an “affordability limit” across Australia, which could mean mum-and-dad landlords are forced to sell up.

Really? Reporting “Some mum-and-dad investors may be forced to sell investment properties” & “rent growth has stalled across most Australian capital cities” like it’s a bad thing? www.thenewdaily.com.au/themoneyedit...

fastcompany.com50 Reasons Why Everyone Should Want More Walkable StreetsFrom making you live longer to making cities more resilient: If you want a reason to make your city more walkable, it's in here.

Whats the point of making places better for walking, did I hear people asking? Well here’s 50 - count ‘em, there’s FIFTY - benefits of more walkable places! www.fastcompany.com/3062989/50-r...

Recent visits to a range of historic town centres in Europe has refreshed my understanding of what Jane is saying here…

Interesting graphic from www.visualcapitalist.com/where-work-l... about relative work life balance in US states. Nearly all the states with the highest are progressive, and those with the lowest are in the south.

licensing.visualcapitalist.comWhere the Richest 0.1% Hold More Wealth Than the Bottom 80% – Visual Capitalist LicensingTake your content to the next level with Visual Capitalist Licensing. Explore thousands of visualizations in our content library now.

This makes me feel very sad. licensing.visualcapitalist.com/product/mapp...

15 Sept

Split in Croatia is a spectacular city in a wonderful setting but boy is it car dominated - parking all over footpaths and in every spare space. Need to get Enrique Penalosa in to sort it out!

10 Sept

9 Sept

Rode some transit in Rome while there last week. All pretty easy and seamless.

9 Sept

The pantheon in Rome is such a gem of a building - one of my favourites.

4 Sept

Nailed it!

Fiona Katauskas@fionakatauskas.bsky.social

ICYMI- My #climate cartoon for @thepointau.bsky.social

4 Sept

Although I’m not really a fan on the “war on” language, it resonates with me that the claims about demonising the car are ill founded. What most western cities have really done is designed out walking to accommodate the car.

2 Sept

Spot on. Walkability is not just, or even mainly, about distance. It’s also about how a walk feels - if it feels safe, comfortable and interesting, more will walk.

23 Aug

Sunday ride along the Brisbane River in our city’s spectacular winter.

mycitylogan.com.auMayor: Developers need to pay their way amid rapid growth - MyCity LoganLogan City Council says developers are failing to pay their fair share of infrastructure costs in new housing areas, warning that further expansion of small-lot estates on the city’s fringe risks shif...

21 Aug

“Small lot green field development is not the solution to the housing crisis; it just shifts costs to ratepayers while developers’ margins are protected”. Logan Mayor Jon Raven. mycitylogan.com.au/mayor-develo...

21 Aug

It’s well proven that widening roads doesn’t solve congestion, but that still hasn’t shifted the dial on the common belief and political expediency of continuing to do so to pander to that belief. This graphic from Russell King is a handy simple explanation of the problem.

20 Aug

Dog parks - the modern community gathering place!

Brisbane’s new RolanStreet station building is starting to shape up okay!

That should be Roma Street, autocorrect strikes again!

Like most places, Qld road toll is increasing & vulnerable road users are more at risk. Queensland Walks, the walking advocacy body I chair, joined with the state motoring & kindred organisations to call for safer roads via campaign 107, the likely no. who’ll die on our roads from now till Christmas

Yet road deaths have been normalised as “just what happens” when we make driving the dominant and favoured means of transport. These deaths aren’t inevitable. The transport systems we design and vehicle choices we make as a society cause them.

I contrast this with the city of Helsinki which, through decades of heavy investment in safe walking paths, bike infrastructure and reliable public transit to reduce car dependency, lower speed limits, smart street design and automated enforcement recently recorded a full year of zero road deaths.

16 Aug

Thanks to Russell King on LinkedIn for this insight. It’s not about what you think!

15 Aug

Hobart’s MONA (Museum of Old & New Art) is a real knock out. Been there many times but today explored the new additions, most in areas carved out of the rock under the ground.

13 Aug

If you really want to rebalance transport in your city, build a proper bikeway network quickly.

youtu.beQueensland Walks Month is celebrated by Greg Vann our Queensland Walks Incorporated PresidentYouTube video by Queensland Walks Incorporated

13 Aug

Folks, it’s Queensland Walks Month. Let’s celebrate walking and its fundamental role in individual and community health and well being. Share your stories! The President of Qld Walks made a bit of a video with more about this. (Spoiler alert: the President is me!). youtu.be/GAtBrcf3zGs

theguardian.comThis burning summer is the proof: the voices of climate denial aren’t just delusional, they’re deadly | Sadiq KhanLook at our blazing forests and parched cities. Green policies aren’t a ‘luxury’, and we can’t burn more oil and gas. People need the truth, says London mayor Sadiq Khan

12 Aug

City leadership right there.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan@london.gov.uk

It's now been confirmed that this summer will be the hottest on record. For those opposing bold action on the climate crisis - you're not just putting lives and the planet at risk today, but dooming future generations.

spreaker.comEpisode 16: Charles Montgomery (Author) — Happy Cities, Trust & the Design of Belonging - Realtopia - Real Estate for Teens

11 Aug

Indeed. We are social animals and need to herd. Seeing each other in real life is a fundamental foundation to our well being.

Charles Montgomery@charlesincities.bsky.social

Social trust grows when we meet face to face, and it dwindles when we are separated by screens or windshields. Loved my rapid-fire convo with with Naomi Cohen, the 15-year-old wunderkind host of Realtopia Podcast. www.spreaker.com/episode/epis...

11 Aug

I like this tagline from @urbantruth.bsky.social: “Mobility freedom comes from mobility choice”. When cars are in plague proportions in cities, this limits mobility choice and therefore mobility freedom. In other words too many cars limit our ability to move around easily.

Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social

If you haven’t followed @urbantruth.bsky.social yet, checked out our website and content/campaigns, and helped share our posters and messaging, I hope you’ll consider all of that. It’s an important mission. #UrbanTruth

10 Aug

Stage 3 of Gold Coast light rail from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads opened yesterday to huge crowds. It will be a great success and makes a mockery of the ill judged decision not to build stage 4 to the Gold Coast airport. I predict that’ll happen eventually.

9 Aug

How to start a Sunday:

8 Aug

We all know what our city could do better. But catching a trademark city cat to Howard Smith Wharves under the landmark Story Bridge on a winter evening, under clear blue skies and a temperature around 19C just reminds me that Brisbane is a GREAT city.

7 Aug

Some big things opening in public transport in Oceania: Gold Coast light rail stage 4, connecting Broadbeach & Burleigh opens this weekend Auckland’s City Rail link opens 13 September. I predict they’ll both be huge successes!

visualcapitalist.comRanked: Where Wages Come Closest to the Price of HappinessIn this ranking Slovenia is the only country where wages exceed the “price of happiness”, the income level where happiness plateaus.

7 Aug

This is alarming for Australia, which has the highest ranked income required to be happy at $161k a year, and an average wage of $59k. No wonder there are so many agree folk here in the “lucky country”… www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-incom...