By - ivan the founder
How making good decisions begins by “measuring what matters”
“Being a good (decision maker) begins with having the right information and mental models for how the world works” (Jim Chalmers, 2023) In his recent essay, the Treasurer of Australia Jim Chalmers has met the overdue need for our...
Planning is in the spotlight! What’s your call to action?
Planning at state and local levels is in the spotlight – and for good reason. We should be planning for the complex challenges we are experiencing with much more agility.
A note from The Netherlands
On a recent trip to The Netherlands, I spent a day with Saskia Ruijsink, who is an Urban Strategies and Planning Expert, at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) located in the Erasmus...
The implications of changing demography on housing demand in Adelaide
Last week I presented a paper to the Urban Development Institute of Australia’s South Australian chapter (UDIA SA). The brief from the UDIA was ‘ talk to us about the implications of changing demography on...
Demography and destiny in Western Sydney
.id was recently asked to present at the Western Sydney University Senior Management Team Conference. The objective was to set the University’s strategic trajectory based on relevant evidence and projections...
Using population forecasts to project the health outcomes of suburbs
While there are well-documented links between health behaviours and health outcomes, there is also a growing body of work suggesting that the way we are designing and building our suburbs can have a significant...
Putting forward a reasoned view on Australian immigration
A recent BRW Article noted that some key business leaders people were taking up arms against ‘Big Australia’.
Does ‘Big Australia’ mean ‘Big Immigration’?
In our last post, we noted that while Australian population growth is projected to slow towards the end of this century, Australia will still ‘outgrow’ much of the world, including many of our major trading...
Australia – outgrowing the world?
Despite two world wars, the 20th Century produced an unprecedented explosion in the human population. But that was then and this is now, and the human species isn’t growing like it used to. In fact, the latest...
Wanganui's baby blues
A case study of the impacts of service delivery on population outcomes.
Reliable local area economic data is no longer hard to come by
With something like 200 councils using profile.id ® over the past 15 years or so, a frequently asked question at council briefing and training sessions has been, “Can you extend profile.id ® to include economic...
The case for being curious – in spatial decision making (and life in general)
The proverb ‘Curiosity killed the cat…’ is no doubt full of wisdom as proverbs are, but I frequently despair at the lack of curiosity people display. Who would discourage anybody from being curious? Being...
Forecasting is inevitably controversial
…and our work in New Zealand is proving no exception
Fast Planning in New Zealand
Hey urban planners in OZ!… Do you want some challenges that are a bit different from managing growth? Well check out what’s happening in New Zealand.
Migration – A Perspective from Wellington, New Zealand
Moving from where you currently live is generally a big deal because it is typically costly and in particular it is hard to leave your local friends and family. People tend to have different propensities to...
Spatial Planning - a new paradigm for planning in New Zealand?
Spatial Planning has a long tradition in the northern hemisphere; and it’s likely to be widely adopted by local government in New Zealand – with Auckland Council about to publish its first Spatial Plan. Spatial...
Census Data, People & Places…a New Zealand case study
In my short time in New Zealand, I have observed some concern about Census data being ‘out-of-date’, with that concern being fuelled by it now being delayed to 2013. However, I believe the 2006 Census data is...
Who is accessing broadband and who is not? Is it only Regional Australia that is missing out?
With the National Broadband Network (NBN) being hotly debated, we typically hear from the media that regional Australia suffers poor internet access – a fact which we at .id are well aware of given that we are...
Is there a market for family-style apartment living in Australia?
In which countries of the world do families live in apartments? I suspect that a significant percentage of families live in apartments in all urbanised (developed and developing) countries – with the exception...
