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Media Release

June 20 2008

UniSA research backs SA’s sustainable transport future

UniSA research underpins sustainable transport developmentUniSA researchers believe that major new investments in public transport announced in the recent SA State budget mark an important step forward in planning for a sustainable transport future.

The researchers from UniSA’s School of Natural and Built Environments said that plans to invest about $2 billion to rebuild the state’s public transport networks could not be more timely.

“Investment into improved transport infrastructure is a vital underpinning for the sustainable growth of Adelaide and the wider metropolitan region,” UniSA Professor of Urban and Regional Planning Stephen Hamnett said.

“We can not target the kind of population growth that has been discussed in SA over the past few years without investing in public transport solutions.”

Professor Hamnett said that research being undertaken at UniSA could soon make an important contribution to future transport and urban planning.

“Urban and regional planning researchers have just won two federal government grants of more than $600,000 for research into Adelaide's transport and environmental future,” Prof Hamnett said.

Professor Michael Taylor, Professor of Transport Planning and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies at UniSA will be working with Professor Hamnett to examine the potential role of transit-oriented development in Australian cities, with a particular focus on Adelaide.

Professor Hamnett said the team would be making a thorough critical assessment of the potential to transform development along a suburban rail corridor.

“We’ll be assessing a wide range of factors and looking at how we can increase transit usage, improve housing affordability and mitigate the impact of the increasing costs of car travel,” Prof Hamnett said.

“The University will be working in partnership in this project with the State Government’s Land Management Corporation, the Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure, Delfin Lend Lease and the local councils of Salisbury, Playford and Gawler.”

Another team from UniSA will be working with the SA Department of Energy and Infrastructure to develop a model of what makes urban communities sustainable.

Drs Jon Kellett, Lou Wilson, Alpana Sivam, Sadasivam Karuppannan and Stephen Pullen along with Kathryn Davidson and Drs Peter Tisato and David Ness from the Department will examine proposed developments at Noarlunga Centre as a case study for the project.

Dr Kellett said the project builds on national collaborative research work examining all the factors that influence housing affordability and sustainable communities.

“We will look at every impact a development proposal may have from energy efficiency and transportation right through to sociological factors, such as access to services, housing options and the community response to a development model that is new to Adelaide,” Dr Kellett said.

“Sustainable development is complex – it is not about ticking off boxes around a few popular concerns,” he said.

“If you want to develop successful long term changes in planning that contribute to a more sustainable urban future you need to understand the complex interactions that happen in communities and work out the best outcomes for individuals, communities and the environment.”

Professor Hamnett said UniSA’s multidisciplinary research approach, with specialists from the School of Natural & Built Environments and UniSA’s Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies working together to explore the development of a sustainable future for SA, offers an important expert resource for the government as it makes significant decisions about future transit and urban development in the Adelaide metropolitan area.
 

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