Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the world, with around 90% of us living in urban areas. As our city populations continue to rise, more people are choosing to move to regional towns for economic reasons or to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Most of the existing research into liveability has focussed on large urban areas, but CAUL-Hub researcher Dr Melanie Davern has created a series of regional liveability assessments to support councils with their planning needs. This research was featured in the UN-Habitat and the World Health Organization’s Compendium of Inspiring Practices: Health Edition, which has since been included in a new sourcebook, Integrating Health in Urban and Territorial Planning.
The sourcebook, which can be used by anyone in the public health, urban and territorial planning sectors, guides the development of urban and regional communities that focus on improved human health and wellbeing outcomes.
Image: ‘Bendigo’ by Mariyath, available at https://bit.ly/3jbWctv, licenced under CC BY 2.0. Full terms: creativecommons. org/licenses/by/2.0/au