Vol. 29 No. 2 (2018)

. Vertical urban development (VUD) flourishes in various cities that pursue the vision of a compact and sustainable urban development. The implementations of VUD have yielded positive impacts for both the government and the public by reducing the transport cost for residents and increasing accessibility. Despite implementation of VUD offering various advantages in urban planning, the majority of past urban models represent urban growth as an expansive type of development. Hence, the implementation of VUD in urban modelling has not been explored. This study aimed to investigate the influence…

. The extent to which decentralisation is compatible with effective performance management that is able to influence the motivation of public sector bodies has been a subject of limited attention in the academic literature. This paper contributes to that limited debate by investigating the extent to which minimum service standards (MSS), a performance management tool directed at local government service delivery, influences the motivation of local governments in highly decentralised systems, such as that in Indonesia. The two research questions are: (a) what influence does MSS have on the…

. Restricted by political ideology and institutional barriers, the development of rural China has in the past relied heavily on government spending. However, with institutional reform and the development of a market economy, private investment is playing an increasingly important role in rural development, especially in traditional rural villages. Daxi village in Anji County of Zhejiang Province is a typical case. Investment in the Tianhuangping Hydropower Station and the Beautiful Villlages policy supported by the public sector (government and state-owned enterprises) have been important…

. As educators we seek to set up meaningful graduate attributes to encourage creativity and a drive for innovation among our graduates in order to produce professionals not content with learning how to do more of the same, but who have the courage to push the boundaries of their profession and innovate. Referring to preparatory research on work in progress at Curtin University, we explored the capacity of team teaching using online gaming platform technology. We investigated the feasibility of engaging teams of students in practical applications of theoretical concepts of communicative and…

. Natural disasters continue to hit urban areas worldwide, undermining community resilience capacity. The combination of increasing precipitation because of climate change, sea level rise, and uncontrolled rapid urbanization bring greater risk of flooding impacts in urban areas. Such flooding has a disproportionate effect on the urban poor, who often live in informal settlements. Meanwhile, the rapid expansion of informal settlements encroaching on floodplains that restrict the storage of flood waters and the expansion of impermeable urban surfaces also contribute to the increasing magnitude…