Proposed "Joint Organisations" of councils should be expanded and made mandatory, the chief executive of Urban Taskforce NSW, Chris Johnson, has said. Revitalising Local Government, an independent report to the state government made public last week, recommends Sydney's 41 councils be reduced to 18, primarily through amalgamating small inner-city councils.

The concepts of 'central business districts' and 'industrial' 'employment areas' should be questioned for two reasons. The possible effects of the NBN and ICT more broadly on spatial decision-making has generally been overlooked. Secondly, the exclusion of residential from these CBD areas, and commercial and residential from centrally located 'industrial areas' can be seen as...

Wednesday night was due to be a celebration in Fortaleza. This north-eastern coastal city was the first in Brazil to complete its World Cup stadium in readiness for the 2014 contest. Things didn't quite work out as planned.