At one extreme master planned 'communities' can be soulless,sterile suburbs. The danger at the other extreme is social engineering. The question I have is can a city with character and soul be created without community input?

I went down to the Caloundra South display centre yesterday and spent a few hours with a friend discussing the possiblities and problems.  More >>

How far is it to the edge?  At some point business and community is going to clash if one keeps pushing the other. More >>

Where does the balance lie for material and psychological need in times of natural disaster?  More >>

 "An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and are often part of the alternative society. They typically also share responsibilities and resources. Intentional communities include cohousing communities, ecovillages, communes, survivalist retreats, kibbutzim, ashrams and some housing cooperatives. Typically, new members of an intentional community are selected by the community's existing membership, rather than by real-estate agents or land owners (if the land is not owned collectively by the community)."(wikipedia) More >>

And perhaps rightly so.  Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) asked whether the day, 11 July WAS in truth, a day to celebrate.   Amongst its aims this group is promoting urban and rural lifestyles and practices that are in harmony with the realities of the Australian environment, its resource base and its biodiversity.  Very Us, huh? More >>

When Mike Shone had just joined the social board we had a lengthy conversation about which affordable AND sustainable housing models we could explore in the Biosphere. I was dreaming about creating NEW learning community clusters from scratch. Mike was suggesting the social board should aim for a 'RETROFIT'.  More >>

A quick follow-up from the Noosa Residence and Rate Payers Association's Housing Forum at Noosa Bowls Club. As forewarned here is my presentation and list of links. More >>