Former Prof of Built Environment

Questions of property rights are central to the organisation of urban space yet remain
weakly theorised in the context of sexuality. Tracing battles over sspaces of commer-
cial sex in inner Sydney, this paper argues that particular claims to privacy and prop-
erty underpin exclusionary actions restricting the boundaries of sexual citizenship.
However, the paper also notes the potential for the emergence of ‘sexual commons’
where claims to an enhanced notion of sexual citizenship can be made. The paper
concludes that property rights consist of overlapping and complex claims to space in
which questions of sexuality and the sanctity of family life are often brought to the
fore. In arguing this, the paper demonstrates that property rights constitute a key
mechanism in the management and regulation of the (nocturnal) city.

The state regulates sex industry types in accordance with a range of complex, overlapping and often conflicting legal, policing, planning and administrative mechanisms. The sex industry in Sydney is currently regulated through all levels of Australian government. New South Wales (NSW) is seen as leading the charge within Australia for its neoliberal market model of occupational and premises regulation. Taking a transdisciplinary research design, this paper identifies positive steps towards citizenship and the sex industry in inner Sydney. We consider how local authorities have attempted to engage with these issues in our analysis. First, we outline the law reforms that have occurred. Second, we explore how local authorities in Sydney have sought to place sex industry-based participatory processes. Third, we discuss how engagement of the sex industry within the citizenry extends to a provision of safe and violence-free working environment.

The Latrobe Valley has substantial brown coal deposits which are currently mined for use in coal-fired power stations which supply 85% of Victoria’s electricity. This paper considers the role that industrial ecology could play in underpinning the future structure (2050-2100) of the Latrobe valley industry base in a carbon-constrained world. Potential future scenarios for industry clusters were developed around three themes: bio-industries and renewables (no coal usage); electricity from coal with carbon capture and storage (low to high coal use options exist within this scenario); coal to products (e.g. hydrogen, ammonia, diesel, methanol, plastics, char with medium to high overall coal use relative to current levels). This research uses life cycle thinking to characterise the potential water, greenhouse gas and property rights impacts across life cycle stages.

Premises associated with commercial sex—including brothels, striptease clubs, sex cinemas, and sex shops—have increasingly been accepted as legitimate land uses, albeit ones whose location needs to be controlled because of assumed ‘negative externalities’. However, the planning and licensing regulations excluding such premises from areas of residential land use are often predicated on assumptions of nuisance that have not been empirically substantiated. Accordingly, this paper reports on a survey of those living close to sex industry premises in New South Wales, Australia. The results suggest that although some residents have strong moral objections to sex premises, in general residents note few negative impacts on local amenity or quality of life, with distance from a premise being a poor predictor of residents’ experiences of nuisance. These findings are considered in relation to the literatures on sexuality and space given regulation which ultimately appears to reproduce heteronormative moralities rather than respond to genuine environmental nuisances.

This paper reviews the meaning of carbon by applying five broad questions to this controversial substance: what is land; what is property; what is ownership; what is value; and what are property rights? By exploring each of these questions, we aim to show that a multidimensional and complex understanding is required for effective policy discussions to confront the challenge of global warming. We engage the perspective of a miner and an environmental activist to illustrate the tensions relating to carbon pollution in an era of climate change, and in so doing we offer a parable for our carbon constrained world. We conclude by considering the implications of property rights for carbon for polluters, governments, people as individuals with a right to breathe clean air, as well as the global commons and other species.

Ce document examine la signification de carbone en appliquant cinq grandes questions à cette substance controversée: ce qui est de la terre, ce qui est la propriété; quelle est la valeur, et ce sont les droits d'appropriation? En explorant chacune de ces questions, nous avons pour but de montrer qu'une compréhension multidimensionnelle et complexe est nécessaire pour les discussions politiques efficaces pour relever le défi du réchauffement climatique. Nous nous engageons la perspective d'un mineur et une environnementaliste pour illustrer les tensions liées à la pollution de carbone dans une ère de changement climatique et, ce faisant, nous offrons une parabole pour notre monde sous contrainte carbone. Nous concluons en examinant les implications des droits d'appropriation pour le carbone pour les pollueurs, les gouvernements, nous en tant qu'individus ayant le droit de respirer un air pur, ainsi que le patrimoine mondial et d'autres espèces.

Este artículo revisa el significado de carbono mediante la aplicación de cinco preguntas generales a esta sustancia polémica: ¿cuál es la tierra, lo que es la propiedad, lo que es la propiedad, lo que es valor, y cuáles son los derechos de propiedad? Al explorar cada una de estas preguntas, tratamos de mostrar que un entendimiento multidimensional y complejo se requiere para la discusión política eficaz para enfrentar el reto del calentamiento global. Hacemos participar a la perspectiva de un minero y un activista del medio ambiente para ilustrar las tensiones relativas a la contaminación de carbono en una era de cambio climático y, al hacerlo, le ofrecemos una parábola de nuestro limitado mundo de carbono. Y concluimos considerando las implicaciones de los derechos de propiedad de carbono para los contaminadores, los gobiernos, nosotros como individuos con derecho a respirar aire limpio, así como el patrimonio común y otras especies.

In a time of climate change, cities are challenged by the twin demands of reduced carbon emissions and the provision of a potable water supply. Meanwhile our governance and legal frameworks are inadequately prepared for the emergent trade in carbon property rights and water property rights. Such instances are compounded when legal frameworks from developed economies are applied to developing nations, particularly those with a reliance on customary structures. The key contribution to the body of literature is our highlighting of inappropriate reliance on legal precedent to explain emergent rights (which sees them wrongly described in a climate changed world) and the evolution of a coherent model of the constellation of carbon property relations and interests.

This paper examines the potential for property rights  in carbon to affect industrial ecology opportunities. Given that emissions trading schemes for greenhouse gases are becoming more widely implemented, the nuances in definition of the carbon property right can affect barriers and opportunities for industrial ecology, alongside other factors. The paper uses legislation for emissions trading in Australia and two possible scenarios for the future of energy generation in the Latrobe Valley, Australia in 2050 as an illustrative case study to identify issues for industrial ecology arising from ill-defined carbon property rights. Currently, electricity generation in the region is reliant on coal-based generators. Scenario one focuses on bio-industries and renewables with no coal usage; and scenario two focuses on electricity from coal with carbon capture and storage resulting in moderate to high coal use. If a carbon property right for soil carbon emerges before a property right for subterranean carbon, then bio-based  industrial ecology opportunities could be enabled ahead of a regional symbiosis involving carbon capture and storage. A generalised framework for considering the intersection of industrial ecology and carbon property rights is presented with a focus on tensions in: contributing to sustainable development, system boundaries and finally exchange mechanisms.

This paper describes the thinking used to develop an integrated urban systems model of transport and domestic dwelling energy-use in association with domestic water-use. The model aims to identify common consumption trends -synergies and tensions -to improve the efficacy of urban development policies that target sustainability issues in these infrastructure sectors. Examining the limitations of four other models used to understand similar problems, highlights the potential benefits of such a model. Using Sydney as a case study, the paper provides examples of preliminary results.

The FIG Task Force on Institutional and Organisational Development has taken forward a programme of work to assess the particular challenges to building organisational capacity. The Task Force developed, tested and refined a self-assessment questionnaire to determine capacity at system, organisation and individual levels; this was made available to and completed by professionals from many countries. In reviewing the responses