Everyone is a pedestrian at some point in their journey. Roads serve part of an integrated mobility network in Japan. Photo: Sergio Rola
Everyone is a pedestrian at some point in their journey. Roads serve part of an integrated mobility network in Japan.

The Foreground five: our most-read stories for April

Transport, technology and cultivated nature mix it up in April’s most-read list. Let’s rethink roads for better public transport! Smart tech won’t improve urban access – that’s a political choice – but it could help urban plantings. And we find cultures are rich with trees and richer with gardening.

1. It’s time to move beyond the false binary of roads vs public transport

Governments in Australia are spending big on road infrastructure, but that doesn’t have to lead to less public transport.

The roads of many European, as well as Asian cities such as Bangkok, are vibrant city spaces with diverse transport modes.
The roads of many European, as well as Asian cities such as Bangkok, are vibrant city spaces with diverse transport modes.

2. It’s okay to garden if you listen to the landscape

With indigenous environments under threat globally, how might more experience of nature be included within increasingly dense urban development? A cross-disciplinary symposium at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne saw gardening and listening as crucial tools.

Long Island garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, features planted indigenous vegetation of the Lower Yarra River. Photo: Molonglo
Long Island Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, features planted indigenous vegetation of the Lower Yarra River. Photo: Molonglo

3. It’s the (political) economy, stupid: when it comes to urban transport, we’re doing it wrong

Political choices, not technological innovations, shape our urban transport systems. As long as governments continue to prize mobility over accessibility, those systems will remain unhealthy and ineffectual.

Traffic jams and congestion are a well-known outcome of poor political decisions to focus on transport mobility over urban accessibility.
Traffic jams and congestion are a well-known outcome of poor political decisions to focus on transport mobility over urban accessibility.

4. Smart streets, smart phones, smart watches… why not smart trees?

Augmented reality and artificial intelligence, smart sensors and real-time monitoring are helping to relieve pressures on overburdened city infrastructure. Urban trees are increasingly important multi-functional assets. Why aren’t they benefiting more from the same technologies?

The multi-functional role of street trees as living city infrastructure is growing in importance. How can they benefit from smart technologies?
The multi-functional role of street trees as living city infrastructure is growing in importance. How can they benefit from smart technologies?

5. Into the woods: an Easter meditation on trees

Trees connect cultures to landscapes, rooting traditions to place. In an age of unprecedented deforestation, we should remember that trees are more than the sum of their utilitarian value as timber, food, fuel or otherwise.

Trees play a key role in the religious and cultural observances of peoples around the world. The tree is central to Easter as well as Christmas. Photo: Joshua Earle
Trees play a key role in the religious and cultural observances of peoples around the world. The tree is central to Easter as well as Christmas.