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Reposted by Howard Maclean

Matt Cowgill @mattcowgill.bsky.social · 7d

Impossible to read this passage in Seeing Like a State and not picture Canberra from above

Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · 11d

Unsure about this one, in my view the meta-brain gives you insight into the takes of others and arms you with the rhetorical tools needed to combat or support those takes, but only occasionally does this equate to intelligence.

William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 12d

Posting is a Faustian bargain where in exchange for degrading your mental health you intermittently get access to a far smarter meta-brain.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · 14d

In Canberra we are more exposed to this bargain than most, because Quenbeyan is closer to the centre of Canberra than some Town Centres, but by century old bargain its Country and therefore there's no question of building an apartment tower there (nsw exurbs orbiting Canberra is a different story)

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · 14d

This is why every time we discuss "New Cities" the idea is always to build a brand new city completely from scratch, rather than say, building out Ballarat or Wagga Wagga. Because a New City doesn't break the contract, but population growth in an existing town does.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · 14d

And you can hear this whenever the discussion of regional population growth comes up - the view that people live in the Country to escape the City and that should be respected is dominant (especially given that every high demand part of the Country is dominated by tree/sea changers).

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · 14d

More broadly there's an unofficial social contract in pretty much every Australian state bar Queensland that the state is divided between the City (the state capital) and the Country - and that the City will grow and experience visible change and the Country will not.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · 14d

@jonobri.com hits the grey elephant in the new city debate - that the vast majority of regional towns and small cities are determined to avoid growing any larger than they currently are.

Jonathan O'Brien @jonobri.com · 14d

No, Australia does not need new cities.

My new essay sets the record straight: we have a lot of cities, but we aren’t using them as well as we could be. To make our cities more successful, we have to open up a lot more land for commercial uses to enable agglomeration.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Aug 13

I once went seat of my uber to seat of my flight in 8 minutes flat at Canberra Airport.

Matt Brown @mattbrown.bsky.social · Aug 13

Actually, you know what? Let’s stop complaining for a second. QT this with a GOOD airport. Defend that title as much or as little as you like. But let’s hear about airports that don’t suck.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Aug 5

Like it's insane. We live on a continent where one of the defining features is that for most of the year, the sun will burn you where you stand if you are outside without protection, and instead our planning systems are acting like we live in Norway. For Australia, shade is good!

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Aug 5

Potentially one of the weirdest things about Australian planning culture is how every planning department in the country is hellbent on ensuring that the public and private realm has the least protection from UV rays in the summer possible in the name of preventing "overshadowing"

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 19

One of the weirdest things about ACT Politics is that Light rail stage one ($675 million construction) is often cited as an example of unimaginable fiscal proclivity, when as time goes on we're reminded that it was actually a spectacularly good deal.

www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05...

The Block and Grand Designs have nothing on the RBA's billion-dollar renovation horror show

Renovating the Reserve Bank's headquarters is increasingly looking like a disastrous episode of home building show Grand Designs. The key difference? The budget for the horror reno is now north of $1 ...

www.abc.net.au

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Reposted by Howard Maclean

Jonathan O'Brien @jonobri.com · Jul 12

The Problem with Urban Planning: a professional silo is gatekeeping our nation's growth.

My new essay w/ @inflectionpoints.work

The problem at the heart of planning is not political—it's professional. 🧵

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 12

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

YIMBYs vs NIMBYs in the battle for your backyard

The Yes In My Backyard movement is lobbying for denser cities and more housing in places people want to work and live and YIMBYs want these homes built yesterday. But the NIMBYs haven't given up yet.

www.abc.net.au

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 12

If you think you have problems, spare a thought for this Rose Bay homeowner that is complaining that zoning changes have made her and her neighbours fantastically wealthy.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 12

Australian journalism is defined by its low expectations of its readership, and so I'm super excited by @inflectionpoints.work and the potential for a masthead that treats its audience as neither stupid or likely to switch off at the 1000th word.

Inflection Points @inflectionpoints.work · Jul 12

Talking about reform is our national ritual: white papers, inquiries, op-eds, post-election promises.

But too often, these calls create more process than progress.

So we’re launching Inflection Points—a new platform for longform policy writing that aims to cut through.

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Reposted by Howard Maclean

Inflection Points @inflectionpoints.work · Jul 12

Talking about reform is our national ritual: white papers, inquiries, op-eds, post-election promises.

But too often, these calls create more process than progress.

So we’re launching Inflection Points—a new platform for longform policy writing that aims to cut through.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 9

Sydney built the political coalition for the most ambitious public transport project in the Anglosphere - not off free public transport, but on public transport so good that everyone would take it. And it worked.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 9

Having automated trains going 100kmph every four minutes, turning crossing the Harbour into a *three minute* journey from Victoria Cross to Barangaroo is a big part of this, but NSW also made the stations utterly gorgeous, cathedrals of public infrastructure that are a joy to travel through.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 9

The Metro has ongoing near universal support in Sydney, despite being a fantastically expensive infrastructure project with cost overruns, precisely because it's by far the fastest form of transport. No matter how rich you are in Sydney, the Metro is your quickest option for getting through the CBD.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 9

Tapping the sign

worksinprogress.co/issue/the-ho...

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 8

Alright, I'm now back on this website more fully - appreciate firing any accounts I should follow as I attempt to build a timeline.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Jul 8

Good to see it still in circulation.

Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Dec 6

And yes, the principal reason for this is Australian architecture is very poorly insulated, which makes heating very expensive to run, and so we have low indoor temperatures in the parts of the country that get cold in winter.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Freezing indoors? That’s because Australian homes are closer to tents than insulated eco-buildings | Philip Oldfield

Our national building standards need to be overhauled to fight climate change and energy poverty – and improve our lives

www.theguardian.com

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Dec 6

This is also why lightweight puffer jackets from Kathmandu and Macpac are a winter staple in Canberra and Melbourne - Australians don't take their jackets off at the door at restaurants, shopping or at home, and so having lightweight, mobile warmth is key, as opposed to long coats.

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Howard Maclean @howardfmaclean.bsky.social · Dec 6

As a Canberran, my first time in Germany was incredibly confusing, because it would be chilly out on the street and then tropical indoors, easy t shirt weather. The cool climate Australian practice of having winter indoor temperatures only slightly higher than outside (maybe 12-14C) is not standard.

William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · Dec 5

"just wear layers bro" ok but every indoor environment is a furnace so I have to peel myself like an onion, then reverse peel myself like a tenet-onion whenever I step inside or outside

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