It’s cheaper to provide last resort housing to homeless people than to leave them sleeping rough, a new SGS Economics and Planning cost-benefit analysis has found. The University of Melbourne’s Sustainable Society Institute homelessness study The Case for Investing in Last-Resort Housing found that 75 per cent of economic benefits of providing emergency accommodation would flow back to the community. The cost-benefit analysis led by SGS Principal and Partner Ellen Witte...

Recent studies show that cultural diversity benefits Australian society via its economy. Not only in the areas of tourism, education, and global linkages but also with the less obvious yet valuable assets of general community vibrancy, resilience, and adaptability. Surveys widely indicate that Australians support cultural diversity along with continued immigration. Furthermore, they believe that multiculturalism has a positive effect on Australia...

In this article, we explore how infrastructure enhances economic productivity and growth; government investors can generate revenue from infrastructure projects; and communities can build a strategic business case for a city deal.

Australian urban policy is in a quandary. Jobs are being attracted to the inner areas of capital cities, whereas housing is still being provided mainly at the urban fringe.

Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) has played a critical role in public policy for more than 50 years. Everyone concerned with the public policy can benefit from being aware of the key features of CBA and importantly, its limitations and how it may evolve. CBA goes beyond financial analysis which considers direct monetary costs and revenues. It instead, enables policymakers to assess whether a policy initiative or project will provide a net community benefit. CBA also takes into account that the (limited) resources deployed in implementing the initiative or project have alternative productive uses.

In cities worldwide, urban renewal is transforming underutilised and degraded areas into spaces and built environments, which meet contemporary living, working, or cultural needs. Urban renewal can happen incrementally, as new investment modernises established urban areas, but is generally brought about by a dedicated public effort. Successful urban renewal can generate many benefits, but as critics have highlighted, these have not always come to fruition. A review of recent case studies suggests ten guiding principles for urban renewal decision-making. Such principles will support good outcomes from a public interest perspective.