Geography / Year 7 / Geographical Knowledge and Understanding / Unit 2: Place and liveability

Curriculum content descriptions

Strategies used to enhance the liveability of places, especially for young people, including examples from Australia and Europe (ACHGK047)

Elaborations
  • researching methods implemented in Australia and Europe to improve the liveability of a place, and evaluating their applicability to their own locality
  • developing a specific proposal to improve an aspect of the liveability of their place, taking into account the needs of diverse groups in the community, including young people (for example, through fieldwork in the local recreation area) or traditional owners (for example, developing bilingual signage or Indigenous garden projects in the local area)
  • discussing the impact of housing density on the liveability of places
  • examining whether liveability and environmental sustainability can be enhanced at the same time
General capabilities
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural understanding
  • Personal and social capability Personal and social capability
ScOT terms

Europe,  Australia,  Urban planning,  Wellbeing,  Youth,  Young adults,  Recreational facilities

Interactive

Laptop wrap – improving liveability

A page with a focus on using geographical data to plan for future community needs, with supporting activities and links to resources.

Online

Liveability and sustainable living - teacher resource

This resource for teachers is a series of 12 activities in three parts that can be used to support the year 7 geography unit, Place and liveability. Each part includes several detailed activities relevant to exploring different aspects of liveability. These include: investigating local qualities of liveability, making comparisons ...

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Design principles about place: productivity and sustainability

This is a multilayered resource that presents the 12 design principles of the Urban design protocol for Australian cities. The principles are presented in three sections and link to important information about the attributes of each of the principles. The principles about place are enhancing, connected, diverse and enduring ...

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Case studies in urban design

This is a rich, multilayered resource that presents six case studies demonstrating the 12 principles of the Urban design protocol designed for Australian cities. The case studies include: a mixed use precinct in Darling Harbour; regeneration plans for Parramatta; reservoir gardens in Paddington; a youth activities area ...

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Protocol framework for urban design

This is a rich resource about the Urban design protocol for Australian cities. The resource describes the protocol, including the aims, the five pillars on which it is founded, and how the protocol relates to the National urban policy goals and objectives of productivity, sustainability, liveability and governance. The ...

Online

Disability Rights, Accessibility and Liveability

This is a unit of work about disability rights, accessibility and liveability. It explores: liveable communities for diverse groups of people; assessing liveability of a local places for people with disabilities; disability rights and accessibility; and accessible transport services. The resource includes: an introduction; ...

Interactive

Refugees welcome here

This resource embeds the use of online collaboration tools and 21st century learning skills in a student-centered hands-on project designed to welcome refugees into their community. The syllabus outcomes are aligned to NSW Stage 4 English, Geography or Visual Arts but this could be used with older or younger students by ...

Video

BTN: World population explosion, 1996

The growth of the world's population and the pressure this places on resources and the environment is a highly debated topic. Watch this clip from 1996 to find out about the trends and concerns associated with population growth at that time, and consider how perspectives and patterns may differ today.

Video

ABC RN: Melbourne from a tram

Get ready to board a Melbourne tram for a journey around the City Circle route! Along the way, the passengers on the tram will highlight some aspects of Melbourne's urban design, both past and present, giving you a real sense of place. Is this the most 'liveable' city in Australia, as many claim, or a city in need of change?

Video

Foreign Correspondent: Damming the free and mighty Mekong

The Mekong has been a rare thing: a largely untouched and free-flowing river. Stretching for nearly 5,000 km from the mountains of Tibet to Vietnam's Mekong Delta, it has provided a way of life for millions of people and been an important trading route between south-western China and south-eastern Asia. In this clip from ...

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ABC News: Sydney slips in world cities rankings, 2012

A 'Cities of Opportunity' study in 2012 found that, while Sydney was regarded as a 'livable' city, its residents faced some significant urban issues. With other cities moving ahead of Sydney in the rankings, questions have been asked about why the cost of living in Sydney is so high and what should be done to solve some ...

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Foreign Correspondent: The Mekong: A damming example

The government of Laos has plans for many revenue-raising dams along the Mekong River. Find out about a dam, the Nam Theun 2, which was completed in 2010 and lies across the Nam Theun river in the Nakai Plateau. This clip from the same year asks if the dam could be the flagship for others to be built along the Mekong. Discover ...

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Foreign Correspondent: Dams and dolphins on the Mekong?

If the Lao Government's plans are realised, nine hydropower dams will be built across the Mekong River in Laos, and more across its tributaries. The government wants the country to become the 'battery of Asia'. With this dream comes a host of issues. Listen to reasons why the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) suggests hydro-dam ...

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This Day Tonight: A city without a heart?

Iconic but sterile. Nationally significant yet isolated. The city of Canberra regularly seems to divide opinion. Watch this clip and take an intriguing look at life in Canberra at the start of the 1970s. As you'll see, arguments about the liveability of Canberra are nothing new.

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Foreign Correspondent: Cenotes

The Yucatán Peninsula is located in south-eastern Mexico and covers a vast area of coastline south of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a popular tourist destination for people who travel to cities such as Cancún to enjoy sandy white beaches. Explore the subterranean freshwater caverns of this region and discover why this pristine ...

Video

Foreign Correspondent: Spawning dams, not fish, on the Mekong?

The Mekong is the largest freshwater fishery in the world; however, this may be about to change. Discover in this 2010 clip how migration of fish species along the lower Mekong may be impeded by the proposed construction of dams along this mighty river. Do the economic benefits of the dam outweigh the potential loss of ...

Video

ABC 7.30: If you build it, they will come

It's been 'all systems go' in the Northern Territory, with a range of new development projects springing up. In this clip from 2013, see Territorians coming up with novel solutions to the age-old problem of housing. Could a shortage of affordable housing derail the good economic times?

Video

Foreign Correspondent: New dam, new house: The Mekong

The mighty Mekong river provides a way of life for millions of people, and is arguably the most important resource in the developing country of Laos. Discover how villagers are being relocated to make way for hydropower dams on this river, which stretches for nearly 5,000 kilometres from the mountains of Tibet to Vietnam. ...

Video

Foreign Correspondent: Mother Mekong

Discover the connections between people and ancient temples hidden along the mighty Mekong River. Find out how long the temple Wat Phu (Vat Phou) has been a place of worship. Consider the spiritual value of this river, which provides more than sustenance and money.

Video

Marla Spivak: Why bees are disappearing

This is a video of a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk by Professor Marla Spivak about the dramatic decline in the number of bees. The 16-minute video begins with a discussion of why humans should care about bees, including their critical importance for the world's food supply. Professor Spivak explains that ...