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Greg Vann

@gregvann.bsky.social
2.4K followers 404 following 536 posts

Australian urbanist at large based in Brisbane, 46+ years experience. Founder Urban Mentors Collective. Co founder Ethos Urban, President Queensland Walks. Keen to make cities better and to help those who want to do that.

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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Split in Croatia is a spectacular city in a wonderful setting but boy is it car dominated - parking all over footpaths and in every spare space. Need to get Enrique Penalosa in to sort it out!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Rode some transit in Rome while there last week. All pretty easy and seamless.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The pantheon in Rome is such a gem of a building - one of my favourites.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Nailed it!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Although I’m not really a fan on the “war on” language, it resonates with me that the claims about demonising the car are ill founded. What most western cities have really done is designed out walking to accommodate the car.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Spot on. Walkability is not just, or even mainly, about distance. It’s also about how a walk feels - if it feels safe, comfortable and interesting, more will walk.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Sunday ride along the Brisbane River in our city’s spectacular winter.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
“Small lot green field development is not the solution to the housing crisis; it just shifts costs to ratepayers while developers’ margins are protected”. Logan Mayor Jon Raven. mycitylogan.com.au/mayor-develo...
mycitylogan.com.au
Mayor: Developers need to pay their way amid rapid growth - MyCity Logan
Logan City Council says developers are failing to pay their fair share of infrastructure costs in new housing areas, warning that further expansion of small-lot estates on the city’s fringe risks shif...
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
It’s well proven that widening roads doesn’t solve congestion, but that still hasn’t shifted the dial on the common belief and political expediency of continuing to do so to pander to that belief. This graphic from Russell King is a handy simple explanation of the problem.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Dog parks - the modern community gathering place!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Brisbane’s new RolanStreet station building is starting to shape up okay!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Like most places, Qld road toll is increasing & vulnerable road users are more at risk. Queensland Walks, the walking advocacy body I chair, joined with the state motoring & kindred organisations to call for safer roads via campaign 107, the likely no. who’ll die on our roads from now till Christmas
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Thanks to Russell King on LinkedIn for this insight. It’s not about what you think!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Hobart’s MONA (Museum of Old & New Art) is a real knock out. Been there many times but today explored the new additions, most in areas carved out of the rock under the ground.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
If you really want to rebalance transport in your city, build a proper bikeway network quickly.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Folks, it’s Queensland Walks Month. Let’s celebrate walking and its fundamental role in individual and community health and well being. Share your stories! The President of Qld Walks made a bit of a video with more about this. (Spoiler alert: the President is me!). youtu.be/GAtBrcf3zGs
youtu.be
Queensland Walks Month is celebrated by Greg Vann our Queensland Walks Incorporated President
YouTube video by Queensland Walks Incorporated
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
City leadership right there.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Indeed. We are social animals and need to herd. Seeing each other in real life is a fundamental foundation to our well being.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I like this tagline from @urbantruth.bsky.social: “Mobility freedom comes from mobility choice”. When cars are in plague proportions in cities, this limits mobility choice and therefore mobility freedom. In other words too many cars limit our ability to move around easily.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Stage 3 of Gold Coast light rail from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads opened yesterday to huge crowds. It will be a great success and makes a mockery of the ill judged decision not to build stage 4 to the Gold Coast airport. I predict that’ll happen eventually.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
How to start a Sunday:
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
We all know what our city could do better. But catching a trademark city cat to Howard Smith Wharves under the landmark Story Bridge on a winter evening, under clear blue skies and a temperature around 19C just reminds me that Brisbane is a GREAT city.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Some big things opening in public transport in Oceania: Gold Coast light rail stage 4, connecting Broadbeach & Burleigh opens this weekend Auckland’s City Rail link opens 13 September. I predict they’ll both be huge successes!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
This is alarming for Australia, which has the highest ranked income required to be happy at $161k a year, and an average wage of $59k. No wonder there are so many agree folk here in the “lucky country”… www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-incom...
visualcapitalist.com
Ranked: Where Wages Come Closest to the Price of Happiness
In this ranking Slovenia is the only country where wages exceed the “price of happiness”, the income level where happiness plateaus.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
“Despite the widespread harm caused by cars & automobility, governments, corporations, & individuals continue to facilitate it by expanding roads, manufacturing larger vehicles, & subsidising parking, electric cars, & resource extraction… Currently, 1 in 34 deaths are caused by automobility.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Brisbane in winter. Spectacular time to ride a bike!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I know Vancouver well and think making Granville Street car free would be a great idea! Brisbane did it in the 1980s and it has made its main street Queen Street into one of the worlds great pedestrian areas.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Agreed. Queensland’s new laws about this are fundamentally flawed because this wasn’t appreciated. Power assisted bicycles (“pedelec”) aren’t the problem, they are part of the solution to urban mobility. Electric motorbikes are the problem and should require licensing of both machine & rider.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Doing a tour of the Queensland outback with a couple of mates. Boy, a lot of the small outback towns have made a lot of effort on their main streets. They all seem to be thriving post covid with so many people touring around, camping grounds and hotels are all pretty full.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Who was the Local Hero in the movie of that name - Mac, Gordon, Happer, Ben Knox, Danny, Marina, Stella?
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
@greaterauckland.bsky.social @patrickreynolds.bsky.social making sure the shirt is seen around the country!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
This is a special place for me. Where we had many family holidays and I now have holidays with my children and their children. And where my late wife’s ashes were spread 7 years ago this Sunday. Just a lovely part of the world called Moffat Beach.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
“Since 2001, approximately 30 to 50 people have been killed in Germany as a result of Islamist terrorism. …. In contrast, an estimated 7,600 people died in Germany during the heatwave of summer 2003 alone” Yet huge amounts are spent on one & the other is still largely ignored.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Rode my bike along the river today. Spectacular morning, well done Brisbane!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Brisbane’s new Cross River Rail station at Roma Street is becoming more visible!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Been sketching some Brisbane downtown skylines:
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Went to a meeting this arvo that was nothing to do with planning or cities, but the room had excellent wallpaper!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
My @greaterauckland.bsky.social tee shirt arrived! I’m pleased to continue my support for this excellent community based organisation that has had a profound impact on the maturing of Auckland into a great city. Don’t believe me? Have a squiz at their website www.greaterauckland.org.nz/our-impact/
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Mucking around with watercolours - all new to me, just finding my way…
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
These types of signs in Vancouver show just how car centric our language about roads has become. It’s not closed, it’s closed to vehicle traffic. It could just have easily read “road now open to people only” or something similar… Thanks to @urbantruth.bsky.social for the image
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Power outage in my street today, scheduled to replace a power pole. So I walked my dog Peanut around the corner to our local village at Rosalie for breakfast and coffee at my local cafe. Walkability is real!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Wow, I’m amazed (in the traditional sense of the word rather than my coffee order being amazing 😉) how many Australians are in Vancouver for the World Cup! And a 2-0 win to top it off. 👏
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
That’ll do, Socceroos!
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
The rise of huge SUVs is one of the most corrosive trends in transport of recent times. They create a vicious circle almost like an arms race. Russell King on LinkedIn nails this in this graphic and also identifies 4 key measure to turn this vicious circle into a virtuous one.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
The biggest misconception: Low rates of walking, biking and transit don’t mean people prefer driving, it means cities have been designed for car use at the expense of safe, convenient and practical walking, biking & transit. Via Propel Bikes on FB
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Cities making progress on better suburbs don’t ask "how do we move more cars?" but "what is the good urban life, & how do we build toward it?” They pilot things at a meaningful scale & put place-makers in charge, not engineers. Via Russell King on LinkedIn integratedtransport.org.uk/downloads/De...
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
One of the simplest & wisest quotes about cities is Fred Kent’s: “If you plan cities for cars & traffic, you get cars & traffic. If you plan for people & places, you get people & places.” Enlightened cities around the world are doing this. Some still think cars & traffic are the answer.
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Really? Park the huge 4WD ute half on the footpath next to a 10m wide road pavement?
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Greg Vann @gregvann.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Rightio cities that aspire to be leading edge, London is about to up its game even further: www.traffictechnologytoday.com/news/legal/m...
traffictechnologytoday.com
TfL plan sets out decade of street improvements for walking and wheeling | Traffic Technology Today
The Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) have launched the Walking and Wheeling Action Plan, setting out how the Mayor, TfL and London's
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