Melanie Davern
Biographic Data
| ID | 279787 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Melanie Davern |
| GIVEN NAMES | Melanie |
| FAMILY NAME | Davern |
| SIGNATURE | DAVERN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Melbourne |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3790-0024 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 113 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 31 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Walkability in small rural towns: Citizen scientists identify investment in pedestrian infrastructure as key to promoting health and wellbeing
INTRODUCTION: The evidence base for how the physical environment hinders or supports walking for people living in rural and regional areas, where residents are at high risk for chronic disease and inactivity, is limited. This study investigated the built, physical environmental and spatial characteristics of small rural towns that influence walkability and identified community priorities for action. METHODS: Using a mixed methods approach this st…
Empowering Rural Communities to Measure Walkability: Co‐Development of a Digital Tool
BACKGROUND: Local neighbourhood environments are important for shaping walkability, but few instruments exist to assess walkability in rural areas. Furthermore, there are no existing tools that have been designed with and for communities to collect local data on walkability, which has the potential to empower communities with ownership and knowledge of the resulting information. OBJECTIVE: This paper aimed to describe the development and evaluati…
Planning competencies and transformative pedagogy for sustainable development
Understood as “a means by which society decides collectively what urban [and rural] change should be like and tries to achieve that vision by a mix of means.”, there is broad consensus that planning should fully incorporate the notion of sustainable development. Planners have a critical role in envisioning and driving local transitions to sustainable development. This requires transforming what planners learn and how they learn in higher educatio…
A novel method for tracking urban liveability over time: Case study from Melbourne, Australia (2016–2021)
Existing liveability indices are limited as they cannot be used to accurately monitor changes in liveability of a place over time. This study introduces a new method, the Adjusted Mazziotta-Pareto Index (AMPI) approach, to calculate the liveability index and accurately measure its changes. The liveability index was calculated for 403 suburbs in Melbourne, Australia, in 2016 and 2021. This index consisted of walkability components, social infrastr…
Neighborhood ‘double disadvantage’ and child development in inner city and growth areas
We examined whether urbanicity – living in inner, middle, outer or growth areas – was associated with children's developmental vulnerability. We also explored effects of neighborhood ‘double disadvantage’, conceptualised as living in an outer or growth area with high neighborhood disadvantage, was associated with children's developmental vulnerability. There seemed to be no relationship between the level of urbanicity and child development, but u…
The contribution of objective and perceived crime to neighbourhood socio-economic inequity in loneliness
Loneliness tends to be more prevalent in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, yet few studies explore the environmental differences contributing to area-based inequity in loneliness. This study examined how perceived and objective crime contributed to differences in loneliness between advantaged and disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The study used cross-sectional data from 3749 individuals aged between 48 and 77 years, residing in 200 neig…
Suburban Liveability and Post-pandemic Workplace Transitions
While the extent of working from home post-pandemic is still uncertain, it has been seen as offering potential to revitalise suburbs. However, where such benefits accrue is dependent on the residential distribution of people in work-from-home suitable occupations. This paper investigates the correlations between concentrations of workers in work-from-home suitable occupations with suburban liveability and socioeconomic factors within Melbourne, A…
Quantifying the importance of urban trees to people and nature through tree removal experiments
Experimentally manipulating urban tree abundance and structure can help explore the complex and reciprocal interactions among people, biodiversity and the services urban forests provide to humans and wildlife. In this study we take advantage of scheduled urban tree removals to experimentally quantify the benefits that urban trees provide to humans and wildlife. Specifically, we aim to understand how trees affect: (1) bird and mammal abundance and…
Neighbourhood socio-economic disadvantage and loneliness: The contribution of green space quantity and quality
Disadvantaged areas experience higher levels of loneliness than advantaged areas, though studies rarely identify environmental determinants of neighbourhood inequity in loneliness. We studied the contribution of the quantity and quality of green space to neighbourhood inequity in loneliness in three buffer sizes (400 m, 800 m, 1600 m), using cross-sectional data from 3778 individuals aged 48-77 years old living in 200 neighbourhoods in Brisbane, …
An urban neighbourhood framework for realising progress towards the New Urban Agenda for equitable early childhood development
Children consistently exposed to positive, stimulating environments, including their spatial neighbourhood, experience foundations for ongoing optimal development. Recognition of the neighbourhood as a mechanism to enhance wellbeing is reflected in the United Nation's New Urban Agenda. Through a series of innovations and advancements, this paper aims to describe a spatial indicators' framework, the Neighbourhood Early Childhood Development Framew…
The role of diverse cultural identities in the perceived value of urban forests in Melbourne, Australia, and implications for urban ecosystem research and practice
Urban nature management is usually guided by the most common, frequently mentioned, or easily elicited perceptions expressed by a dominant cultural group. This is unlikely to encourage widespread community support or foster urban nature stewardship in the long run. Considering how people representing diverse cultural identities perceive the value of urban nature is key to meeting diverse community needs. In this study we explore how people not bo…
Achieving ‘Active’ 30 Minute Cities: How Feasible Is It to Reach Work within 30 Minutes Using Active Transport Modes
Confronted with rapid urbanization, population growth, traffic congestion, and climate change, there is growing interest in creating cities that support active transport modes including walking, cycling, or public transport. The ‘30 minute city’, where employment is accessible within 30 min by active transport, is being pursued in some cities to reduce congestion and foster local living. This paper examines the spatial relationship between employ…
Beyond the luxury effect: Individual and structural drivers lead to ‘urban forest inequity’ in public street trees in Melbourne, Australia
Physical Activity and Food Environments in and around Schools: A Case Study in Regional North-West Tasmania
A better understanding of the physical activity (PA) infrastructure in schools, the walkability of neighborhoods close to schools, and the food environments around schools, particularly in rural, socioeconomically challenged areas such as the North-West (NW) of Tasmania, could be important in the wider effort to improve the health of school-age children. Accordingly, this research aimed to assess PA resources, walkability, and food environments i…
Urban greening for health and wellbeing in low-income communities: A baseline study in Melbourne, Australia
Urban greening is a popular nature-led regeneration policy based on the assumption that provision of greenspace improves the health and wellbeing of proximate communities. Entangled within these objectives are environmental justice principles that seek to remedy historical and contemporary concerns related to contaminated areas of post-industrial cities. This paper draws upon findings from an evaluation study of an urban greening project in a soc…
Building Capacity in Monitoring Urban Liveability in Bangkok: Critical Success Factors and Reflections from a Multi-Sectoral, International Partnership
Cities are widely recognised as important settings for promoting health. Nonetheless, making cities more liveable and supportive of health and wellbeing remains a challenge. Decision-makers' capacity to use urban health evidence to create more liveable cities is fundamental to achieving these goals. This paper describes an international partnership designed to build capacity in using liveability indicators aligned with the UN Sustainable Developm…
How Can the Lived Environment Support Healthy Ageing? A Spatial Indicators Framework for the Assessment of Age-Friendly Communities
The Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Guide was released by the World Health Organization over a decade ago with the aim of creating environments that support healthy ageing. The comprehensive framework includes the domains of outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community and health services. A major critique of…
What is the meaning of urban liveability for a city in a low-to-middle-income country? Contextualising liveability for Bangkok, Thailand
BACKGROUND: Creating 'liveable' cities has become a priority for various sectors, including those tasked with improving population health and reducing inequities. Two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities by 2050, with the most rapid urbanisation in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). However, there is limited guidance about what constitutes a liveable city from a LMIC perspective, with most of the evidence relating to high-in…
Decision-making of municipal urban forest managers through the lens of governance
Higher levels of greenness and biodiversity associate with greater subjective wellbeing in adults living in Melbourne, Australia
Using spatial measures to test a conceptual model of social infrastructure that supports health and wellbeing
Social infrastructure requires a consistent and measurable definition and more evidence is needed to demonstrate why it is important to health, wellbeing and the liveability of a community. In this paper, social infrastructure is defined as life-long social service needs related to health, education, early childhood, community support, community development, culture, sport and recreation, parks and emergency services. These services are needed to…
Migration experience, resilience and depression: A study of Iranian immigrants living in Australia
The challenges of migration can jeopardize mental health, but also can provide opportunities for growth. This study investigated the association between levels of depression and socio-demographic and migration variables, and the role of resilience as a mediator between these features. A cross-sectional study was conducted of 182 Iranian immigrants living across Australia who completed an online questionnaire. Higher levels of depression were foun…
Best Practice Principles for Community Indicator Systems and a Case Study Analysis: How Community Indicators Victoria is Creating Impact and Bridging Policy, Practice and Research
What evidence is being used to inform municipal strategic planning for health and wellbeing? Victoria, Australia, a case study
Victorian local governments (LGs) are required to develop evidence-based Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans (MPHWPs) that improve health and wellbeing. This study evaluated the implementation of this requirement across 79 LGs. Evidence in 116 documents was categorised by source, issue, and policy specificity. Over 11,000 evidence-occurrences from 200 sources were recorded. More evidence on social determinants was identified than on epide…
Conceptualising and Measuring Spatial Indicators of Employment Through a Liveability Lens
Urban liveability: Emerging lessons from Australia for exploring the potential for indicators to measure the social determinants of health
Measuring Wellbeing in Developing Countries: The Case of Algeria
Decision-making of municipal urban forest managers through the lens of governance
Higher levels of greenness and biodiversity associate with greater subjective wellbeing in adults living in Melbourne, Australia
Migration experience, resilience and depression: A study of Iranian immigrants living in Australia
The challenges of migration can jeopardize mental health, but also can provide opportunities for growth. This study investigated the association between levels of depression and socio-demographic and migration variables, and the role of resilience as a mediator between these features. A cross-sectional study was conducted of 182 Iranian immigrants living across Australia who completed an online questionnaire. Higher levels of depression were foun…
Best Practice Principles for Community Indicator Systems and a Case Study Analysis: How Community Indicators Victoria is Creating Impact and Bridging Policy, Practice and Research
Conceptualising and Measuring Spatial Indicators of Employment Through a Liveability Lens
An urban neighbourhood framework for realising progress towards the New Urban Agenda for equitable early childhood development
Children consistently exposed to positive, stimulating environments, including their spatial neighbourhood, experience foundations for ongoing optimal development. Recognition of the neighbourhood as a mechanism to enhance wellbeing is reflected in the United Nation's New Urban Agenda. Through a series of innovations and advancements, this paper aims to describe a spatial indicators' framework, the Neighbourhood Early Childhood Development Framew…
Urban greening for health and wellbeing in low-income communities: A baseline study in Melbourne, Australia
Urban greening is a popular nature-led regeneration policy based on the assumption that provision of greenspace improves the health and wellbeing of proximate communities. Entangled within these objectives are environmental justice principles that seek to remedy historical and contemporary concerns related to contaminated areas of post-industrial cities. This paper draws upon findings from an evaluation study of an urban greening project in a soc…
Measuring Wellness Through Interdisciplinary Community Development: Linking the Physical, Economic and Social Environment
The aim of this study is to answer the question: Is there evidence that the quality of life of residents in a community that has had community development intervention is different as compared to the quality of life of residents in a nearby community that did not have community development initiatives? This was done by administering community development initiatives in a local area and comparing it to a similar community that did not receive this…
The contribution of objective and perceived crime to neighbourhood socio-economic inequity in loneliness
Loneliness tends to be more prevalent in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, yet few studies explore the environmental differences contributing to area-based inequity in loneliness. This study examined how perceived and objective crime contributed to differences in loneliness between advantaged and disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The study used cross-sectional data from 3749 individuals aged between 48 and 77 years, residing in 200 neig…
What evidence is being used to inform municipal strategic planning for health and wellbeing? Victoria, Australia, a case study
Victorian local governments (LGs) are required to develop evidence-based Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans (MPHWPs) that improve health and wellbeing. This study evaluated the implementation of this requirement across 79 LGs. Evidence in 116 documents was categorised by source, issue, and policy specificity. Over 11,000 evidence-occurrences from 200 sources were recorded. More evidence on social determinants was identified than on epide…
Measuring Wellbeing in Developing Countries: The Case of Algeria
Subjective Wellbeing as an Affective-Cognitive Construct
Measuring Wellness Through Interdisciplinary Community Development: Linking the Physical, Economic and Social Environment
The aim of this study is to answer the question: Is there evidence that the quality of life of residents in a community that has had community development intervention is different as compared to the quality of life of residents in a nearby community that did not have community development initiatives? This was done by administering community development initiatives in a local area and comparing it to a similar community that did not receive this…
Islamic religiosity, subjective well-being, and health
The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between Islamic religiosity and satisfaction with a diverse range of life and health domains, in a sample of 2909 participants (1446 males, 1463 females) from Algeria. Factor analysis of the Islamic Religiosity Scale (IRS) indicates that it measures Religiosity as a multidimensional construct with two useful factors: Religious Practice and Religious Altruism. Religiosity at some level is ubiqui…
Urban liveability: Emerging lessons from Australia for exploring the potential for indicators to measure the social determinants of health
Planning Healthy, Liveable and Sustainable Cities: How Can Indicators Inform Policy?
Creating ‘liveable’ communities that are healthy and sustainable is an aspiration of policymakers in Australia and overseas. Indicators are being used at the national, state and local level to compare the liveability of cities and regions. Yet, there are challenges in the adoption of such indicators. Planning scholars see a challenge in creating indicators that measure something publicly valued, while public health researchers are concerned about…
What evidence is being used to inform municipal strategic planning for health and wellbeing? Victoria, Australia, a case study
Victorian local governments (LGs) are required to develop evidence-based Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans (MPHWPs) that improve health and wellbeing. This study evaluated the implementation of this requirement across 79 LGs. Evidence in 116 documents was categorised by source, issue, and policy specificity. Over 11,000 evidence-occurrences from 200 sources were recorded. More evidence on social determinants was identified than on epide…
Conceptualising and Measuring Spatial Indicators of Employment Through a Liveability Lens
Using spatial measures to test a conceptual model of social infrastructure that supports health and wellbeing
Social infrastructure requires a consistent and measurable definition and more evidence is needed to demonstrate why it is important to health, wellbeing and the liveability of a community. In this paper, social infrastructure is defined as life-long social service needs related to health, education, early childhood, community support, community development, culture, sport and recreation, parks and emergency services. These services are needed to…
Migration experience, resilience and depression: A study of Iranian immigrants living in Australia
The challenges of migration can jeopardize mental health, but also can provide opportunities for growth. This study investigated the association between levels of depression and socio-demographic and migration variables, and the role of resilience as a mediator between these features. A cross-sectional study was conducted of 182 Iranian immigrants living across Australia who completed an online questionnaire. Higher levels of depression were foun…
Best Practice Principles for Community Indicator Systems and a Case Study Analysis: How Community Indicators Victoria is Creating Impact and Bridging Policy, Practice and Research
What is the meaning of urban liveability for a city in a low-to-middle-income country? Contextualising liveability for Bangkok, Thailand
BACKGROUND: Creating 'liveable' cities has become a priority for various sectors, including those tasked with improving population health and reducing inequities. Two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities by 2050, with the most rapid urbanisation in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). However, there is limited guidance about what constitutes a liveable city from a LMIC perspective, with most of the evidence relating to high-in…
Decision-making of municipal urban forest managers through the lens of governance
Higher levels of greenness and biodiversity associate with greater subjective wellbeing in adults living in Melbourne, Australia
How Can the Lived Environment Support Healthy Ageing? A Spatial Indicators Framework for the Assessment of Age-Friendly Communities
The Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Guide was released by the World Health Organization over a decade ago with the aim of creating environments that support healthy ageing. The comprehensive framework includes the domains of outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community and health services. A major critique of…
Building Capacity in Monitoring Urban Liveability in Bangkok: Critical Success Factors and Reflections from a Multi-Sectoral, International Partnership
Cities are widely recognised as important settings for promoting health. Nonetheless, making cities more liveable and supportive of health and wellbeing remains a challenge. Decision-makers' capacity to use urban health evidence to create more liveable cities is fundamental to achieving these goals. This paper describes an international partnership designed to build capacity in using liveability indicators aligned with the UN Sustainable Developm…
Achieving ‘Active’ 30 Minute Cities: How Feasible Is It to Reach Work within 30 Minutes Using Active Transport Modes
Confronted with rapid urbanization, population growth, traffic congestion, and climate change, there is growing interest in creating cities that support active transport modes including walking, cycling, or public transport. The ‘30 minute city’, where employment is accessible within 30 min by active transport, is being pursued in some cities to reduce congestion and foster local living. This paper examines the spatial relationship between employ…
Beyond the luxury effect: Individual and structural drivers lead to ‘urban forest inequity’ in public street trees in Melbourne, Australia
Physical Activity and Food Environments in and around Schools: A Case Study in Regional North-West Tasmania
A better understanding of the physical activity (PA) infrastructure in schools, the walkability of neighborhoods close to schools, and the food environments around schools, particularly in rural, socioeconomically challenged areas such as the North-West (NW) of Tasmania, could be important in the wider effort to improve the health of school-age children. Accordingly, this research aimed to assess PA resources, walkability, and food environments i…
Urban greening for health and wellbeing in low-income communities: A baseline study in Melbourne, Australia
Urban greening is a popular nature-led regeneration policy based on the assumption that provision of greenspace improves the health and wellbeing of proximate communities. Entangled within these objectives are environmental justice principles that seek to remedy historical and contemporary concerns related to contaminated areas of post-industrial cities. This paper draws upon findings from an evaluation study of an urban greening project in a soc…
Suburban Liveability and Post-pandemic Workplace Transitions
While the extent of working from home post-pandemic is still uncertain, it has been seen as offering potential to revitalise suburbs. However, where such benefits accrue is dependent on the residential distribution of people in work-from-home suitable occupations. This paper investigates the correlations between concentrations of workers in work-from-home suitable occupations with suburban liveability and socioeconomic factors within Melbourne, A…
Quantifying the importance of urban trees to people and nature through tree removal experiments
Experimentally manipulating urban tree abundance and structure can help explore the complex and reciprocal interactions among people, biodiversity and the services urban forests provide to humans and wildlife. In this study we take advantage of scheduled urban tree removals to experimentally quantify the benefits that urban trees provide to humans and wildlife. Specifically, we aim to understand how trees affect: (1) bird and mammal abundance and…
Neighbourhood socio-economic disadvantage and loneliness: The contribution of green space quantity and quality
Disadvantaged areas experience higher levels of loneliness than advantaged areas, though studies rarely identify environmental determinants of neighbourhood inequity in loneliness. We studied the contribution of the quantity and quality of green space to neighbourhood inequity in loneliness in three buffer sizes (400 m, 800 m, 1600 m), using cross-sectional data from 3778 individuals aged 48-77 years old living in 200 neighbourhoods in Brisbane, …
An urban neighbourhood framework for realising progress towards the New Urban Agenda for equitable early childhood development
Children consistently exposed to positive, stimulating environments, including their spatial neighbourhood, experience foundations for ongoing optimal development. Recognition of the neighbourhood as a mechanism to enhance wellbeing is reflected in the United Nation's New Urban Agenda. Through a series of innovations and advancements, this paper aims to describe a spatial indicators' framework, the Neighbourhood Early Childhood Development Framew…
The role of diverse cultural identities in the perceived value of urban forests in Melbourne, Australia, and implications for urban ecosystem research and practice
Urban nature management is usually guided by the most common, frequently mentioned, or easily elicited perceptions expressed by a dominant cultural group. This is unlikely to encourage widespread community support or foster urban nature stewardship in the long run. Considering how people representing diverse cultural identities perceive the value of urban nature is key to meeting diverse community needs. In this study we explore how people not bo…
Geography (20 works) · Political science (16 works) · Medicine (15 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Urban Transport and Accessibility (14 works) · Economic growth (13 works) · Economics (11 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (10 works) · Environmental health (8 works)