In the 1960’s and 1970’s Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, was at risk of becoming a ‘doughnut’ city, with an empty core surrounded by expanding suburban developments. The Victoria state government was increasingly concerned about the… Read more

Before the Second World War, Finland was a largely agrarian society and the population lived mainly in rural areas. However, in the postwar period, the country witnessed significant changes to both the economy and its population. As increasing numbers of… Read more

The National Health Service (NHS) was founded in 1948 and has been an integral British institution ever since. It was established to provide government-funded healthcare to all citizens regardless of their ability to pay. In the following decades, the NHS… Read more

Denmark has been in the vanguard of green urban planning and development since the introduction in 1947 of Copenhagen’s “Finger Plan”, which has been instrumental in creating the city’s clean, ecologically sound environment. Originally proposed by a group of town… Read more

In the late 1970s, Singapore was undergoing rapid modernisation and development, which brought with it a rapid increase in healthcare expenditure. Fears were raised that the city-state’s legacy healthcare model, which was free at the point of use, was insufficient… Read more

Since gaining independence in 1991, Estonia has rebuilt its government from scratch to achieve a modern information society where IT is used throughout its public sector and governance, 99 percent of public services are available online, and free wifi is… Read more

The Netherlands is situated on four river deltas, and much of the country’s land is located below sea level, making it highly susceptible to flooding. In recent years, average sea levels have been rising around the globe, and they are… Read more

In the late 1990s and early 2000s high levels of hunger, poverty and inequality characterised urban life in many, and particularly the densely populated, cities in Brazil. The Programa Bolsa Família (PBF) is a government programme introduced in 2003 by… Read more

After a period of low economic growth and facing a high unemployment rate (13.4% in 2002), in 2003, German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder announced Agenda 2010 – a comprehensive set of policies for reforming Germany’s labour market and social welfare system.[… Read more

With the second world war still being fought in Europe and the Pacific, domestic policy in the United States turned to the economic impact of millions of veterans simultaneously returning to civilian life when the war eventually ended. Memories of… Read more