Featuring panel discussions, talks, walking tours, and podcasts involving researchers, policy makers, industry experts and community leaders, the Festival of Urbanism program brings new and diverse voices together around shared concern for the future planning and design of Australia's cities and regions.
"We are currently witnessing a series of decision-making processes which are inflaming conflict or inviting distrust, with local communities feeling disempowered or ignored.
"Despite increasing recognition of Aboriginal custodianship of country, traditional owners continue to fight for sovereignty over land, while difficult decisions about whether to retrofit or relocate localities impacted by the escalating climate crisis threaten to divide communities." Said Nicole Gurran, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning and Director of the Henry Halloran Research Trust.
Presented by the Henry Halloran Research Trust, University of Sydney, the Festival will be held across multiple cities where debate will tackle these topics head on.
Australia is at a crossroads when it comes to housing, cities, and regions, but the national discourse often seems dominated by interest groups, politicians, or a small number of expert commentators.
"Topics will range from how and where to accommodate the new plan for 1.2 million homes - and whether it will solve Australia's housing affordability crisis - to protecting environmental or cultural heritage, or the implications of AI and automation for cities and urban life."
This year's line-up includes University of Sydney's Professor Nicole Gurran, Dr Luke Hespanhol, Dr Sophia Maalsen, Professor Rosemary Lyster, and Dr Robert Stokes, former minister for Planning, Public Spaces, and Cities, Tegan Mitchell, Manager Major Transport Projects, City of Sydney, and Dr Elizabeth Farrelly, author, journalist and Henry Halloran Research Trust Writer in Residence - to answer the most pressing issues around urban planning and design:
· How will new housing, environmental, or infrastructure reform agendas advanced by governments and others confront challenges of affordability, socio-economic exclusion, cultural heritage or biodiversity protection, and whose voices will, or should, be heard?
· How are Australia's Indigenous and settler histories recognised and confronted in cultural heritage conservation and urban planning practice, alongside wider struggles for native title, land rights, and spatial justice?
· Is increasing housing supply, as advocated by the new YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) movement, the solution to Australia's housing problems?
· Can contests of ideas and values lead to more innovative or inclusive models of urban governance or design?
Festival highlights for Sydney:
Contested Platforms: from Airbnb to the autonomous city
Contested Housing: The great YIMBY v NIMBY debate
Saving Sydney: Skyscraper/Fryscraper
Contested Streets: Roads, footpaths and curbs
Walking Tour: Redfern/Waterloo with Redwatch
Wicked Assumptions: How planning premises from the past shape the cities of tomorrow
The annual Festival of Urbanism is an initiative of the University of Sydney's Henry Halloran Research Trust and is hosted in partnership with Monash University.
Brought to you by the Henry Halloran Research Trust and Monash Urban Planning and Design with the assistance of the University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning
