City Road Podcast

In this episode, host Jacqueline Tyrrell chats with Amanda Tattersall and Kurt Iveson about their recently published book 'People Power in Cities', which identifies and examines five 'people power' strategies considered through the lens of individual case studies from around the world - from Austin Texas, to Hong Kong, Sydney, Cape Town and Barcelona. Amanda and Kurt chat to us about 'playing by the rules', 'mobilising', 'organising', 'prefiguring', and 'running for office' in the context of these case studies, and the broader 'people power ecology' they sit within.

Welcome back to City Road. In this episode, we reflect on 2024's Festival of 'Public' Urbanism and its panel discussion on how the public life of great cities takes place in our cultural buildings and civic spaces – from libraries to museums, town halls, streets, parks and playgrounds. This special Denis Winston memorial lecture, delivered by Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon, State Librarian and award-winning author and curator, celebrates our crucial public infrastructure as the cornerstone of public and democratic life. The keynote address is followed by an eminent panel conversation between Dr Rob Stokes, former Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, and Professor Jennifer Barrett, Professor in Museum Studies and Pro-Vice Chancellor Indigenous at the University of Sydney. The annual Festival of Urbanism is brought to you by the Henry Halloran Research Trust with the assistance of the University of Sydney School of Architecture Design and Planning. Thanks for listening. See you next time on City Road. Host: Bill Code Editor: Mikayla McGuirk-Scolaro

Infrastructure planning is intrinsically political – but are there significant differences between how we expect infrastructure planning to occur and the reality of how it plays out? Are our current approaches to the relationship between planning and power working? In this fifth episode, we build on learnings from Victoria and consider the politics behind infrastructure decisions with Dr James Murphy, drawing on the latest book, ‘The Making and Unmaking of East-West Link’. We consider the roles of electoral strategy, the making of political rationale, and community resistance to ask how we might better unpack the way we think about infrastructure politics. Informed by: Murphy, J. C. (2022). The making and unmaking of East-West Link. Melbourne Univ. Publishing. Host: Dallas Rogers (University of Sydney) Guest: James Murphy, Crystal Legacy (University of Melbourne) This podcast series is sponsored by the Infrastructure Governance Incubator, a three-year (2020-2023) collaborative research platform—funded by the Henry Halloran Research Trust—across three universities (The University of Sydney, The University of Melbourne, and Monash University), and in partnership with Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) NSW & Victoria. Audio recording and editing by Mikayla McGuirk-Scolaro and Dallas Rogers.

Water security is one of the most contested issues facing urban and regional communities across Australia. For growing inland cities like Canberra, conventional assumptions and approaches to water supply, catchment management, and urban planning must be reimagined in the context of climate change. This special event hosted in partnership with the Planning Institute of Australia examines the increasingly complex debates surrounding water security and asks whether and how inland cities can ever achieve true urban resilience. This event is co-hosted with the Planning Institute of Australia. SPEAKERS Professor Barbara Norman, Foundation Chair of Urban and Regional Planning and Director of Canberra Urban and Regional Futures (CURF), the University of Canberra Danielle Francis, Manager Policy and Strategy, Water Services Australia Dr Jason Alexandra, Research Fellow, Transformational Climate Adaptation and Water, ANU Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions, ANU Institute for Water Futures. Dr Danswell Starrs, Water Science, Monitoring and Modelling Manager at ACT Government CHAIRED BY Dr Maxine Cooper FPIA, FEIANZ, Adjunct Prof UC, Chair ACT & Region Catchment Management Coordination Group, Chair Landcare ACT, and Deputy Chair National Landcare Network.

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? Join this conversation with a panel of experts across Indigenous history, archaeology, heritage conservation, urban planning and design. SPEAKERS Professor Bronwyn Carlson, Head of Department of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University Stephen Gapps, Senior Associate Historian, Artefact Heritage Services Seth Dias, PHD Candidate at the USYD school of Architecture, Design and Planning Innez Haua Jess Herder, Senior Associate, Thirriwirri CHAIRED BY Professor Michael Mossman, Associate Dean Indigenous Strategy and Services, the University of Sydney

Episode 3: Innovating urban governance: the Creative Bureaucrat Does creativity have a place in City Hall? The idea that bureaucracy should or can be creative certainly runs counter to common ideas we have of city government. But recently, that has begun to change. Innovation in city governance is being recast as ‘creative problem solving’. Drawing on stories from city governments around the world, in this third episode of ‘Innovating Cities’, Tom Baker and Pauline McGuirk discuss what it takes to build creative capacity within bureaucracies. Tom Baker is Associate Professor in the School of Environment, University of Auckland. His research focuses on how public policies are made and implemented, addressing social, institutional, ideological and spatial dimensions. Pauline McGuirk is Senior Professor of urban geography and Director of the Australian Centre for Culture, Environment, Society and Space, University of Wollongong. Her work revolves around critical studies of urban governance, its changing geographies, material practices and politics, and the differential implications for urban places, communities, subjectivities and power. For more information about our podcast series, including transcripts, go to: https://uow.info/innovating-cities Find out more about our research project Innovating urban governance: practices for enhanced urban futures at: https://www.uow.edu.au/the-arts-social-sciences-humanities/research/access/research/rce/ Special guests Anne-Marie Croce, Program Lead, Customer Experience Transformation and Innovation, City of Toronto Brad Badelt, Director of Sustainability, City of Vancouver, CityStudio Vancouver. James Corless, Executive Director, Sacramento Area Council of Governments Eliza Erickson, former Director of Innovation and Strategy, Office of Innovation and Technology, City of Philadelphia James Wagner, Chief Financial Officer, Office of Performance, Strategy and Innovation, City of Tulsa Arna Ýr Sævarsdóttir, Service and Digital Transformation Manager, Department of Services & Innovation, City of Reykjavik Michele D’Alena, Director, Civic Imagination Office, City of Bologna Kris Carter, former Co-Chair, Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics Terrance Smith, Former Director of the Innovation Unit, City of Mobile This podcast episode was supported by the Australian Research Council under Grant ARCDP200100176 Innovating urban governance: practices for enhanced urban futures, a joint project by the University of Wollongong, the University of Sydney and the University of Auckland. Audio recording and editing by Jennifer Macey. Additional editing by Emily Perkins. Coordination by Laura Goh. Special thanks to Brian Dwyer.

Australia’s legal frameworks for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection are intended to preserve and enhance the nation’s natural and cultural heritage while enabling appropriate forms of urban development and infrastructure. Yet Commonwealth Environmental Protection & Biodiversity Conservation law has been deemed unfit for purpose, while the states pledge ongoing reforms to make land use systems faster and more responsive to enable residential development and major projects. Key issues include certification and offsetting processes for biodiversity or heritage and whether alternative approaches, from avoiding development altogether to better protecting and enhancing conservation outcomes are possible. PANEL Rachel Walmsley, Head of Policy & Law Reform, Environmental Defenders Office Rowena Welsh-Jarrett, Indigenous Heritage Expert, Bila Group Associate Professor Ed Couzens, Law School, the University of Sydney CHAIRED BY Professor Rosemary Lyster, Climate and Environmental Law, the University of Sydney Hosted in partnership with the Sydney Environment Institute.

Episode 2: Innovating urban governance: Design Thinking What is design thinking and how might it be useful for city governments? In this second episode of ‘Innovating Cities’, Robyn Dowling and Sophia Maalsen discuss how design thinking is being conceptualised and operationalised in city governance innovation. Drawing from examples internationally and in Australia, they ask what design thinking means to those who use it, what it is used for, and how using design thinking may open up new opportunities to address urban problems. Robyn Dowling is Dean of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney. Her current research is concerned with the ways in which urban governance and urban life are responding to climate change, technological disruptions and the diffusion of innovation practices. Sophia Maalsen is Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney. She is currently researching the application of computational logics and technologies to “hack housing” and address issues of housing affordability and innovation. Her research is predominantly situated at the intersection of the digital and material across urban spaces, housing and governance. For more information about our podcast series, including transcripts, go to: https://uow.info/innovating-cities Find out more about our research project Innovating urban governance: practices for enhanced urban futures at: https://www.uow.edu.au/the-arts-social-sciences-humanities/research/access/research/rce/ Special guests Eliza Erickson, former Director of Innovation and Strategy Office of Innovation and Technology, City of Philadelphia Arna Ýr Sævarsdóttir, Service and Digital Transformation Manager Department of Services & Innovation, City of Reykjavik Kris Carter, former Co-Chair Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics Terrance Smith, Former Director of the Innovation Unit City of Mobile Duane Elverum, Executive Director and Co-Founder CityStudio Vancouver Anne-Marie Croce, Program Lead Customer Experience Transformation and Innovation, City of Toronto Shane Waring, Lead Dublin Beta Lab This podcast episode was supported by the Australian Research Council under Grant ARCDP200100176 Innovating urban governance: practices for enhanced urban futures, a joint project by the University of Wollongong, the University of Sydney and the University of Auckland. Audio recording and editing by Jennifer Macey. Additional editing by Emily Perkins. Coordination and additional scripting by Laura Goh.