The Festival of 'endangered' Urbanism 2021 No images? Click here The Festival of ‘endangered’ UrbanismCities and regions in Australia and across the world are experiencing existential threats – from the global pandemic to social division, economic turmoil, and deepening climate risk. Foundational assumptions underpinning urban settlements, planning and governance in post-colonial countries are increasingly questioned by First Nations people, while ongoing harms to Indigenous communities and heritage continue. The spatial logic of Australia’s cities is being disrupted by public health concerns, new patterns of working, and the demand for space. House price inflation, the shortage of affordable rental housing, and real estate driven urban renewal processes are dividing communities and driving long term renters to precarity and squalor as gentrification and online residential tourism remake iconic neighbourhoods. Have we reached ‘peak urbanism’ or will cities recover from these crises? How should policy makers, planners, and advocates catalyse paradigm change, enabling resurgent forms of urbanism and new approaches to governance, infrastructure, housing, heritage, or design? The 8th Festival of Urbanism will be a forum for debating these themes, featuring a wide diversity of speakers and free events across Melbourne (3-18 Sep) and Sydney (20-24 Sep). For full program and more information please visit our website. Follow the Festival of Urbanism on Twitter @FestUrbanism #FestUrbanism. Sydney Highlight Events Endangered Country? Indigenous perspectives on planning, and development A panel of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experts discuss their perspectives on planning, land management, cultural heritage and economic opportunity and what needs to change. Endangered Urbanism - Panel: Is Urbanism over? With existential threats from global health to climate disaster through to ‘super-gentrification’ and exclusion, is urbanism – the diversity, creativity, and progress associated with urban life, and social connectivity in cities – still viable? Is urbanism as we know it is ‘over.’ Informal urbanism in Sydney: precarity, privilege, politics A range of actors, from elites to the excluded, get things done by working around the laws and codes that are meant to govern urban life. This panel will bring together research from across the University of Sydney that explores the way that a range of urban outcomes are delivered through informal practices – in housing, employment, care, policing and culture. What’s endangering public health in urban environments? Diet, exercise, and sleep are fundamental aspects of good health. What role does design play in making sure you’re fit and healthy in a public health crisis? How can urban planning encourage more physical activity and good eating? Join our Charles Perkins Centre experts to hear about the impacts of urban living on our health, and what we can do to make the most of our environment. Endangered governance: Public trust, urban decisions, and ethical practice Clear and transparent ethical frameworks can and should feature much more overtly in decision making across development processes, which are uniquely exposed to risks associated with conflicts of interest, politicisation, compromise, and corruption. This panel explores the realities facing planners and policy makers, and highlights strategies for those committed to ethical practice. Endangered discourse: Improving the quality of public debate on urban and housing policy An informed citizenry, independent analysis, and robust public debate are all essential for good public policy particularly in relation to housing and urban policy. This panel event, which also celebrates the work of the inaugural Director of the Henry Halloran Trust, Peter Phibbs, features perspectives from University and industry research, independent journalism, and the public sector. Endangered infrastructures: Discussion led by the HHT Infrastructure Governance Incubator In the absence of integrated governance and in the wake of the weak leadership on the unfolding risks of climate change, are infrastructure systems capable of keeping up with the unprecedented environmental, economic, social, and the health crisis facing Australian cities? Endangered communities and resurgent urbanism With ongoing processes of dispossession, marginalisation, gentrification and exclusion threatening urban and regional communities, what forms of insurgent and resurgent urbanism are emerging and how might urban policy makers and planners support these efforts? Student film competition and screening As part of the inaugural Festival of Urbanism short film competition, you are invited to join the screening of short-listed films and the announcement of the competition winners. Planning for Recovery: Leading urbanists in conversation After a year like no other, city leaders in North American cities – from Seattle to New York and Washington, have begun thinking about post covid transitions. Hear from those at the front line. Endangered adolescence: are public spaces dead to teens? Teens have found new public spaces on-line, while children’s ability to access quality place spaces and recreation areas is highly variable across Australia’s cities and regions. This session asks whether online spaces are the new public realm for young people and how urban planners and policy makers can make real space in the city for the next generation coming of age. |