Conference

8th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 28-30 November 2017, Adelaide, Australia

Owning Institution

The State of Australian Cities (SOAC) national conferences have been held biennially since 2003 to support interdisciplinary policy-related urban research. SOAC 2017 was jointly hosted in Adelaide by the University of South Australia, the University of Adelaide and Flinders University.

Refereed papers at SOAC 2017 were organized across the seven well-established themes of Economy, Environment, Governance, Structure, Movement and Infrastructure, Housing and Social, and Health. There were also three significant plenary panel sessions on Housing Affordability, Urban Resilience and the continuing challenge of achieving more productive relationships between academic researchers and urban policymakers.

Papers from all past and subsequent SOAC conferences can be found at the State of Australian Cities Conferences Collection on APO.

Conference paper

Urban structure, commuting burdens, and productivity of urban labor markets in Australian city

18 Jun 2018

Tiebei Li

8th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 28-30 November 2017, Adelaide, Australia

Improving urban productivity is central to the Australian Government’s Smart Cities agenda. Urban productivity is fundamentally related to the capacity of firms to access high quality labour pools and in turn for workers to access optimal employment without high costs. Yet Australia lacks systematic analysis of how current urban structure and the cost of commuting...

Conference paper

Family housing opportunity restructuring in Australian cities and regions (1981 - 2016)

18 Jun 2018

Wendy Stone

8th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 28-30 November 2017, Adelaide, Australia

Housing is fundamentally important to family wellbeing. Secure, affordable housing assists family members to care for one another through life events and transitions, promotes healthy child development and enables engagement in social and economic spheres beyond and within the home. Yet, while an emerging body of research links housing experience to family wellbeing, what remains...

Conference paper

Snakes in the city: understanding urban residents' responses to greening interventions for biodiversity

18 Jun 2018

Cecily Maller,

Leila Farahani

8th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 28-30 November 2017, Adelaide, Australia

As cities are recognised as hotspots for biodiversity, urban greening interventions are becoming more important. Such initiatives are promoted as having multiple benefits for nonhumans and humans alike, infused with narratives of climate change adaptation and positive health outcomes. Yet little research has critically examined how residents of cities respond to urban greening or rewilding...

Conference paper

The City of Adelaide - planning for a successful and liveable future

18 Jun 2018

David Bailey,

Shanti Ditter,

Rick Hutchins

8th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 28-30 November 2017, Adelaide, Australia

South Australia was planned as a free settlement and came into being in 1836. Founded on the traditional country of the Kaurna people, the City of Adelaide was to be the State’s central place and progressive waves of settlement have shaped the City to become one of the world’s most liveable cities. Colonel Light’s layout...

Conference paper

Urban parks and open space: underpinning a city's future resilience

18 Jun 2018

Linda Corkery,

Nancy Marshall

8th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 28-30 November 2017, Adelaide, Australia

As pressures of urban development and renewal impact the fabric of contemporary cities, parks and open space are increasingly under threat, which is compounded by the general lack of strategic open space planning at the state level. Simultaneously, as cities compete to attract global companies, start - ups, new residents and visitors and to build...