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

What’s best for the west? Plan Melbourne 2017-2050 and alternative transport futures for Melbourne’s western suburbs

18 Jun 2018

Iain Lawrie,

John Stone,

Ian Woodcock

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

The recently released strategic plan, Plan Melbourne 2017-2050 forecasts a metropolitan population of 8 million. The city’s western suburbs will take a large proportion of this growth, with a further 625,000 projected residents. Despite such projections, no substantial changes to the public transport network are proposed beyond currently committed projects. Many initiatives proposed in PTV’s...

Conference paper

A data-driven collaborative-planning approach for developing sustainable medium-density housing in cities

18 Jun 2018

Ori Gudes,

Christopher J. Pettit,

Stephen Glackin,

Alex Leith

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

Australia’s cities face significant social, economic and environmental challenges, driven by population growth and rapid urbanisation. The pressure to increase the availability of housing, including a move to a more compact urban form, will lead to greater levels of high-density and medium-density stock. This research is attentive to the lack of medium-density dwellings and associated...

Conference paper

Adaptive reuse and repurposing of industrial buildings to residential dwellings in Auckland City

18 Jun 2018

Lydia Kiroff,

Simon Parris

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

The conversion of former industrial buildings and identifying heritage as a commodity has become a pervasive trend, especially over the last decade. Adaptive re-use of old industrial buildings is often seen as an alternative to demolition and replacement and as the primary development solution for an existing building when it no longer meets expectations. Auckland...

Conference paper

Towards heat resilience in the built environment: case studies in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide

18 Jun 2018

Ehsan Sharifi,

Alpana Sivam,

John Boland

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

Thermally uncomfortable outdoor environments can significantly affect liveability of cities. Australia is likely to experience between 0.6 °C and 3.8 °C increase in temperature by the end of the 21st century. In warmer climates, increased demand for indoor air-conditioning results in higher energy demand and greater waste heat production. Anthropogenic heat production in the built...

Conference paper

Are urban development and densification patterns aligned with infrastructure funding allocation? Examining data from Melbourne 1999-2015

18 Jun 2018

Nicole Cook,

Ilan Wiesel,

Fanqi Liu

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

Densification of cities and suburbs is a contentious issue for many communities in lower-density settings. Local opposition to densification is often premised on concerns about the inadequacy of existing infrastructure to support growing populations and is strongest and most successful in wealthier neighbourhoods. While the urban consolidation agenda in cities such as Melbourne and Sydney...