Conference

9th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 5 December 2019, Perth, 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 2019 was subtitled 'Cities in an Age of Disruption and Innovation' and was jointly hosted in Perth by the University of Western Australia and Curtin University.

In keeping with past SOAC conferences, SOAC 2019 papers were organised into broad thematic streams: City Economics, City Environment, City Governance, City Structure, City Movement and Infrastructure, City Social and Housing and City Health/Liveability. All published papers were produced through a process of integrated peer review.

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

Conference paper

The origin of rejection: Sydney’s first ideological battle with apartments

5 Dec 2019

George Greiss

9th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 5 December 2019, Perth, Australia

Exploring the social, political and economic factors that favoured urban sprawl over high density during early twentieth century, this paper examines the discourses surrounding the ideal Australian home at such a key time in Sydney’s early development.

Conference paper

Tracing the 'zombification' of undeveloped estates in greater Melbourne and its outlying regions

5 Dec 2019

Victoria Kolankiewicz,

Nicholas Phelps,

David Nichols,

Elizabeth Taylor

9th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 5 December 2019, Perth, Australia

The ‘zombie subdivision’ is a phenomenon identified by the Lincoln Institute as ‘once- promising projects’ now ‘distressed’, with the fulfilment of plans or visions for the site effectively stalled. Services such as water, electricity, and roads are often absent in these areas, leaving them partially- occupied, or more often, completely vacant.

Conference paper

Families adapting to density in a suburban medium density community housing development in Auckland, New Zealand

5 Dec 2019

9th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 5 December 2019, Perth, Australia

As a medium-density housing development specifically aimed at young families, Waimahia was developed by a consortium of Māori organisations and community housing providers (CHPs), to provide affordable, quality housing, with a particular focus on meeting the housing needs of low-income Māori and Pasifika families.

Conference paper

Shared room housing in Sydney: regulatory and enforcement challenges and policy responses

5 Dec 2019

Zahra Nasreen

9th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 5 December 2019, Perth, Australia

This paper argues that there is a need for regulatory and policy reforms, such as reviews of tenancy regulations for secure occupancy, affordable housing models/designs, and efficient monitoring and reconciliation systems to address tenants’ challenges in the shared housing sector.

Conference paper

Will driverless cars produce walkable cities for Australia?

5 Dec 2019

Ian Woodcock,

Iain Lawrie,

John Stone

9th State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 5 December 2019, Perth, Australia

This paper draws on design research exploring detailed scenarios for driverless cars as primary access to suburban rail stations in Melbourne. The findings question the extent to which walkable urbanism is likely to result in a driverless future.