Conference

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, 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 7 was held in the City of Gold Coast and hosted by Griffith University.

The 164 peer reviewed papers were organised into seven broad themes but all shared, to varying degrees, a common focus on the ways in which high quality academic research can be used in the development and implementation of policy. The conference featured leading national and local politicians and policy makers who shared their views on some of the current challenges facing cities and how these might be overcome in the future.

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

Conference paper

Confirmed at last: green roofs add invertebrate diversity

11 Dec 2015

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Drawing on classical ecological theory, this study assesses the factors which influence invertebrate diversity and composition on bare and green roofs in urban Sydney.

Conference paper

Urbanising nature: a political ecology case study of Sydney Park

11 Dec 2015

Catherine Evans

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Drawing on evidence in planning documents and design reports, this paper documents the various ways in which formations and recreations of ‘nature’ were articulated, modified and inscribed into and onto Sydney Park between 1979 and 2010 to direct specific social, ecological and economic outcomes

Conference paper

Growing food in a residential landscape

11 Dec 2015

Ian Sinclair

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Using the Sydney peri-urban area as a case study, it will be shown that this food is grown in a landscape that is mostly rural residential in use. The juxtaposition of rural residential land use to food production creates land use conflict.

Conference paper

Blueprints and actors for Logan Renewal Initiative - are they embryonic of a viable social housing partnership between government and not-for-profit sectors?

11 Dec 2015

Sirisena Herath

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Consulting the views of the not-for-profit (NFP) sector and government officers who took part in the planning process of Logan Renewal Initiative (LRI) on the project's viability, this paper points to a substantial disconnect and distrust between top-down expectations and what they deem as pragmatic for LRI.

Conference paper

Density through amalgamation? Battling the sticky cadastre

11 Dec 2015

Craig Fredrickson

7th State of Australian Cities Conference, 9-11 December 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Given the size of existing parcels in urban areas, amalgamation and redevelopment will be needed in order to increase dwelling density. Land amalgamation is a fundamental step in the development process that allows for the unpicking of the existing ‘sticky’ property boundaries.