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

Melbourne's public transport: performance and prospects after 15 years of 'privatisation'

11 Dec 2015

John Stone,

Yvonne Kirk,

John Odgers

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

This paper seeks to assess the financial and operational performance of Victoria's private contracts for Melbourne trains and trams.

Conference paper

Countering terrorism in the city

11 Dec 2015

Douglas Tomkin

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

This paper outlines the threats to the city and countermeasures illustrated by case studies including projects for Sydney Rail, and the Sydney Opera House.

Conference paper

Defining the density debate in Brisbane: how urban consolidation is represented in the media

11 Dec 2015

Katrina Raynor,

Tony Matthews,

Severine Mayere

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

This paper contributes to existing urban consolidation literature by empirically demonstrating how urban consolidation is represented in Brisbane’s newspaper media through the use of metaphors. This paper also argues that understanding stakeholder representations is important for planners seeking to promote and negotiate delivery of higher density development.

Conference paper

People, places and technology: mapping the locational preferences of home based workers in Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan areas

11 Dec 2015

Matthew Zenkteler,

Sebastien Darchen,

Iderlina Mateo-Babiano,

Anthony Halog

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

This paper is an attempt to provide a better understanding of the impacts of work from anywhere on cities, through analysis of a spatial distribution of home based workers in Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan areas.

Conference paper

The towards a resilient Sydney project: from collective assessment to strategic frameworks

11 Dec 2015

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

This paper explores key questions of how qualitative evidence and collective outputs are interpreted and implemented, and how strategic frameworks can account for and foster “on ground” climate change adaptation action.