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2nd December 2025, 6 - 8 pm AEDT

 

Join us for a special impact screening of SOLD! Who Broke the Australian Dream?, a hilarious, hard-hitting documentary examining how housing became out of reach for so many Australians, and what it means for renters, families, and the next generation. A live panel will follow, bringing together researchers, advocates, renters, and policy voices to unpack the drivers of the crisis and discuss practical pathways to fairer, more secure housing. About the Film SOLD! Who Broke the Australian Dream? is a satirical, solutions-driven documentary fronted by renter-comedian Mark Humphries that probes how policy choices and market forces pushed housing out of reach—and what can be done to fix it. Directed and produced by Bill Code, with Craig Reucassel as Executive Producer and co-writer, the film blends sharp humour with reportage to examine renter insecurity, affordability, and pathways to fairer housing. It aims to spark a national conversation about putting homes before speculation.

 

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2nd December 2025, 3 - 4 pm AEDT

 

Join us for a special talk by Professor Ann Forsyth, Harvard Graduate School of Design, on academic publishing and recent changes to the scholarly information landscape. The Editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association from 2019-2023, Professor Forsyth has been review editor of the Journal of Planning Education and Research, a co-editor of Planning Theory journal, and a co-editor of Progressive Planning magazine. In this session, Professor Forsyth will discuss issues raised by the recent increase in numbers and types of journals, and implications for scholars and readers of urban research. Professor Forsyth's talk will be followed by short reflections from Dr Sophia Maalsen, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney and editor of the International Journal of Housing Policy; and Dr Jennifer Kent, Senior Research Fellow in Urbanism at the University of Sydney and co-Editor in Chief of the journal Findings.

 

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14th September - 24th October 2025

 

Regenerative urbanism is about transforming spaces for people and the planet, through holistic action for systemic change. In an era of poly-crises – defined by climate threat, social inequality, and biodiversity loss – we must rethink systems for food, energy, water, waste, transport, land and housing. Beyond sustainability or minimising harm, and far from heavy-handed models of ‘urban regeneration’, a regenerative paradigm seeks to heal, restore, renew and revitalise ecosystems, actively improving environmental and social well-being. From leading First Nations experts in landscape design and architecture, to urban agriculture, restorative infrastructure, circular industries, and the creative economy, speakers and events at this year’s Festival of Regenerative Urbanism offer new and exciting possibilities for change.

 

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26th May 2025, 1 pm AEST

 

This webinar is the next instalment of the Climate Change, Place, and Mental Health Incubator webinar series supported by the Henry Halloran Urban and Regional Research Initiative. These webinars aim to showcase research showing often-unappreciated link between our built environments and mental health. In this session our presenters will be exploring the impacts of apartment design on resident mental health and wellbeing. We are excited to hear from three experts who will be discussing this issue from both the research and policy perspectives:

 

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10th April 2025, 5:30 pm AEST

 

As Australia grapples with a deepening housing crisis, this panel interrogates the nature of the crisis and wider notions of the great Australian dream. Sparked by the exhibition In Suburbia: Recent Detours, which engages with a diverse spectrum of housing types and experiences across urban and regional Australia, we ask an architect, planner, and artist how they understand the housing problem and how to solve it. Is it only about building new supply? Do we have to abandon the suburban ideal in favour of ‘high density’ living? Is home ownership over for younger generations? Can we imagine a more environmentally sound and socially inclusive suburbia?

 

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9th April 2025, 4 pm - 5 pm AEST

 

Countries are adopting diverse strategies to achieve net zero, increasingly using digital technologies like AI to boost impact. However, national decarbonisation goals vary widely, reflecting differing technological, climatic, cultural and economic contexts. Justice is also a key concern, with varying approaches to fairness in digital decarbonisation. This talk explores how Japan, Taiwan and Australia envision and implement digital decarbonisation and just transition, highlighting the complex interplay between technology, climate and society.

 

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1st April 2025, 5 pm - 6 pm AEST

 

The U.S. is infamously segregated by class, race, and ethnicity, and planners are partly responsible. Zoning in the U.S. excludes low-income families from affluent neighborhoods and communities, exposes vulnerable people to harms and hazards, and limits housing choices for renters. In recent years, however, U.S. planners have recognized these injustices and advanced new proposals to “zone for equity.” After a review of the legacy of zoning as an instrument of “American Apartheid,” this lecture will highlight recent efforts to make spatial planning and zoning more equitable in the U.S

 

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19th March 2025, 1 pm - 2 pm AEST

 

It is well documented that exposure to mould over time affects our physical health. But what about our mental health? In the first instalment of the Climate Change, Place and Mental Health Incubator webinar series, join us to hear from experts and learn more about the impacts of mould exposure on our mental health.

 

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9th February 2025, 5:30 pm - 7pm AEST

 

Planning reform features heavily in Australia’s housing policy agenda, underpinning the National Housing Accord to deliver 1.2 million homes over the next five years. Australia is not alone: in recent years jurisdictions across the United States and Canada have embarked on or are considering widespread ‘upzoning’ strategies designed to overcome local regulatory constraints on housing development. This event considers the latest policy debates and research on planning reforms and housing outcomes in North America in relation to Australia’s own reform agendas and affordability ambitions.

 

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9th October - 7 th November 2024

 

Great cities are defined by the quality of their public realm. From parks to civic architecture, well designed public infrastructure supports and enables the social, cultural and economic dimensions of urban life. But are these public assets, along with public processes of urban governance and planning, under attack? Over the past fifty years key legacies of the modern urban project – such as publicly funded housing and urban infrastructure; or comprehensive planning for new development – have been eroded by waves of political and economic reform. Faith in market based ‘solutions’ has reduced public planning processes to ‘red tape’ and replaced public investment in rental housing with subsidies for private investors and households. At the same time, digital transformation under ‘platformisation’ has seen private corporations able to evade domestic regulations, disrupting every facet of urban life and governance.

 

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20th Jun 2024, 5:30 pm - 7 pm AEST

The Sybil Centre, The Women's College, The University of Sydney

 

Amidst the growing housing crisis and rising urban heat, prioritising nature in city planning is vital. As cities grapple with housing shortages and urban heat challenges, it's crucial that nature is centred in the transformation of expanding urban spaces. Our urban planning approaches and regulations often prioritise human needs at the expense of the environment. This oversight in acknowledging the diverse species cohabiting these environments has led to the mismanagement of natural resources, missing the opportunity to enhance human well-being through the creation of vibrant urban spaces. In partnership with the Henry Halloran Trust, a panel of experts will discuss how concepts of multispecies justice can inform planning for nature-based solutions, striving to rebalance the relationship between human development and the environment.

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6th June 2024, 4:00-5:00pm AEST

Wilkinson Building, Lecture Theater 250

 

With planners and planning increasingly in the public spotlight, how do new graduates navigate a planning career, and what do senior practitioners wish they’d known? Join us to launch Planning Better Cities: A practical Guide featuring insights by author and esteemed planner Halvard Dalheim as well as a panel of early career and senior practitioners.

 

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10th April 2024, 5:00-6:00pm AEST

The Michael Spence Building (F23)

 

Join us for the "Public Designing with People" event, an open forum for exploring collaborative design processes.

 

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11th March 2024

 

Join us for the Henry Halloran Research Trust address with Dr Rowan Arundel from the University of Amsterdam.

 

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Join us for the launch of Dr Cameron K. Murray’s book, The Great Housing Hijack

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23rd February 2024

 

Join us for a Henry Halloran Research Trust address with Professor Richard Ronald from University of Amsterdam.

 

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12th September - 4th October 2023

 

This year's Festival will tackle a range of conversations from housing density and environmental heritage, to loss of public housing and infrastructure reform agendas, through a series of robust panel discussions, podcasts and film events involving researchers, policy makers, industry experts and community leaders.

 

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20th July 2023

 

Australia’s deepening housing affordability crisis is pushing essential employees further and further from their workplaces. From education to IT, policing to healthcare, the lack of affordable housing is impacting all industries and threatening key services. This event draws on recent research to shine a light on this issue, highlighting key policy debates and offering practical strategies for action.

 

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Ireland’s planning system has been subject to waves of restructure and reform since the global financial crisis and subsequent housing market collapse. In seeking to re-establish a functioning land and property market, planning has been positioned as an obstacle to recovery, slowing development and imposing onerous regulations which undermined the viability of projects. This lecture critically examines this reshaping of planning, which has been driven by a well organised and influential development lobby alongside a compliant state.

 

See the lecture slides (pptx, 5.8MB)

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Housing systems are changing across the world, but how and why? Part of the answer lies in the creation of a world financial system, but what role does this leave for national policy? This lecture will trace the evolution of housing systems in advanced economies, and outline the way in which policy change has interacted with parallel realignments in social and economic institutions.

 

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Homelessness and Mobile Communication – Precariously Connected is published by Palgrave MacMillan. The book launch and seminar event were hosted by the School of Art Communication and English in partnership with the Henry Halloran Research Trust. Dr Justine Humphry presented some of her research as part of the Platform Urbanism panel at the 2022 Festival of Urbanism.

 

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30th September 2022

 

Join us for an evening of design excellence with the Designers in Government Showcase and the announcement of the winners of the Australian Urban Design Awards.

 

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The 9th Festival of Urbanism asks how our future cities and regions will change, and what interventions are needed to address the mistakes of the past.

 

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Join us for a series of panels as experts discuss threats to our cities, from the global pandemic to social division, economic turmoil, and deepening climate risk.

 

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