Book Launch: Planning Better Cities - A Practical Guide

Date: Thu 6 June 2024 

Time: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm AEDT

Location: 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.

About the book 

Planning Better Cities – A practical Guide provides an accessible, practical guide to the strategic planning process required for the preparation of city plans from entire metropolitan areas to town centres. It fills a gap in the academic literature on the topic of strategic planning. Its conceptual and practical content together with a student friendly style and high use of practical examples make it accessible to both the student and recent graduate. Its presentation in three parts allows the reader or course leader to access those sections relevant to either their learning requirements or day-to-day work activities. The book is clearly structured into three-parts and provides flexibility in approach and learning for students taking relevant planning courses. The extensive reading list at the conclusion of each chapter provides the student with an opportunity to explore in more detail the individual topics. The practical approach equips the recent graduate with a deeper understanding of the purpose of each element of strategic planning from how to prepare a research brief to how to approach community engagement activities.

About the Author

Halvard Dalheim is masters-qualified and an award-winning city and regional planner with extensive experience in metropolitan and regional planning having led multiple plans for Melbourne and Greater Sydney, including the latest metropolitan plan for Greater Sydney, ‘A Metropolis of Three Cities’. His experience spans over three decades and includes significant periods in state and local government and the private sector.

Panelists

Stephanie Barker has over 25 years experience in strategic planning across the public and private sectors. She specialises in urban structure, housing, economic development and infrastructure working across three levels of government. In her recent role at the Greater Cities Commission, Stephanie was responsible for the strategic planning for the region spanning Greater Sydney, Lower Hunter, Central Coast and Illawarra which covers a quarter of Australia’s population. Prior to this she led the Western Sydney City Deal Delivery Office at the Western Parkland City Authority and delivered the Western Parkland City Blueprint and Economic Development Roadmap.

Pranita Shrestha is a passionate educator, researcher and practitioner with extensive teaching experience across urban planning and design.  Her key area of research expertise is global informality, and she uses critical social network analysis to understand and address inequality in land and housing systems, informed by her experience across both the so-called global south and north.She has contributed to several interdisciplinary research projects across Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia and served as Program Director for Masters of Urbanism at the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning.  

Vibhavari Meghnad is an urban planner and policy professional with over four years of experience across both the public and private sectors. She holds a Master of Urbanism (Urban and Regional Planning) from The University of Sydney and has experience in a range of policy areas including housing and sustainability. Vibhavari is currently a Planning Officer at the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure where she is focused on strategic planning to support positive outcomes across Greater Sydney and NSW.

Henry Black is an up and coming professional with a passion for combining planning with property development in local and international contexts. He is starting a Masters in Urban Planning at Harvard University and has studied in Australia, the United States and China as part of his undergraduate degree. He also has experience in all spheres or planning, working at the Department of Planning, Randwick City Council and HillPDA, a property development consultancy. Henry is the 2023 New South Wales Young Planner of the Year and currently works at HillPDA in the Property Advisory and Development Feasibility Team.

This talk is hosted by the University of Sydney's Henry Halloran Research Trust.

Disclaimer: We may take photographs of the speakers and the audience at this event for promotional purposes. Please let us know if you wish not to be photographed.