Denis Winston Memorial Lecture: Public libraries, parks, and creative spaces: celebrating the cornerstones of city life and democracy

Date: Tuesday, 15th October 2024

Time: 5:30pm—7:00pm

Location: Charles Perkins Centre Auditorium

The public life of great cities takes place in our cultural buildings and civic spaces – from libraries to museums, town halls, streets, parks and playgrounds. This special Denis Winston memorial lecture, delivered by Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon, State Librarian and award-winning author and curator, celebrates our crucial public infrastructure as the cornerstone of public and democratic life. Dr Butler-Bowdon’s keynote address is followed by an eminent panel conversation between Dr Rob Stokes, former Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, and Professor Jennifer Barrett, Professor in Museum Studies and Pro-Vice Chancellor Indigenous at the University of Sydney.

Keynote

Dr Caroline Butler-Bowden, State Librarian, State Library of New South Wales

Panel

Dr Rob Stokes, former NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces

Professor Jennifer Barret, Professor in Museum Studies, Pro-Vice Chancellor Indigenous, University of Sydney

Chaired by

Professor Nicole Gurran, Director, Henry Halloran Research Trust

Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon is the State Librarian for the State Library of NSW. She is a published author in architecture and urban history and has 20 years of leadership experience in public institutions, including Sydney Living Museums (Historic Houses Trust of NSW). Her career has been dedicated to leadership that connects citizens and visitors to special places, and culture through a broad range of statewide public engagement programs. 

Before the Library, she was Deputy Secretary for Cities and Active Transport for NSW Government, where she led key policy and programs of investment in NSW addressing the walkability and activation in our streets, and civic places. She also serves on committees and boards, to promote the power of place, culture, community and public space in Australia, including the newly established Creative Communities Council for NSW government. 

Dr Rob Stokes is an urbanist fascinated by places and passionate about people. Currently serving as Chair of Faith Housing Australia and on the Australian Government Urban Policy Forum, Dr Stokes was the first-ever Minister for Public Spaces, and Australia's first-ever Minister for Active Transport. Rob also served as Minister for Planning, Education, Environment, Infrastructure, Roads and Transport, Cities and Heritage in a political career that spanned more than 15 years. A qualified lawyer, Rob has read sustainable urban development at Oxford and completed a PhD in Planning Law at Macquarie University.

Professor Jennifer Barrett has a breadth of work and deep experience at the University of Sydney, recently as Director of the National Centre for Cultural Competence (NCCC), previously as the Director of the University’s Culture Strategy, and prior to that her role as Pro Dean, Academic in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).

Professor Barrett is of Dunghutti heritage from the Macleay River region in northern NSW and has worked in various roles in the University of Sydney since 2000. Core to her professional history has been involvement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, colleagues and leaders, in teaching, research, external engagement and leadership roles in the arts and cultural sectors.

Professor Barrett publishes on museums, culture, art, and the public sphere. Her monograph, Museums and the Public Sphere, was published in 2011 (Wiley-Blackwell) and her co-authored monograph Australian Artists in the Contemporary Museum (with J. Millner, Ashgate Publishing) was published in 2014.

Nicole Gurran is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney, where she directs the Henry Halloran Research Trust. Over two decades her research and publications have focused on housing affordability, urban planning, and climate change. She is committed to informing public policy and debate through her research, media commentary, and advice to governments, and most recently served as Co-Commissioner on the People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis.

Festival of Public Urbanism 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.

The Festival of Public Urbanism will debate these topics and more. Join us to engage with academics, activists, politicians, industry leaders through our program of panel discussions, walking tours, and podcasts across Sydney and Australia.