New Urbanism or Retrosuburbia? Urban Planning in a Post-Growth Society

What should our towns and cities look like when the pursuit of endless economic and population growth is no longer the objective?

Urban planning is often shaped by expectations of continued growth — more development, expanding populations, rising consumption and increasing economic activity. But in a world facing ecological limits, constrained resources, climate disruption and increasingly frequent natural disasters, what might planning look like if resilience, regeneration, affordability and quality of life became the priorities instead?

Join us on World Cities Day for a conversation with Michael Bayliss and Mark Allen exploring what urban planning could look like in a post-growth society, using Albany, Western Australia, as a real-world case study.

Drawing on their experience in sustainable urban and regional planning, degrowth, environmental conservation and community organising, Michael and Mark will examine some of the limitations of conventional growth-oriented planning and explore alternative approaches to how our towns, suburbs and regions develop.

From New Urbanism to Retrosuburbia, we’ll consider how communities might navigate the transition from business-as-usual development towards more resilient and regenerative ways of inhabiting place. What might post-growth cities and communities actually look like? How could our existing suburbs adapt? And what would it take to move from where we are now towards places designed around ecological limits, community wellbeing and quality of life?

This World Cities Day conversation provides an opportunity to rethink some of the assumptions underpinning contemporary urban development and imagine different possibilities for the future of the places we call home.

This session is part of Healthy Humane Habitats Month: Reimagining how we live, together.

Michael Bayliss has been an activist for the past 15 years, with a focus on animal rights, environmentalism, urban planning and the broader post-growth movement. Based in Albany, Western Australia, he is co-convenor of the Albany Community Environment Centre (ACEC) and an active member of Friends of Yakamia Forest Boodja. Michael also co-hosts the Post-Growth Australia Podcast and works across video production, media liaison and communications management for Sustainable Population Australia.

Mark Allen is co-host of the Post-Growth Australia Podcast and has a background in sustainable urban and regional planning. His work is grounded in the belief that creating a more just and sustainable world requires not only systemic change, but a deeper transformation in how we see ourselves, one another and our relationship with the living world.

A strong advocate for degrowth, Mark explores Holistic Activism as a pathway towards transformation, bringing together awareness, compassion, critical thinking, connection and meaningful action. He is interested in how inner and outer change can reinforce one another as we move towards more regenerative and life-centred futures.