Director's update 

Welcome to a new university year and the first Henry Halloran Trust newsletter for 2022. We’re excited to announce the launch of several research grant opportunities, and to share our Festival of Urbanism Review, which includes a selection of papers and opinion articles from our eminent festival speakers. This year City Road Podcast has collaborated with the Trust to curate a set of specially edited episodes with Festival highlights as well as the highly popular urban book club series – check them out!

Halloran postdoctoral fellow Dr Cameron Murray continues his prolific public commentary, with his proposal for adapting elements of Singaporean housing policy in Australia attracting widespread media attention. You can read some of his other work on the website along with our other publications and media.

As Sydney and the University begin to open up I hope to welcome you to one of our events in the near future. Make sure you subscribe for updates.

Professor Nicole Gurran 

Henry Halloran Trust Research Grants and Programs

The Henry Halloran Trust research grants encourage innovative, sustainable and equitable approaches to infrastructure implementation and planning. Applications for our 2022 grant programs are now open.

The Research Incubator: Total funding of up to $360,000 will be available over the three years to support one talented teaching and research academic to complete a major research project with the assistance of a small research team partly funded by the Trust.  Expressions of Interest are due by 11 March, 2022.  

The Practitioner in Residence Program: Supports practitioners based in government, community, or the private sector from any field to undertake a period of supported research in residence at the University working on a project relevant to urban and regional policy, indigenous land management, planning, or the built environment. Applications close on 11 March, 2022.

The Research Publication and Seminar Scheme: supports academics from various disciplines to host a workshop or seminar program on a theme relevant to the research interests of the Henry Halloran Trust – including urban and regional policy, planning, housing, infrastructure, Indigenous land management, and sustainable built environments. Applications close on 4 March, 2022.

The Postdoctoral Research Translation Scheme: Supports a PhD candidate of any discipline to translate their research for broader urban and regional policy and practice impact. Applications close on 4 March, 2022.

Festival of 'endangered' Urbanism Review 

The 2021 festival theme of ‘endangered’ urbanism engaged with the existential threats facing cities and regions in Australia and across the world - from the global pandemic to social division, economic turmoil, and deepening climate risk. But it also highlighted the strategies of resistance and innovation by which communities, policy leaders, practitioners and researchers can and are responding to these dangers. 

The papers, accounts, and images collected in this Review represent just a sample of the diverse perspectives shared at this year’s Festival of Urbanism. Together, they highlight the need for ongoing research informed dialogue about the future of the city and the quality of urban policy and debate.

The Festival of Urbanism Review can be viewed here. 

In the media 

9 February 2022: Professor Nicole Gurran on the impacts of short-term rentals on regional rental supply on 2GB.

6 February, 2022: Dr Cameron Murray interview on what Australia could learn from Singapore on ABC Radio. Dr Murray also featured prominently on ABC Business, Could Australia learn from Singapore to make housing more affordable?

20 January, 2022: Professor Nicole Gurran quoted on Rental Pricing Out Essential Workers Who Are Keeping Cities Running in the Sydney Morning Herald. 

17 January, 2022; Dr Cameron Murray's piece on the Singapore-inspired housing strategy that could cut costs by 50% in the Conversation. 

8 December, 2021: Professor Nicole Gurran quoted on how Western Australia has moved to regulate short-term accommodation such as Airbnb on ABC PM. 

1 December, 2021: Dr Tooran Alizadeh on the North-South divide in smart city development in Sydney Business Insights

5 November, 2021: Professor Nicole Gurran on Renewing Australia’s ageing housing  the need to dramatically increase the supply of social and affordable housing stock and also improve the sustainability of housing being built, for both climate resilience and energy performance, in Sydney Morning Herald's Domain. 

Selected recent publications from Halloran Trust researchers

Clements, R., Alizadeh, T., Searle, G., Legacy, C., & Kamruzzaman, M. (2022). The Infrastructure Governance Incubator: A research agenda in times of crises. New Planner, (127), 30-31.

Gurran, N., A. Forsyth, M. Darcy, G. Searle, C. Buckle and S. Zou (2021). Population growth, regional connectivity, and city planning - international lessons for Australian practice. Melbourne, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).

Gurran, N., K. Hulse, J. Dodson, M. Pill, R. Dowling, M. Reynolds and S. Maalsen (2021). "Urban productivity and affordable rental housing supply in Australian cities and regions." AHURI Final Report.

Leishman, C., N. Gurran, A. James and C. A. Nygaard (2021). "Inquiry into population, migration and agglomeration." AHURI Final Report.

Phibbs, P. and N. Gurran (2021). "The role and significance of planning in the determination of house prices in Australia: Recent policy debates." Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 53(3): 457-479.

Ryan-Collins, J. and C. Murray (2021). "When homes earn more than jobs: the rentierization of the Australian housing market." Housing Studies: 1-30.