City Road Podcast

Australia has one of the world's most advanced systems of water trading in the world. But how did we get here?

Dr Madelaine Moore from UNSW's Environment and Society Group is an expert in water policy and governance and has published extensively on water trading markets and financial investors in the water sector. With Australia looking like it is about to experience its driest summer in a very long time, we caught up with Madelaine about her work surrounding water struggles as resistance to Neoliberal Capitalism. What does Australia's leading role in treating water as a commodity mean for users at either end of the water market?

This episode is hot off the mixing desk - and a hot topic at the moment in Australian politics. In this year’s particularly engaging housing debate from the recent Festival of Translocal Urbanism, a panel of experts energetically consider, challenge, and debate the proposition that migration could solve Australia’s contemporary housing crisis.

Beginning with an introduction by Professor Nicole Gurran, Director, Henry Halloran Urban and Regional Research Initiative, the debate features:

Philip Vivian, Managing Director, Bates Smart

Dr Kritika Rana, Western Sydney University

Dr Edgar Liu, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW

Maiy Azize, Deputy Director, Anglicare Australia

Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, The Australia Institute

Chris Leishman, Professor of Property and Housing Economics, Adelaide University

Commentary: Millie Muroi, Writer, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Photo credit: Jacqueline Tyrrell

Reclaiming our roads - what sort of images does that conjure up? It’s a fascinating and pretty radical idea. Perhaps it’s something we could be taking a little more seriously in the wake of soaring oil prices. A recent study from the US estimates that roadways account for 25-35% of urbanised land mass - perhaps more than a third of our towns and cities are roads.

In this live recording from the 2025 Festival of 'Regenerative' Urbanism, we hear from experts Sara Stace, cycling advocate and president of Better Streets, who also featured in our recent City Road episode on e-bikes and e-scooters; Eamon Waterford, Committee for Sydney think tank; Professor Kevin Krizek, University of Colorado Boulder; and Dr Jennifer Kent, Senior Research Fellow, University of Sydney. Collectively, the panel discuss how we can reclaim our roads for regeneration.

This recording is from the 2025 Festival of Regenerative Urbanism, held by the Henry Halloran Urban and Regional Research Initiative.

Australian Murray Cox is best known for creating Inside Airbnb, a data-driven advocacy project about Airbnb's impact on residential communities. On a recent trip to the University of Sydney - his alma mater - Murray talks to City Road host Bill Code about activism and tech, and his recent work exploring Airbnb's impact on the global south with Brazilian researcher Aline Cruvinel, and how the recent World Cup is impacting housing.

In this episode of City Reads, host Jacqueline Tyrrell chats with Amanda Tattersall and Kurt Iveson about their recently published book 'People Power in Cities', which identifies and examines five 'people power' strategies considered through the lens of individual case studies from around the world - from Austin Texas, to Hong Kong, Sydney, Cape Town and Barcelona. Amanda and Kurt chat to us about 'playing by the rules', 'mobilising', 'organising', 'prefiguring', and 'running for office' in the context of these case studies, and the broader 'people power ecology' they sit within.

A group of Australian researchers have recently put out a paper detailing how soaring housing costs are taking a toll on solar uptake and effectively slowing our push to net zero. There are also growing concerns that the huge uptake in household batteries - incentivised by government - is deepening inequities in the housing and energy markets. What’s the solution? Well, did someone say nationalising our rooftops? Dr Song Shi from University Technology Sydney joins host Bill Code on City Road.

What is the regenerative capacity of Country and how can First Nations knowledge be applied to achieve meaningful design outcomes and recover degraded landscapes?

In this engaging live recording, we hear from experts Jess Herder, Principal, Thirriwirri, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning; Peter Cooley, CEO, IndigiGrow; Koolyn Gordon, Housing manager, Bridge Housing; and Daryl Wells, Open Spaces Manager, Muru Mittigar.

The panel discuss collaborative design outcomes in social and affordable housing projects; the fragility of the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub along our coastline and the importance of planting native plants which use less water and contribute to ecological wellbeing and regeneration; and the need to integrate meaningful consultation with First Nations people and groups in planning and design processes, drawing on First Nations expertise and knowledge.

This recording from the 2025 Festival of Regenerative Urbanism was held by the Henry Halloran Urban and Regional Research Initiative.

How are ancient Indigenous stories and knowledge told through art? What is a Dhomala and what does it represent in Indigenous histories? How are Indigenous artists creating their own forms of monuments in settler colonial societies?

This first City Reads episode, which is part of the City Road podcast, is themed around Indigenous public art and placemaking in the broader context of colonial and Indigenous histories.

In this episode, host Jacqueline Tyrrell speaks with internationally renowned artist and curator Brook Andrew and art historian and researcher Jessica Neath about their recently published book Marramarra: Indigenous Artists making History Visible. Marramarra is a powerful collection of Indigenous artworks, stories and poems from across the planet. We find out how Indigenous artists are finding pathways to visibility and healing through a broad range of artistic mediums, along with some deeper insights into global narratives from Indigenous perspectives.

Listen out for more City Reads episodes in the coming months!

A renewable energy transition is top of the list when it comes to Australia's race to net zero carbon emissions. But take the temperature around Australia, and not everyone is on board. Bill Code speaks with Associate Professor Bec Colvin about the importance of taking different concerns seriously and the narrative of regional communities 'standing up' to the powerful actors sweeping in with unwanted change from the outside.

Is there really a rift between the city and the country on this issue as is often made out? And what does the latest research have to tell us about renewables and farming communities, coal producing regions, regional Indigenous groups and 'just transitions'?

Bill Code speaks with Associate Professor Bec Colvin from the Australian National University's Crawford School of Public Policy.

Governments of different stripes tend to believe that the way to deal with the housing crisis is to build more houses. If there were an 'abundance' of houses, we'd be able to easily tackle the lack of *access* to secure housing. But is abundance – as popular as that term has become in the last year – the key to the issue? (Let alone the key to a nice 3-bedder in the suburbs). In this funny and boisterous Festival of Regenerative Urbanism event, held by the Henry Halloran Urban and Regional Research Initiative at the University of Sydney, a panel of experts with a bee in their collective bonnet go head to head.

Starting with a spirited critique of 'Abundance' by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson from Professor Nicole Gurran, the debate features:

Jess Scully, Author, City-maker & Curator;

Tina Perinotto, Publisher and Managing Editor, the Fifth Estate;

Patrick Fensham, National Leader for Urban Policy & Governance, SGS Economics & Planning; Planning Institute of Australia Victorian President;

Professor Steven Rowley, Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre;

Ben Hendriks, Founder & Executive Chair, Mecone;

Mehnaaz Hossain, Editor, Honi Soit, The University of Sydney.

Photo: Wedge-Tail Pictures