City Road Podcast

How do we regenerate civics , in an era of AI, Social Media and Post Truth? Is civil participation going through as big an upheaval as other areas of life? And what do the Brisbane Olympics have to do with a renowned board game?

Originally hailed for democratising access to information, the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and pervasive social media platforms are increasingly associated with a fragmentation of public discourse and distrust of ‘mainstream’ politics. In this panel, NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson, QUT's Professor Marcus Foth, Christine El-Khoury of newDemocracy Foundation and Dr Justine Humphry of the University of Sydney discuss the implications of new technologies for civic engagement and urban life.

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

Photo: Luke Hespanhol

The rapid growth of data centres in Australia and the role of AI in contributing to their proliferation is a hot topic in both planning and 'mainstream' debate.

The Australian Energy Market Operator reports energy use by data centres in FY 2025 was around 2% of National Energy Market use, predicted to rise to around 6% by 2029/30*

Dr Bronwyn Cumbo of UTS's Transdisciplinary School and Johanna Lim from the US Studies Centre join host Bill Code to talk about some of the environmental, social and strategic considerations around planning for data centres, the so-called 'nerve centres' of our digital economy.

*An earlier version of this podcast claimed a widely-reported 5% figure was cited in a recent report from Mandala Partners. This was incorrect and has been changed.

Photo: Jacqueline Tyrrell

Is the growing trend in e-bike and e-scooter use the key to reducing congestion on our roads - or a menace for unsuspecting pedestrians, drivers, and riders themselves? Reports of accidents are filling the airwaves as experts question how governments can best manage the rapid growth in sales of electric bikes and scooters. So, how best to regulate the confusing landscape of e-micromobility? City Road's Bill Code welcomes Dr Yuting Zhang of the University of Sydney and president of Better Streets, cycling advocate Sara Stace.

Australia is in the midst of a housing crisis. But amidst the political and media debate about the fixes to our housing woes, public housing has slipped from view. There's concern that funding commitments are a far cry from the broad based approach to public rental housing which has supported so many Australians in the past, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. So where does Australia go from here? Join Rebecca Pinkstone, Chief Executive of Homes NSW, Alistair Sisson of Macquarie University, City of Sydney Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore, plus public housing tenants Norrie May-Welby and Karyn Brown at this Festival of Urbanism event recorded in late 2024. Photo: Wedge-Tail Pictures

What is ‘public’ about our urban and regional transport systems - and how public should they be? Are our leaders actually serving public interests and values around public transport? Should a stick in the ground really count as a bus stop? And what the heck is a 'beg button'? In this episode of City Road a rich panel of speakers delve into the big questions surrounding public transport at the recent Festival of Urbanism, including Dr Ian Woodcock, Emma Bacon, Neill Miller, David Babineau, Dr Rebecca Clements and Dr Crystal Legacy. Photo: Andrew Thomas/Flickr

With housing *the* hot topic this election, a panel of experts at the recent Festival of Urbanism battled to convince a live audience that the private market could (or could not) solve Australia's housing crisis.

This debate features:

- The Hon Doug Cameron, Former Senator

- Sharath Mahendran, Urban Planner and creator of YouTube channel Building Beautifully

- Emily Sims, Uralla Shire Council

- Stephanie Barker, Executive Director, Strategy and Engagement, Willowtree Planning

- Luke Cass, editor, Honi Soit Newspaper 2023

- Emeritus Professor Peter Phibbs, Henry Halloran Research Trust, the University of Sydney

Commentary

This debate also features commentary from Michael Koziol, Sydney editor, The Sydney Morning Herald and is chaired by Professor Nicole Gurran, Director, Henry Halloran Research Trust.

Thanks for listening.

See you next time on City Road.

Host: Bill Code

Editor: Mikayla McGuirk-Scolaro

Welcome back to City Road. In this episode, we reflect on 2024's Festival of 'Public' Urbanism and its panel discussion on how 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.

The 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.

The annual Festival of Urbanism is brought to you by the Henry Halloran Research Trust with the assistance of the University of Sydney School of Architecture Design and Planning.

Thanks for listening.

See you next time on City Road.

Host: Bill Code

Editor: Mikayla McGuirk-Scolaro

This final episode of the Infrastructure Governance Incubator series focuses on a plenary discussion centred around the findings of the ‘Infrastructure Governance Incubator’ - a multidisciplinary collaborative research project across three universities – which took place at the State of Australasian Cities conference in December 2023.

This discussion sought to contribute to a renewed research agenda for Australasian infrastructure governance, considering the current state of governance challenges and potential future directions. It draws on findings from the Incubator’s case study of the Western Sydney Parkland City in New South Wales, Australia, across multiple critical issues discussed across this podcast series: planning on unceded First Nations land, accountability and social legitimacy, collaborative governance and integration, and power and politics.

Panel members:

A/Prof. Tooran Alizadeh, Dr. Rebecca Clements, A/Prof. Glen Searle, A/prof Dallas Rogers, Elle Davidson (University of Sydney), Crystal Legacy (University of Melbourne), Liton Kamruzzaman (Monash University).

Discussant: Jago Dodson (RMIT)

This podcast series is sponsored by the Infrastructure Governance Incubator, a three-year (2020-2023) collaborative research platform—funded by the Henry Halloran Research Trust—across three universities (The University of Sydney, The University of Melbourne and Monash University) and in partnership with Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) NSW & Victoria.

Audio recording and editing by Mikayla McGuirk-Scolaro.

Infrastructure planning is intrinsically political – but are there significant differences between how we expect infrastructure planning to occur and the reality of how it plays out? Are our current approaches to the relationship between planning and power working?

In this fifth episode, we build on learnings from Victoria and consider the politics behind infrastructure decisions with Dr James Murphy, drawing on the latest book, ‘The Making and Unmaking of East-West Link’. We consider the roles of electoral strategy, the making of political rationale, and community resistance to ask how we might better unpack the way we think about infrastructure politics.

Informed by: Murphy, J. C. (2022). The making and unmaking of East-West Link. Melbourne Univ. Publishing.

Host: Dallas Rogers (University of Sydney)

Guest: James Murphy, Crystal Legacy (University of Melbourne)

This podcast series is sponsored by the Infrastructure Governance Incubator, a three-year (2020-2023) collaborative research platform—funded by the Henry Halloran Research Trust—across three universities (The University of Sydney, The University of Melbourne, and Monash University), and in partnership with Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) NSW & Victoria.

Audio recording and editing by Mikayla McGuirk-Scolaro and Dallas Rogers.

The evidence shows that increasing new housing production alone won’t solve the affordability crisis. At this special event, the NSW Minister for Housing and Homelessness, the Hon. Rose Jackson MLC and a panel of experts from industry, academia, and community sectors, will outline strategies for unlocking affordable supply, from social housing to the ‘missing middle’.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

The Hon. Rose Jackson MLC, Minister for Housing, Homelessness, Mental Health, Youth, the North Coast, and Water

PANEL

Katie Stevenson, Executive Director Property Council of Australia NSW

Mark Degotardi, Chief Executive Officer, Community Housing Industry Association NSW

Dr Catherine Gilbert, the University of Sydney

Emma Greenhalgh, CEO National Shelter

CHAIRED BY

Professor Nicole Gurran, Director, Henry Halloran Research Trust