Conference

2nd State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 2 December 2005, Brisbane, Australia

Owning Institution

The State of Australian Cities (SOAC) national conferences have been held biennially since 2003 to support interdisciplinary policy-related urban research. SOAC 2 was hosted by the Urban Research Program at the South Bank campus, Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.

The principal theme of SOAC 2 was the sustainability and vulnerability of Australian cities. Providing a place of dialogue between leading researchers on the state of Australian cities and where they might be headed, SOAC 2 brought together participants from a wide range of fields, including: academics, researchers, policy makers, private and public sector practitioners, leaders in government, social commentators and the media.

Papers from all past and subsequent SOAC conferences can be found at the State of Australian Cities Conferences Collection on APO.

Conference paper

Sydney sucks! (chews and spits): Defining and measuring vortex cities and sustainable cities

2 Dec 2005

Phil McManus

2nd State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 2 December 2005, Brisbane, Australia

Sydney is Australia’s largest vortex city, sucking in resources for production and consumption and using other parts of the planet to assimilate wastes. This paper analyses the strengths and weaknesses of competing definitions and measuring techniques to identify sustainable cities.

Conference paper

Managing urban growth in the Geelong region 1965-2005

2 Dec 2005

Barbara Norman

2nd State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 2 December 2005, Brisbane, Australia

Over 80% of the Australian population lives in the coastal zone. A critical part of managing urban growth in this zone is planning for the expansion of our coastal-based cities.

Conference paper

Social city rapporteur report

2 Dec 2005

Daniela Stehlik

2nd State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 2 December 2005, Brisbane, Australia

Nineteen papers were part of the Social City stream, with a fairly even spread between macro, meso and micro analyses of issues confronting cities. Two papers from overseas (Auckland/Johannesburg) were included. Australian cities included: Sydney; Melbourne; Adelaide; Brisbane; Newcastle and Geelong. It was disappointing that there was nothing received from NT, ACT, Tasmania or Western...

Conference paper

Urban Australian cities under termite attack

2 Dec 2005

2nd State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 2 December 2005, Brisbane, Australia

It is critical to identify information gaps between current acceptable industry practice for termite management in urban locations and public concerns.

Conference paper

The potential and limitations of sustainability policy: modest proposals from the garden city

2 Dec 2005

Vicki Dunne

2nd State of Australian Cities National Conference, 30 November - 2 December 2005, Brisbane, Australia

Best regarded as an essentially contested concept, ‘sustainability’ gives rise to numerous, sometimes mutually exclusive, interpretations and applications. As exemplified by the Canberra Plan, as discussed in this paper.