Who Delivers Urban Design in Australia and New Zealand and What Is Their Culture?

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Urban design integrates a wide range of knowledge fields embracing many aspects of human endeavour and it is applied at all scales of development in the built environment. There is an expectation that urban design is contemporaneously relevant and adds value that is measurable and accountable in the public domain. But is urban design delivering? Do we know enough about the field? This paper engages with questions about what is urban design’s heritage, who are urban designers in Australia and New Zealand, what is their culture and are urban designers equipped to design future sustainable places? Over the past half century urban design epistemology has developed considerably, much of it borrowed and adapted from other built-environment disciplines. Its destiny is to forever be a ‘work-in-progress’, responding to evolving circumstances and anticipating change in cities. A snap-shot of urban design culture in Australia and New Zealand suggests that while there is a high level of expertise and many examples of excellence, the discipline is not be as mature as it should be to engage with current and future challenges.

Conference theme: Urban Studies Keywords: Urban design culture, Urban design practice, Urban design challenges