When and how did “abundance” become the latest buzzword and is it really a fix for the housing crisis? Our experts debate the theory that “abundant” housing – especially higher density homes in established areas – is the solution to high prices and rents. We’ll be inviting you to open your minds for this debate where the winning team is decided by the strength of their persuasion in this Intelligence Squared inspired event.
Chair
Nicole Gurran, Professor of Urban & Regional Planning at University of Sydney, Director, Henry Halloran Urban & Regional Research Initiative, University of Sydney
Speakers
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
Jess Scully, Author, City-maker & Curator
Professor Steven Rowley, Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre
Ben Hendriks, Founder & Executive Chair, Mecone
Mehnaaz Hossain, Editor, Honi Soit
Tina Perinotto is editor and publisher of The Fifth Estate, an online specialist newspaper focused on the sustainability transition of the built environment and the policy and economic environment that influences it.
The publication was established in 2009 and has become essential reading for developers, designers, business and government professionals working on how to accelerate the net zero and sustainability transition.
The Fifth Estate holds regular thought leadership and interactive events designed and has published a range of digital magazines and special reports.
Patrick Fensham, is Principal and Partner at SGS Economics and Planning. He specialises in metropolitan and strategic planning, infrastructure planning and funding analysis, and regional and community economic development.
Pattrick’s experience with city-scale strategic planning includes direct inputs to various long-term plans in Greater Sydney. He worked in various capacities on a succession of metropolitan strategies in Sydney, and was lead consultant on the award-winning Sustainable Sydney 2030 for the City of Sydney.
He is a regular speaker at forums, has extensive experience teaching, and mentors SGS's junior team members. In 2015, Patrick received the NSW Planning Institute of Australia President’s Award for Planning Excellence, and he is currently the President of the Victorian Division of the Planning Institute of Australia.
Jess Scully is an advocate for policy innovation, active public participation and civic imagination. As Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2019 to 2022 and as a Councillor at the City of Sydney from 2016 to 2023, Jess proposed meanwhile use models to address gendered violence amid the housing crisis; encouraged a more inclusive economy through Community Wealth Building; supported Sydney's cultural ecosystem and nightlife, and advocated to expand who plays a role in shaping the life of the city through deliberative democracy. Jess founded and directed Vivid Ideas, Australia’s largest creative industries event, from 2009 to 2017; supported emerging talent through the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards; transformed public space as an urbanism consultant and public art curator, served as a policy advisor to the NSW Minister for the Arts and hosted Saturday Afternoons on ABC Radio. She is currently a World Bank consultant contributing to urban transformation in Indonesia, a Non Executive Director of Parents for Climate, a member of Women for Election’s Political Advisory Board and Senior Associate at the Sydney Policy Lab. Her first book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World, was shortlisted in the Australian Book Industry Awards in 2021.
Professor Steven Rowley is professor of property and director of research in the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance at Curtin University. He has been director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute’s Curtin research centre for over a decade and has spent the best part of 25 years researching issues around housing markets, supply and affordability in both Australia and the UK. Steven has published widely on these topics, delivering over 100 articles, has secured research funding from a wide variety of sources and is a regular commentator in the media.