Henry Halloran Research Trust

As part of our Festival of Urbanism, the Henry Halloran Research Trust held a special panel discussion on the future of public housing at The Factory Community Centre in Waterloo on Friday afternoon. Many thanks to our amazing speakers Rebecca Pinkstone, Chief Executive of Homes NSW; Alistair Sisson, Macquarie University; Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore, City of Sydney; Norrie Maywelby, Public Housing Tenant and Tenants Representative and Karyn Brown, Public Housing Tenant and Tenants Representative. The panel was chaired by Dr Greta Werner, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. Our eminent speakers reflected on the past century of public housing in Sydney, as well opportunities for a re-invigorated public and social housing sector in the future, asking how the Australian experience compares to public housing elsewhere and what alternatives for public housing we might imagine. Henry Halloran Research Trust Festival of Urbanism

On Friday, Festival of Urbanism participants visited the Waterloo public housing community and learned about its past and possible futures with members of the community based ‘REDWatch’ advocacy group - thank you to Geoffrey Turnbull, who led the walking tour. The walking tour commenced at the Waterloo Metro Station and concluded at The Factory Community Centre. Waterloo has been at the centre of changing visions of the role of government in housing, experiencing waves of intervention – from ‘slum clearance’ projects in the 1950s that compulsorily acquired private land to build new public housing, through the sell-off of public housing in the conservation area to fund the public housing system, to today's Waterloo estate redevelopment that builds private housing on previously public land to pay for renewed social and affordable housing no longer run by government. Waterloo remains home to Sydney’s largest public housing estate. It has a particular significance for the area’s traditional Gadigal owners as well as the wider urban First Nations communities who constitute a significant part of its residents. The future of public housing and public urbanism may be determined by actions taken in Waterloo. Festival of Urbanism Henry Halloran Research Trust Photographs in this slideshow by Jacqueline Tyrrell

A highlight of this year's Festival of Urbanism was our special Denis Winston Memorial Lecture: The Golden Thread in Public and Democratic Life: Parks and Libraries as the Cornerstones of our Cities, held on Tuesday evening at the Charles Perkins Auditorium at the University of Sydney. Thank you to Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon, State Librarian and award-winning author and curator for her incredible keynote, and also to 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, for an engaging and informative panel discussion. A highly memorable Festival event! Chaired by: Professor Nicole Gurran Henry Halloran Research Trust Festival of Urbanism

Fantastic turnout for Wednesday evening’s great housing debate - one of our favourite Festival of Urbanism events. Fantastic speakers managed to educate and entertain – big thanks to The Hon Doug Cameron, Former Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Homelessness and Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness; Sharath Mahendran, Urban Planner and star creator of YouTube channel Building Beautifully; Emily Sims, planner and public economist now with Uralla Shire Council; Stephanie Barker, recent planner of the year with 25 years experience planning for housing supply across public and private sectors; Luke Cass, editor, Honi Soit Newspaper 2023 and Emeritus Professor Peter Phibbs. Thank you also to the engaging commentary from Michael Koziol, Sydney editor, The Sydney Morning Herald. Henry Halloran Research Trust Festival of Urbanism

Of many Festival of Urbanism highlights was a special film screening: The Housing Question on Wednesday afternoon. Thank you to Helen Grace and Narelle Jubelin, the filmmakers, and Dr Ann Stephen, Senior Curator of the University of Sydney’s Art Collection, who contextualised their work in relation to their broader artistic practices. The Housing Question takes its title from Friedrich Engels’ seminal 1872 texts addressing the severe housing shortages in his native Germany. After nearly 150 years this question remains central to contemporary social and political debates. Grace and Jubelin explore these issues through two exemplary modernist homes: Harry and Penelope Seidler’s house in Sydney’s Killara (1967), and Casa Huarte (1966) in Madrid by José Antonio Corrales and Ramón Vázquez Molezún, highlighting how architectural excellence on private homes was then used as a basis to elevate housing quality at scale, including through the mass production of social housing. Chaired by: Dr Greta Werner, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney. Henry Halloran Research Trust Festival of Urbanism

It was a fantastic day for the Henry Halloran Research Trust's Festival of ‘Public’ Urbanism’s Walking Tour: Public Art in the City on the first day of our Sydney program! Thank you to Diana Griffiths, Director, Urban design expert, Studio GL and Ashley Frost, Artist, who led the tour and shared their knowledge and insights about the history and stories around a diverse selection of public art projects. The walking tour commenced at the Statue of Queen Victoria at the QVB and concluded at the art installation Windlines: The Scout Compass of Discovery at Circular Quay, via the new Martin Place Metro. We have included a slideshow of photos from our walking tour below, as we look forward to our main Sydney program of Festival events this week between 14th and 18th October 2024! Nicole Gurran Festival of Urbanism Henry Halloran Research Trust Photographs in this slideshow by Jacqueline Tyrrell and Greta Werner

This year’s Festival of Urbanism will be better than ever; once again we have an amazing cohort of speakers and a rich & varied program, across Australia. All free - make sure you check it out. Our big Sydney program starts 13/10.

🗓 Join us on Friday 18 October for an engaging panel talk as part of the Festival of Urbanism 2024: Grey Spaces, Public Planning Places and Urban Play: Skate, Create, Educate. The theme of this year's festival is 'public urbanism'. Skateboarding is a subculture engaging youth and adults on the margins while also now an Olympic Sport where skaters can reach their full potential yet can still be stereotyped. In the past, skateparks and spots have also traditionally been 'quarantined' to areas that are isolated, lack creative elements for a range of users, and neglect questions of spatial justice, sustainability and the environment. In less progressive cities, skateboarding and other creative sports like roller skating and parkour can also be 'off-limits' for urban play, with these activities often misunderstood and banned in public spaces such as plazas and where young people and all kinds of active communities could otherwise gather and thrive. This panel ‘flips the script’ by highlighting how skateboarding can become a vibrant part of often under-used landscapes, creating unexpectedly safer, lively, and joyful public spaces that enhance social connection, personal confidence, health and well-being, advancement of physical skills and a canvas for creativity. In contemporary times, worldwide, cities like Bordeaux in France, Malmo in Sweden, Helsinki in Finland, and Barcelona in Spain are beginning to embrace skating and related activities in creative and inclusive ways. Speakers: Poppy Starr Olsen OLY HY William Chan Timothy Lachlan Nick Hayes Chaired by: Dr Indigo Willing Dr Sanné Mestrom Introduction by: Professor Nicole Gurran To register for this event and see our full program, visit our Festival website: https://lnkd.in/gmUDjAQ4 Henry Halloran Research Trust Festival of Urbanism University of Sydney

🗓 Join us on Friday 18 October for an engaging panel talk as part of the Festival of Urbanism 2024: The Future of Public Housing. The theme of this year's festival is 'public urbanism'. The future of public housing is at a crossroads in Australia. Despite a new national housing and homelessness plan pending, and additional funding to finance 40,000 social and affordable homes over the next 5 years, there is widespread concern that current policy and 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. Our eminent speakers reflect on the past century of public housing in Sydney, as well opportunities for a re-invigorated public and social housing sector in the future, asking how the Australian experience compares to public housing elsewhere and what alternatives for public housing we might imagine. Join us to discuss the history, trajectory, and types of public housing, exploring what public housing is and what it could be. Speakers: Rebecca Pinkstone Dr Alistair Sisson Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore Norrie MayWelby Karyn Brown Chaired by: Dr Greta Werner Introduction by: Professor Nicole Gurran To register for this event and see our full program, visit our Festival website: https://lnkd.in/gmUDjAQ4 Henry Halloran Research Trust Festival of Urbanism University of Sydney

🗓 Join us on Thursday 17 October for an engaging panel talk as part of the Festival of Urbanism 2024: The Rental Market is a Joke: How Comedy and Social Impact Documentaries can Improve Public Debate and Policy. The theme of this year's festival is 'public urbanism'. Research has shown that media, performance, film and social impact documentaries have the power to shift public opinion and influence policy change. In this special event, we celebrate a short cut from the pilot of ‘The Renters’: A funny and factual, solutions-led look at Australia's housing crisis, and the solutions at our fingertips; staring satirist Mark Humphries and exec-produced by the Chaser’s Craig Reucassel, followed by a panel conversation featuring Lee Constable: science and climate communicator, author and TV presenter; Bill Code: impact documentary maker; and Mark Humphries. Speakers: Mark Humphries Lee Constable Bill Code Chaired by: Sebastian Aguilar Introduction by: Professor Nicole Gurran To register for this event and see our full program, visit our Festival website: https://lnkd.in/gmUDjAQ4 Henry Halloran Research Trust Festival of Urbanism University of Sydney #PIA