Reflections on Planning Education and Practices in Melbourne

ABSTRACT

Reflecting on my involvement in planning education at RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) University since the early 1980s and with Urban Policy and Research, 1982–2003, there was a degree of optimism about what urban planning, through education and publication, might achieve, given the relatively favourable political and institutional circumstances of the time. The normalisation of neoliberal thinking across Australia by 2000, however, stymied such hopes. Looking back, I consider how I, as a teacher and a researcher, and UPR now a commercial journal, adapted to these challenging times.

摘要

回顾我自1980年代初以来在皇家墨尔本理工学院（RMIT）大学和1982至2003年参与《城市政策与研究》（UPR）期刊的教育规划事业，鉴于当时相对有利的政治和制度环境，我对城市规划通过教育和出版可能取得的成就持一定程度的乐观态度。然而，到了2000年，澳大利亚新自由主义思想的正常化扼杀了这种希望。回首往事，我思考了自己作为一名教师和一名研究人员，以及如今已成为商业期刊的UPR如何适应这个充满挑战的时代。

KEYWORDS:

• Urban policy and research
• planning education
• work placements
• young planners
• learning by doing

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Gough Whitlam formally launched UPR in 1984. Tom Uren, DURD’s minister, once retired willingly came from Sydney to be a guest lecturer to RMIT planning students.

2 My first student project in Melbourne tested whether limited funding for age care support across Fitzroy was targeted at those most in need. It focused on Italian and Greek elderly living in Fitzroy. Students were given permission to visit them at home using interpreters if necessary. Funds were found to be directed to those without extended family support.