Urban planning conference to focus on ‘Sea Change’
The way in which the “Sea Change” phenomenon has altered town planning throughout Australia will be in the spotlight at the 9th Australasian Urban History/Planning History Conference at Caloundra from 5-7 February.
This three-day conference, hosted by the University of the Sunshine Coast, will look at the historical factors behind the “Sea Change” phenomenon, paying particular attention to the underlying long-term processes of urbanisation in areas like the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.
It will feature 50 presentations by Australian and international town planning experts and academics from 18 Australian universities and three New Zealand universities.
The keynote speaker will be Professor Tony Dingle of Monash University whose research interests include urban, environmental and economic history.
Conference coordinator and University of the Sunshine Coast lecturer Dr Chris McConville said the demographic shift from metropolitan areas to coastal towns, particularly in south-east Queensland, was profoundly altering urban patterns.
“While the immediate significance of the shift is widely debated, there has been little attempt to consider Sea Change Australia within an historical context,” he said.
“This conference will address the long-term processes within which the transitions of the first decade of the 21st century can be best comprehended.”
Dr McConville said he expected the conference papers would attract interest from local and state governments, universities and from the community.