Uncharted urban futures: Australian cities post pandemic

About the Conference

Long held assumptions about the development of Australian cities have been up-ended by the COVID-19 crisis. The expectation of high and continuous population growth has been undermined and, at the same time, the way we live and work has changed. While we have learned that our systems have capacity and resilience in a time of crisis, new vulnerabilities and hazards have also been exposed.

Innovative modes of delivery in transport, healthcare, education, and other vital services were trialled when COVID-19 hit. Trends toward distance delivery of many services was accelerated, while simultaneously the importance of local access to goods and services and green space was revealed. The way people move about cities on a day-to-day basis has changed, perhaps permanently. New transport-use patterns will impact traffic congestion in cities, and infrastructure provision will need to respond accordingly.

Conference Program

Over a full day, the conference explored three major issues - Australia’s population dynamics as a result of the COVID-19 crisis; the delivery of critical social infrastructure to support our changing cities and the particular urban transport challenges emerging from the pandemic.  Findings for two new reports from the inaugural AHURI Cities Research Agenda on urban transport innovation and access to social infrastructure were presented at the conference.

Part 1: Ministerial and keynote addresses 

Part 2: Population mobility after COVID-19 & International keynote 

Part 3: Social infrastructure deliver post pandemic

Part 4: Urban transport options in a pandemic & International keynote

Conference Resources

You can view our conference recap or find our more about AHURI’s cities and urban research.

The video recordings of all conference sessions are now accessible at our YouTube channel.

Conference Partners

AHURI would like to thank our two conference partners – Infrastructure Australia and the Victorian Department of Land, Environment, Planning and Water.