Melbourne at the Crossroads: Harnessing Urban Planning to Relieve Housing Stress & Inequality

Melbourne Series

Drinks with Dr Marcus Spiller & Peter Seamer AM

Hosted by Chris Gallagher

We are at a critical juncture in the growth and development of our city. The role of urban planning is generating much debate, with general acceptance that we need a much sharper focus to solve urgent problems.

The State Government has recently forged major but controversial changes to the city’s planning schemes. Will these make any difference?

In the lead up to the Federal Government’s Economic Reform Roundtable, some submissions described planning and building rules as a big tangle of red tape and a handbrake on productivity.

This Melbourne Forum discussion will be about what we should do to tackle the increasingly difficult issues of access to housing and jobs and the retention of our ‘liveable’ city status.

We are delighted to welcome Dr Marcus Spiller and Peter Seamer AM to Melbourne Forum for this panel discussion, part of our new Melbourne Series. It promises to be an interesting discussion as they have different perspectives on where to best absorb more development in our city.

Our two conversation leaders are eminently qualified to lead this discussion. Each is widely acknowledged as having made a major contribution to planning in Melbourne. Both are passionate about creating a strong future for the city.

Dr Marcus Spiller is a founding partner at SGS Economics & Planning Pty Ltd. He has more than 40 years’ experience in public policy analysis as an urban economist. His expertise covers metropolitan planning and governance, housing policy, infrastructure funding and the productivity of cities and regions.

Although an independent consultant for most of his career, Marcus has  developed a good understanding of government policy-making through numerous significant secondments and part-time appointments in government and in universities. He has also acted as a senior policy adviser overseas, including in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, China and Sri Lanka.

Marcus is a past National President and Life Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia. He has been a Board member at VicUrban (the State Government-owned land development company, now Development Victoria), and member of the Commonwealth Government’s former National Housing Supply Council and its current National Housing Supply and Affordability Council.

Marcus is a principal contributor and co-editor of two books covering metropolitan governance, and infrastructure funding and management.

He is an honorary Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.
 
Peter Seamer AM was the CEO of Federation Square during its construction and early operational phase, managing a highly complex range of construction, funding, public relations and political issues.

He was CEO of the Victorian Planning Authority for a decade. During this time, he oversaw the design and planning of some sixty new suburbs in Melbourne’s growth areas, regional Victorian cities, and inner-city brownfield sites. He has also been the CEO of Places Victoria (now Development Victoria).

He is passionate about the need to make our cities more equitable, efficient and liveable, as well as the overwhelming need to house all Victorians, despite the rapid population growth of our State. A particular interest is finding housing for those on the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder and he is on the board of a community housing association.

He published Breaking Point: The Future of Australian Cities, which critically investigated the challenges facing the growth of Australian cities, and the strategies required  as they double in size in coming decades.

He was made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to urban and regional planning and design, to public administration, and to local government.

In another instalment of our Melbourne Series, join our expert panel for this vital conversation about Melbourne's future.