Key People

Director

Professor Phillip O’Neill
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Professor O'Neill is an economic geographer with specialties in urban and regional economies, corporate investment behaviours and socio-spatial indicators. He was previously Foundation Director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales. He is a major contributor to international scholarship in the general area of urban and economic development. This is recognised in his appointments to four key international editorial boards. He maintains strong publications output with consistent placement of research in the highest quality international journals as well as for targeted policy use.

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Academic Staff

Professor Peter Phibbs
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Professor Phibbs is an urban planner with an international reputation in the area of housing studies. Formerly the Associate Dean (Staff) in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Sydney, his research in recent years has been in two main areas: the non-shelter outcomes of housing and the broad area of affordable housing. Since 2001 he has supervised 14 PhD completions and five Masters by Research. This level of research graduations has not only generated a considerable body of knowledge in planning but has also helped to raise the profile of research degrees as an important path for planners in Australia.

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Professor Chung-Tong Wu
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Professor Wu is an urban planner with specialities in regional development strategies, urban dynamics and impacts of migration on urban development. His work includes collaborations in China, South Korea and other South-East Asian countries. He was previously the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development and International) at UWS. Previous appointments include Dean of the Faculty of Built Environment at the University of New South Wales and various academic appointments at QUT, University of Sydney, University of Hawaii and the University of Singapore. His current research is on shrinking cities, urban dynamics and urban revival strategies.

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Associate Professor Donald McNeill
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Associate Professor Donald McNeill joined the Urban Research Centre from King’s College London. He is known for his research in urban geography, and in particular the relationship between architecture and urban space, with particular reference to skyscrapers, hotels, and airports. His latest book, The Global Architect, will be released by Routledge in late 2007. Having published widely on mayors and urban governance, he continues to research in urban politics and development in Barcelona and London. His book New Europe: Imagined Spaces (Arnold, 2004) is a widely used resource in courses on political and cultural identity in the European Union.

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Associate Professor Cristina Martinez-Fernandez (Senior Research Fellow)
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Dr Martinez-Fernandez is an urban and regional planner with specialist expertise in innovation studies, industry clusters, urban and regional networks, public-private partnerships and innovation-related policy development. She has transferred to the Urban Research Centre from the Australian Expert Group in Industry Studies (AEGIS) at UWS.

Dr Martinez-Fernandez is currently working on the Shrinking Cities project with an international research consortium lead by the Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD) at the University of California (Berkeley). Her other projects involve investigating industry innovation activity and employment growth, industry manufacturing clusters and knowledge intensive service activities.

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Associate Professor Michael Bounds
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Associate Professor Bounds' research over the past 10 years has concentrated on the study of the social impacts of urban development, with a particular focus on urban consolidation and gentrification. He has undertaken research on the redevelopment of Pyrmont-Ultimo in Sydney, master-planned development in the south west of Sydney and researched development in the 'Olympic Corridor' and the impact of the Sydney Olympics. Associate Professor Bounds is also the Director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) node for the University of Western Sydney.

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Dr Mark Davidson (Postdoctoral Research Fellow)
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Dr Davidson joined the Urban Research Centre from Dartmouth College, USA. He is an urban geographer with interests in gentrification, urban policy, metropolitan politics and social justice. In previous research, his work has examined the social impacts of ‘new-build gentrification’ in London, UK. His current research includes work on issues of social sustainability in Sydney and Vancouver, the relationships between health and gentrification in New York City, the social and housing market impacts of infill development in Sydney, and place-making activities in Sydney Olympic Park.

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Administrative Staff

Dr Louise Crabtree (Research Program Coordinator)
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Dr Crabtree is an urban geographer specialising in urban sustainability and housing affordability. Her research focuses on the social, ecological and economic sustainability of community-driven housing developments in urban Australia, on the uptake of housing innovation in practice and policy and on the interfaces between sustainability, property rights and democracy. As Research Program Coordinator for the Urban Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney, Dr Crabtree is responsible for the identification, development and coordination of research opportunities, areas, activities and partnerships of relevance to the Centre and to the greater metropolitan area.

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Ms Kelly Lanfranca (Administration Officer)
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Kelly Lanfranca completed a Bachelor of Business at UWS in 2004, involving a major research project on the success and failure of small businesses. She has extensive customer service experience in the hospitality and financial services sectors. Kelly was recruited by the Urban Research Centre in January 2007 and is responsible for the provision of high-level administrative support.

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Advisory Panel

Gabrielle Kibble (Chair)
Deputy Chancellor, UWS
Chairperson, Sydney Water

Professor Kay Anderson
Centre for Cultural Research, UWS

Angus Dawson
Chief Executive Officer, NSW Growth Centres Commission

Professor Ruth Fincher
Dean of Architecture, University of Melbourne

Sam Haddad
Director-General, NSW Department of Planning

Craig Knowles
Director, Investec

Philip Manidis
Director, Manidis & Roberts

Anthony Newland
NSW President, Planning Institute of Australia

Sean O'Toole
Managing Director, Landcom

Greg Stewart
Director of Population, Health, Planning and Performance,
Sydney South West Area Health Service

Paul Tosi
General Manager, Campbelltown City Council

John Whitehouse
Chairman of the Board, Sydney Catchment Authority

Ross Woodward
Deputy Director-General, Department of Local Government

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