Rob Adams: Challenging the status quo on urban planning

On The Fifth Estate’s latest podcast, our managing editor, Tina Perinotto, spoke with urban planner Rob Adams.

Rob became Australia’s urban planning poster child when he launched an audacious goal to transform Melbourne’s CBD as director of planning at the City of Melbourne.

In those days, the city was suffering from a prolonged recession. The city streets were abandoned, especially at night and on the weekends. People had not yet discovered that CBDs could be vibrant and active.

So Rob started a program was called Postcode three thousand.

Part of the transformation involved refurbishing office buildings into apartments.

As a result, the city’s population blossomed. Suddenly, living in the CBD was cool, not a sad, windy endurance test when the city workers departed for their homes.

But that’s not all Rob is well known for. He’s recently launched a plan about concentrating development along the city’s transport routes, designed to leave the rest of suburban sites alone. This helps to “calm” residents so that they aren’t so fearful of development.

Ray Brown: value of charettes, architecture at the big end of town, and Adelaide hitting its stride – How to build a better world

Ray Brown heads a practice of 700 people with Architectus, which, after the merger with Conrad Gargett in April this year, is now the biggest architectural practice in Australia.He’s led some of Australia’s biggest projects – from buildings to urban planning, in most sectors, from offices to rail, social housing and heritage – sometimes, for the biggest projects, in collaboration with big global architectural names. These include the stunning 1 Bligh Street in Sydney, which scooped sustainability hearts and minds when it was completed in 2011.Host: Tina PerinottoProduced by: The Fifth EstateThe Fifth Estate website: www.thefifthestate.com.auSign up for the newsletter: https://thefifthestate.com.au/subscribeSupport The Fifth Estate: thefifthestate.com.au/support-usLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/the-fifth-estateTwitter: @FifthEstateAUFacebook: www.facebook.com/thefifthestateAuHost: Tina PerinottoProduced by: The Fifth EstateThe Fifth Estate website: www.thefifthestate.com.auSign up to the newsletter: https://thefifthestate.com.au/subscribe Support The Fifth Estate: thefifthestate.com.au/support-us LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/the-fifth-estate Twitter: @FifthEstateAUFacebook: www.facebook.com/thefifthestateAu