The 14th Urban History Planning History (UHPH) conference theme is inspired by Melbourne as an exemplar of cities that are continually re-made: as a centre of manufacturing, as a city built on land and infrastructure speculation, and as a place that has been re-made over the long-established land-based practices of the Kulin nation.  

Manufacturing was central to the social, spatial and economic development of Australasia’s nineteenth-century cities. The decline of manufacturing has had a significant effect on urban environments and urban lives, as has the rise of the financial, service and cultural sectors. In the post-manufacturing era, cities have had to again reinvent themselves in response to the challenges of new internal circumstances and of external forces of change. 

Underpinning the making and re-making of Melbourne and other Australasian cities are the processes of settler colonialism and speculation on stolen Indigenous lands. The long shadow cast by colonisation challenges us to imagine how cities can be re-made in a just and shared future, and the role of planning within this.  

We invite papers that address the theme of re-making cities in the broad senses sketched below:

1. the making of manufacturing and post-manufacturing cities;
2. infrastructure and institutions;
3. cultural heritage;
4. Indigenous identity;
5. plans and planning;
6. urban environments; 
7. Australasian urbanism. 

Papers should be based on original research and may focus on one or a combination of sub themes. In addition, proposals related to other aspects of urban and planning history, in and of relevance to Australia/New Zealand, are welcome.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to submit full papers (4000 words text max) for publication in the peer reviewed conference proceedings. You are required to register and attend the conference for your paper to be published in the proceedings.