8th State of Australian Cities Conference

We would like to invite PhD candidates to participate in the 2017 State of Australian Cities PhD Symposium to be held in Adelaide prior to the main SOAC conference in November.

The PhD Symposium invites doctoral candidates working on any aspect of urban research to share and develop their ideas and research skills. The Symposium will be structured around intensive study modules in small groups, together with plenary sessions and presentations from both senior and early career academic mentors.

PhD candidates will be divided into small groups based on the SOAC conference themes, and assigned both a senior and early career mentor. 

Conference Themes:

  • Economy – economic change and labour market outcomes of globalisation, land use pressures, changing employment locations.
  • Environment – sustainable development, environmental management and performance, natural resource management, limits to growth, air and water quality, climate change mitigation and adaptation, impacts of consumption, natural resource uses, nature conservation, green-space.
  • Governance – taxation, provision of urban services, public policy formation, planning, urban government, citizenship and the democratic process.
  • Structure - metropolitan spatial structure, urban form, new development precincts, urban design, place-making, policy implications of development and land use trends.
  • Movement and Infrastructure - transport, mobility, accessibility, communications and IT, and other urban infrastructure provision.
  • Housing and Social – people and place, population change and trends, migration, cultural inclusion, social polarisation, equity and disadvantage, housing issues, the healthy city, sport and recreation.
  • Health – public health and planning, healthy by design, community gardens, social inclusion, physical and mental wellbeing in urban environments.

Each student will be given the opportunity to present on their PhD research, with a chance for discussion and feedback from the mentors and other students in the group. Mentor guidance and plenary sessions will focus on current challenges in the urban and environmental research fields, and issues related to research methodology including data gathering and analysis techniques. 

The symposium will be held at Flinders Victoria Square, conveniently located in the heart of the city. Attendance for the symposium is free of charge, however capacity is limited.  Participants will need to meet their travel and accommodation costs.

Important Dates:

  • 12th June 2017 – Deadline for abstract submissions
  • 21st July 2017 – Accepted participants notified and research briefing/proposal requirements distributed
  • 15th October 2017 – Research briefing/proposal deadline
  • 25-27 November 2017 – PhD Symposium
  • 28-30 November 2017 – SOAC Conference