Associate Professor Susan Oakley

Biography/ Background

Susan Oakley is a trained urban sociologist.  Her current research is a longitudinal study of redeveloping disused urban docklands which examines the relationship between urban planning, governance and urban renewal of brownfield sites.  In London the Bankside Power Station became the Tate Modern Art Gallery, while Canary Wharf was redeveloped for commercial and residential use.  Closer to home, derelict docklands in Sydney’s Darling Harbour and Ultimo Pyrmont have been refurbished as entertainment, tourist hub and high rise residences, while the Melbourne Docklands is undergoing a similar make-over.  Drawing on the Port Adelaide waterfront redevelopment Susan’s work to date has been examining the capacity of this development to create opportunities for social and cultural diversity by including mixed housing tenure and mixed economic activity (tourism, retail, commercial); quality urban design, amenity and services; and, an urban design that can deliver environmentally sustainable solutions for high-to-mid-density living that builds on the geography and history of the inner harbour.  Of particular focus  is how the Port Adelaide waterfront  can be redeveloped to provide a quality built urban environment that can better link to and integrate with the wider Port area drawing on international and national best practice. 

Susan is also involved in a new study on youth homelessness and accommodation funded by the Australian Research Council (2011-2013). This  research is focused on creating better pathways into independent living and civic participation for young homeless people through sustainable accommodation and support program models. The qualitative study focuses on understanding the dimensions and experience of homeless people living in youth accommodation; and the ways they can integrate into the wider community. It seeks to address significant research, policy and service provision gaps as well as new national homelessness priorities. 

 

Qualifications

PhD Sociology (Flinders University of South Australia) 2001

BA Honours First Class (Flinders University of South Australia) 1994

BA (Flinders University of South Australia) 1993 

Teaching Interests

Social Sciences in Australia , Social Theory in Action, Social Policy and Citizenship, Social Research, Youth and Work.

Research Interests

Urban waterfront regeneration

Urban governance/ planning and participation in urban regeneration 

Theorising urban citizenship/critical urban assemblage

Youth issues/homelessness

 

 

Research Funding

2012-2013 FaHCSIA (Commonwealth Government)

Project: Understanding the circumstances and experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex homeless in Austalia

2011-2013 Australian Research Council Linkage Grant

Project: Creating better pathways into civic participation for young homeless people through sustainable accommodation and support program models

2011 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant

Project: Governing sustainable renewal: a comparative analysis of urban waterfront redevelopments in Australia and the UK.

2010 Fay Gale Centre Fellowship

Project: Re-gendering obsolete waterfront landscapes into spaces of desire and spectacle for select residents: a critical gendered analysis of Australian waterfront renewal.

2008 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant

Project: Public Private partnerships in urban change: comparative analysis of urban waterfront regeneration in Adelaide, Darwin and Melbourne.

2007 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant

Project: Re-making redundant waterfront landscapes into cosmopolitan spaces of consumption: the socio-economic impact of the Port Adelaide redevelopment.

 2006 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant

Project: 'Your harbour...your dream': local resident responses to stage 1 of the Port Adelaide waterfront redevelopment.

2006 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Strategic Research Grants Scheme

2005 Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with Associate Professor Barbara Pocock

Project: Work Household Community and Services Project.

2005 Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (APAI) with Associate Professor Barbara Pocock

Poject: Young casuals and workplace citizenship

2005 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant

Project: The role of private developers play in redeveloping and transforming urban waterfronts: A case study of the Port Adelaide waterfront renewal.

 2004 Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with Associate Professor Barbara Pocock, Dr John Buchanan, Dr Iain Campbell, Dr Ian Watson

Project: Experiences and Dimensions of Low Paid Workers in Australia.

2003 Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) with Dr Andrew Beer, Dr Paul Delfabbro, Dr Kristin Natalier, Dr Fiona Verity

Project: Developing models of good practice in meeting the needs of young homeless people in rural area.

 

Publications

REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES

Oakley, S. and Johnson, L. 'Place-taking and place-making in waterfront renewal, Australia', Urban Studies (print form in press).

Oakley, S. (2011) 'Re-imagining city waterfronts: a comparative analysis of governing renewal in Adelaide, Darwin and Melbourne,  Urban Policy and Research, 29(3): 221-238

Oakley, S. and Hancock, J. (2010) ''Hybrid Foyers': A 21st Century response to Youth Homelessness Accommodation?' Parity, 23(3): 24.

Oakley, S. (2009) 'Governing Urban Waterfront Renewal: the politics, opportunities and challenges for the inner harbour of Port Adelaide, Australia' Australian Geographer, 40(3): 297-317.

Oakley, S. (2007) 'The Role of Urban Governance in Re-constructing Place, Economic Function and Social Relations in Urban Waterfront Regeneration: The Case of Port Adelaide, South Australia', Space and Polity, 11(3): 279-295.

Oakley, S. (2007) 'Public consultation and place-marketing in the revitalisation of the Port Adelaide waterfront', Urban Policy and Research, 25(1): 113-128.

Rofe, M. W. and Oakley, S. (2006) 'Constructing the Port: External Perceptions and Intervention in the Creation of Place in Port Adelaide', South Australia, Geographical Research, 44(3): 272-284.

Beer, A., Delfabbro, P., Natalier, K., Oakley, S., Packer, J. and Verity, F. (2006)'Homelessness Amongst Young People in Rural Regions of Australia' in Paul Cloke and Paul Widdowfield (eds) International Perspectives on Rural Homelessness, Routledge.

Oakley, S. (2005) 'Working Port or Lifestyle Port: preliminary analysis of the Port Adelaide waterfront redevelopment', Geographical Research 43(3): 319-326.

Beer, A., Delfabbro, P., Oakley, S., Verity, F. and Natalier, K. (2005) Developing Models of Good Practice in Meeting the Needs of Homeless Young People in Rural Areas, Final Report, AHURI: Melbourne.

Oakley, S. (2005) 'Where you live does make a difference: the experience of young homeless people accessing housing, employment and social support in Bunbury and Busselton', Western Australia, Parity 18(6): 23.

Oakley, S. (2004) 'Politics of recollection: examining the rise and fall of DURD and Better Cities through narrative', Urban Policy and Research 22(3): 299-314.

Oakley, S. and Verity, F. (2003) 'Revisiting urban entrepreneurialism a place based politics in the production of collective identity', Urban Policy and Research 21(2): 191-203.

Oakley, S. (1998) 'Urban Spatiality: A (Re)interpretation of Space and Place', in C. Houston, F. Kurasawa, A. Watson (eds) imagined places: the politics of making space, School of Sociology, Politics and Anthropology, La Trobe University.

PUBLICATIONS IN REFEREED CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Oakley, S. (2012) 'High-rise, high-density urban waterfront renewal: A metropolitan policy panacea or placebo in recreating 21st century cities?, Refereed Paper at the Australasian Housing Researchers Conference 8-10 February, http://www.adelaide.edu.au/churp/ahrc12/

Goudie, S. and Oakley, S. (2012) 'Responding to Youth Homelessness in the 21st Century: A research and policy agenda for delivering a better model of accommodation and support that fosters civic inclusion and participation for young homeless people', Refereed Paper at the Australasian Housing Researchers Conference 8-10 February, http://www.adelaide.edu.au/churp/ahrc12/

Oakley, S. and Johnson, L. (2011) 'The Challenge to (Re)plan the Melbourne Docklands and Port Adelaide Inner Harbour: a research agenda for sustainable renewal of urban waterfronts' Refereed Paper at the State of Australian Cities: National Conference 2011, Melbourne 29 November - 2 December 2011, CDROM ISBN 978-0-646-56905-8.

Oakley, S. (2009) 'Governing urban change in a global financial crisis: a comparative analysis of waterfront renewal in Adelaide, Darwin and Melbourne, Refereed Paper at the State of Australian Cities National Conference 09, Perth 24-27 November 2009, CDROM ISBN 1863081569.

Oakley, S. (2007) 'Discourses of community in urban waterfront regeneration: the case study of the Port Adelaide waterfront redevelopment', Refereed Paper at the State of Australian Cities: National Conference 07, Urban Research Program, Joint University of Adelaide, UNISA and Flinders University, Adelaide, 28 November - 30 November 2007, CDROM ISBN 978-0-646-48194-4.

Oakley, S. (2006)'Your Harbour Your Dream': The Impact on Housing, Work and Community through the Urban Regeneration of the Port Adelaide Waterfront Redevelopment', Refereed Paper at the Australiasian Housing Researchers Conference, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, South Research Institute and the South Australian Housing Trust, Adelaide, 19 June - 21 June 2006.

Oakley, S. and Rofe, M. (2005) 'Global Space or Local Place? The Port Adelaide Waterfront Redevelopment and Entrepreneurial Urban Governance', Refereed Paper at the State of Australian Cities: National Conference 05, Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Brisbane, 30 November - 2 December, Electronic Proceedings, http://www.griffith.edu.au/confernce/soac2005/

Oakley, S. (2004) 'Revisiting the Situatedness of Institutional Urban Management: The Politics of Urban Policy in Australian Federal Governance', Refereed Paper presented in the Health/Urban Policy Stream, APSA Conference, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 29September-1 October 2004. APSA 2004 Refereed Papers, Electronic Proceedings, http://www.adelaide.edu.au/apsa/papers

Oakley, S., Pudsey, J., Henderson, J., King, D. and Boyd, R. (2000) (eds) Sociological Sites/Sights: multiple locations, multiple knowledges, multiple visions, TASA Conference Proceedings, Flinders University, Adelaide.

REPORTS

Beer, A., Delfabbro, P., Oakley, S., Verity, F. and Natalier, K. (2003) Developing Models of Good Practice in Meeting the Needs of Homeless Young People in Rural Areas, Positioning Paper, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute

Oakley, S. (1997) Spatial (In)equity in Australian Cities: Implications for Social Policy, Working Paper No 13, Department of Sociology, Flinders University.

Select International and National Conferences: 2012-2005

2012 ERGA Conference, Adelaide, September

'Partnering Students in Practical Research' (joint paper with Dr Dee Michell)

2011 The Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender, Adelaide, November

'Intersections of Waterfront Renewal: Gendering Urban Planning and Practice in Adelaide'

2011 Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference, London (invited)

'Creating liveable waterfronts: A comparative study of governance, regeneration and image of dockland renewal in Adelaide and Meblbourne'

2011 Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, Wollongong, July

'Vertical suburbs: How waterfront apartment living is changing Australian cities' (joint paper with Associate Professor Louise Johnson)

2010 Fay Gale Inaugural Annual Conference, Adelaide, November

'Creating liveable waterfronts: a critical gendered analysis of urban renewal'.

2010 New Zealand Geographical Society/Institute of Australian Geographers Joint Conference, Christchurch, July

'Watermarks: Remaking places in the luminal zones of Australia' (joint paper with Associate Professor Louise Johnson)

2009 State of Australian Cities National Conference, Perth, November

'Governing urban change in a global financial crisis'

2009 Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, Cairns, September

'Sitting on the dock of the bay...watching the economic tide roll by Adelaide and Melbourne Waterfrtonts' (joint paper with Associate Professor L Johnson)

2007 State of Australian Cities National Conference, Perth, November

'Discourses of community in urban waterfront renewal'

2006 Don Dunstan Foundation Housing Affordability Roundtable, Adelaide, April

'Reconceptualising housing, work and community: Port Adelaide waterfront' (Invited).

2006 Australiasian Housing Researchers Conference, Adelaide, June

'Your harbour...your dream' Impact of housing in waterfront renewal'

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories	Sociology, Urban development
Expertise	Susan Oakley is an urban sociologist. Her research expertise is the relationship between urban planning, governance & urban renewal of brownfield sites. Dr Oakley is also involved in research on the gendered nature of youth homelessness. Currently she is studying pathways into independent living & civic participation for homeless people through sustainable accommodation & support programs.
Notes	Alt phone: (08) 8303 3715

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 19 Mar 2013