Mike is a researcher, teacher and practitioner in landscape architecture and urban design with experience across Australia, Europe and the US covering a wide range of project types and scales including precinct planning, public domain design and active transport. This breadth of experience combined with a passion for urban quality of life has given Mike a strong interest in the tensions between ‘big picture’ city planning and the lived urban experience. Mike has been recognised with design and research awards as well as speaking invitations and advisory roles.
Mike is currently engaged in two primary areas of research:
One is mixed-use megaprojects - investigating how the aims of large-scale, ‘competitive city’ projects are reconciled with the delivery of strategic infrastructure, liveability goals and equitable urban access. One of Mike’s current research projects in this area is a monograph by Palgrave Macmillan; Mixed-Use Megaprojects and the Competition for Capital, investigating projects in Sydney, Melbourne, Copenhagen and New York.
The other is active travel - investigating network planning, street design and governance with the overarching aim of delivering more social, accessible and healthy cities. This work builds on more than a decade of consultant work in which Mike’s international research has been tested in local and state government projects. Mike’s current research projects in this area include leading a 2-year research grant for Transport for NSW and iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre on international best practice facility design to increase cycling participation with virtual reality testing; as well as a number of publications on street design, governance and community preferences of cycling infrastructure.
, 2022, 'Bicycle infrastructure and street politics Sydneys flagship cycleway to covid-19 pop-ups', in Routledge Handbook of Urban Landscape Research, pp. 50 - 64, http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003109563-6
, 2018, 'Coding the "Authenti-city": North Harbour and the Århusgade Quarter, Copenhagen', in Laura L; Shannon B (ed.), Planning for AuthentiCITIES, Routledge, New York, pp. 287 - 308
, 2018, 'Barangaroo: Machiavellian megaproject or erosion of intent?', in Ruming K (ed.), Urban Regeneration in Australia Policies, Processes and Projects of Contemporary Urban Change, Routledge, New York, pp. 111 - 134, http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315548722
, 2023, 'Pop-Up Cycleways: How a COVID-19 “Policy Window” Changed the Relationship Between Urban Planning, Transport, and Health in Sydney, Australia', Journal of the American Planning Association, 89, pp. 240 - 252, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2022.2061578
, 2022, 'What does it mean for a transitioning urban waterfront to “work” from a sustainability perspective?', Journal of Urbanism, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2022.2142648
, 2021, 'Urban megaprojects and water justice in Southeast Asia: Between global economies and community transitions', Cities, 113, pp. 103068 - 103068, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.103068
, 2017, 'Competitive Precinct Projects: The five consistent criticisms of “global” mixed-use megaprojects', Project Management Journal, 48, pp. 76 - 92
, 2021, Designing for the ‘Interested but Concerned’: A literature review on cycling infrastructure design
, 2019, Hornsby Park Access & Circulation Investigation
, 2019, Guide to Low Carbon Landscapes, http://builtbetter.org/node/7832, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/27613, http://builtbetter.org/node/7832
, 2019, The Impacts of Urban Megaprojects on Water and Sanitation Related Human Rights in Southeast Asia: Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Urban Water Resilience Lab UNSW, UNSW Sydney, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/5ce4abb1e863a, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Water/MegaProjects/CSO/HawkenSAvazpourBHarrisMMarzbanA.pdf
, 2018, Kunshan West Slow Movement Strategy, CRC for Water Sensitive Cities
, 2016, Reconfiguring Sydney Streets: Copenhagen case studies and Sydney adaptations, Sustainable Transport Consultants, http://sustainabletransport.com.au/Documents/ReconfiguringSydneyStreets2019-WEB.pdf
, 2014, A guide to achieving good outcomes in precincts (the Bays in particular), The Fifth Estate, https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/articles/a-guide-to-precincts-the-bays-in-particular-to-achieve-good-outcomes/70572/
, 2018, UNSW BE LuminoCity Exhibition, UNSW BE LuminoCity Exhibition, 01 September 2018 - 07 December 2018, at: https://www.be.unsw.edu.au/event/luminocity-2018
, 2017, 2017 International Festival of Landscape Architecture, 2017 International Festival of Landscape Architecture, Overseas Passenger Terminal Circular Quay, 13 October 2017 - 14 October 2017, medium: Conference, at: http://www.aila.org.au/the3rdcity
, 2020, Will we reinvent Sydney's urbanity with work flexibility?, , https://www.abc.net.au/radio/sydney/programs/afternoons/afternoons/12897952
, 2020, The car is not our master - let's reclaim the streets for walk and play, , https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-car-is-not-our-master-let-s-reclaim-the-streets-for-walk-and-play-20201020-p566wd.html
, 2020, Radio interview: What does COVID mean for the CBD?, , https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/sundayextra/what-does-covid-mean-for-the-cbd/12620342
, 2020, Radio panel: The shift to more people riding bikes during and post COVID, , https://www.abc.net.au/radio/sydney/programs/focus/focus/12222050
, 2020, Are Pop Up Parks a New Way to Save Space, 2SER 107.3, , https://2ser.com/are-pop-up-parks-a-new-way-to-save-space/
, 2020, Sydney planning must focus on people, not cars, , https://www.governmentnews.com.au/sydney-planning-must-focus-on-people-not-cars/
, 2019, Radio interview: Government roles in mixed-use megaprojects on public land, ABC, Sydney,
, 2019, Australian cities pay the price for blocking council input to projects that shape them, , https://theconversation.com/australian-cities-pay-the-price-for-blocking-council-input-to-projects-that-shape-them-127017