The 2013 Future Cities Program focused on city re-vitalisation and sustainable development. Key resources were drawn from the Rocky Mountain Institute, pioneers in sustainable development in the United States and around the world and were supported by experts from Australia including Associate Professor Rod Simpson, and Bruce Taper and David Holden from Kinesis.
The selected cities included Waverley Council, Woollhara Municipal Council, City of Botany Bay, City of Liverpool, City of Parramatta and Blacktown City Council and Botany.
Order of speakers:
The cornerstone of the Future Cities Collaborative is the Future Cities Program, which focuses on supporting both regional and metroplitan city leaders in Australia, with knowledge, skills and resources to build sustainable and liveable communities. The program was conceived and led by Professor Ed Blakely, Sandy Burgoyne and Harriet Whyte. The program is based on the Mayors’ Institute on City Design conducted in the United States, where like-minded leaders work with experts to develop innovative solutions for re-designing precincts so they are great places to live and work, and are also adaptive to the changes in energy and water demands — from renewing town centres or high streets, to re-designing community precincts and parks, or alternative transport possibilities. In the United States, the Mayors’ Institute has helped transform communities through design by preparing mayors to be the chief urban designers of their cities, and it is towards this aim of capacity-building that the Future Cities Program works.
The program comprises four stages:
