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Former State Planning Minister Alannah MacTiernan will deliver the UWA Stephenson-Hepburn Oration next Wednesday, March 27 on the topic of "Being Hot but Staying Cool: Complexities in Delivering the Dream of Density".

Organiser Dr Paul Maginn, program coordinator of urban and regional planning at UWA, said the issues of increasing residential densities and a greater sense of urbanism were arguably two of the greatest challenges currently facing the planning system in Perth.

Ms MacTiernan, current Mayor of the City of Vincent and a UWA Arts and Law graduate,  said the WA Planning Commission and many planning academics agreed there was an urgent need for increased density in Perth.

"We need to shift the balance from the suburban to the urban in order to contain the economic and ecological hazards of sprawl in our rapidly growing city," Ms MacTiernan said.

"Socially, we also need to support the diversity of lifestyles demanded by our rapidly changing population.  However, there seems to have been little research into how we practically manage that transition.

"We need to work out how we're going to integrate small, inner-city bars and nightclubs with residential living.  We can't look at European-style city densities without European-standard public transport."

It was time for strategic planners to get their hands dirty with some statutory planning so the blue-sky vision in master plans could be turned into a sustainable and bustling city that captured the hearts and minds of people, Ms MacTiernan said.

Dr Maginn said the UWA Stephenson-Hepburn Annual Oration acknowledged the outstanding work of planning luminaries, the late Professor Gordon Stephenson and Alistair Hepburn.

"Professor Stephenson and Mr Hepburn made a lasting contribution to urban and regional planning in Western Australia," he said.

The Stephenson-Hepburn Oration will be held in the Social Sciences Lecture Theatre from 5.45pm to 7pm.  Those attending need to register .

The cost is a gold coin donation with all proceeds to the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Media references

Dr Paul Maginn (UWA School of Earth and Environment)  (+61 8)  6488 2711  /  (+61 4) 21 545 190
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783