Event Recording
Inspired by William Gibson’s famous quote “The Future is Already Here, it's Just Not Very Evenly Distributed.”, this expert panel shares examples of innovative and future focused infrastructure projects and systems from Australia and across the world. These examples show that the technology for transition to a zero net carbon future already exists – across transportation infrastructure, energy, and waste systems – but entrenched barriers to widespread adoption remain. What governance models are needed to transform systems of infrastructure provision and distribution, ensuring equitable access to sustainable transitions?
This event is convened by the Henry Halloran Research Trust’s Research Incubator on Infrastructure Governance and chaired by A/Prof Tooran Alizadeh.
Panel
Haruka Miki-Imoto, Urban, Resilience and Land Global Practice, World Bank
Prof Tim Bunnell, National University of Singapore
James O'Keefe, Department of Planning and Environment
Dr Aidan While, University of Sheffield
chaired by
Dr Tooran Alizadeh, University of Sydney
Haruka Miki-Imoto is an Operations Officer for the World Bank TDLC in the Urban, Resilience and Land Global Practice. Her core areas of works include the operational support, the design and the documentation of case studies, and partnerships. Haruka works on projects across the regions, with elaborative exposure in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) in AFR and francophone countries. Prior, Haruka served as the core member for deliveries of Technical Deep Dives, and have been active in bringing Japanese lenses into the GPURL works such as What a Waste 2.0, Competitive Cities Case Studies, Cities, Culture, Creativity and Startup Ecosystem analysis for Innovative Districts. Before joining the World Bank, Haruka worked at the Morgan Stanley, and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan, working toward more sustainable, resilient, competitive and inclusive urban development. Haruka holds dual MPA in Public Policy & Administration from LSE and Sciences-Po Paris, and a B.Sc in Social Sciences from Hitotsubashi University.
Professor Tim Bunnell is director of the Asia Research Institute (ARI) at the National University of Singapore, where he leads a research cluster on Asian Urbanisms. A geographer by training, the main focus of Tim’s research is on urban and regional change in Southeast Asia. He is currently involved in a comparative project on urban planning and future imaginaries in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
James O’Keefe is the director of the Roads to Home program within the NSW Department of Planning and Environment which partners with Aboriginal communities in coordinating and delivering infrastructure. He has over 25 years experience leading teams of technical professionals in the design, delivery and operational support of large water and Aboriginal infrastructure projects.
Dr Aidan While is with the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield. His research and teaching combines interests in environmental and climate policy, urban technology and future cities and the politics of planning in the UK and internationally.
Associate Professor Tooran Alizadeh is the co-convener of Smart Urbanism (Research) Lab at the University of Sydney, the lead investigator on the Infrastructure Governance Incubator funded by the Henry Halloran Trust, and the Associate Editor of Telematics and Informatics. Following the 2021 award of an ARC Future Fellowship, she is currently exploring the complex socio-spatial implications of smart city development in India (2022-2026).