Wendy Steele

Wendy Steele is an Associate Professor in Cities and Sustainability at the Centre for Urban Research (CUR) at RMIT University in Melbourne. She is also an expert commentator on urban planning, policy and governance.

Wendy’s research focuses on cities in the current climate of change. With an emphasis on urban resilience and sustainability, critical infrastructure, urban policy and planning, and climate adaptation at the local scale, her work helps shape solutions to modern building challenges. 

Wendy is passionate about helping planners navigate the changing landscape in ways that benefit whole communities. Her latest book, ‘Planning Wild Cities’ (Routledge 2020), discusses the relationship between people and cities, with town planning at the centre.

Wendy holds a PhD and Master of Urban Planning (Hons Class 1) from Griffith University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts from University of Queensland. 

She is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow (2013-2015) and Discovery (2015-2017) grant award recipient. She is also an international board member for the journal Urban Policy and Research, and a co-convenor of the Critical Urban Governance Program within the Centre for Urban Research.

Wendy’s presentation titled Building Urban Resilience in a Climate of Change will focus on highlighting the significance of the role of prefab in a sustainable future cities context including contemporary examples from International contexts (including Australia, Europe, Hong Kong and Indonesia).