TMBTP Urban Policy and Research – 40th anniversary party

This Must Be The Place Podcast

Urban Policy and Research – 40th anniversary journal party This episode of This Must Be The Place is a live recording from the party held for the 40th anniversary of the journal Urban Policy and Research, which took place at Melbourne University in early 2023. The episode begins with Liz briefly introducing the journal and its history – including one of the co-founders, Jeremy Reynolds - via an anecdote about Margo Huxley and her paper on chicken by-laws and the TV show “The Good Life”: (“In search of ‘the good life’: Being a political economy of certain local government by-laws within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria” published back in 1985. - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08111148508522607). After that it’s a largely unedited live recording of the anniversary proceedings – we hear from Crystal Legacy, Paul Maginn, MC Peter Phibbs, and co-founders Brian Haratsis and Marcus Spiller. There’s two game shows including a “you can’t ask that” panel of Emma Baker, Alexa Gower, Nicole Gurran, and Mike Berry. Plus a quiz where you have to guess the date of articles over the decades. Part of the theme of the proceedings is looking back at change and at non-change: at the sometimes frustratingly circular nature of debate, with some ideas coming around repeatedly without necessarily effecting good outcomes. It can be hard to pick which decade an editorial about ridiculous housing problems comes from. Having said that, “Housing policy in the 1980s” has a particularly dated ring to it. UPR was founded by a group of Melbournians in 1982 – and, as Marcus Spiller recalls, was actually launched by Gough Whitlam. Then as now, “the journal aims to disseminate information which is useful to Australian policy makers”. The recording has a few rueful laughs about trying to make that true, but also valuing the community of authors, reviewers and other contributors to the knowledge and influence of Urban Policy and Research. Most of the recording is a live recording, but with some light edits. There’s a fair bit of room noise, clapping and familiar voices. Finishing with a cover of “Little Boxes”, by the Taylor Project, and part of the requested song “Ballarat”. Alas the recording cut out such that the very end of the night cut off from the recording. ANYWAY you should also check out the UPR back catalogue and consider contributing an article or debate piece!