Professor Michael Buxton

Michael Buxton is a professor of Environment and Planning at the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University.

Professor Michael Buxton joined RMIT in 1998 after 12 years in senior management with Victorian Government Planning and Environment agencies, and with the Victorian Environment Protection Authority. He formerly headed the intergovernmental process for developing Australia’s National Greenhouse Strategy, and the group responsible for the development and implementation of environmental policy in Victoria. He was an elected Victorian local government councilor and Mayor for ten years and was a member of the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges Authority for six years. He is a former lecturer at Monash University, Melbourne.

Michael heads a research team carrying out extensive research into peri-urban regions, including a national study titled Change and Continuity in Peri-Urban Australia. This team’s national and Victorian studies have investigated the nature and extent of contemporary peri-urban regions in Australia; identified future patterns of socio-economic, environmental change in peri-urban landscapes; and developed scenarios for future land use and management based on ‘business as usual’, interventionist and deregulated options. Change and Continuity in Peri-Urban Australia was a collaborative project between RMIT and Griffith Universities, funded by Land and Water Australia.

Michael Buxton has contributed extensively to government policy and maintains strong industry and professional connections. He is former chairperson Premier’s Green Wedge Working Party which advised the Victorian government on the introduction of a legislated urban growth boundary and revised green wedge zones for Melbourne’s green belt; former member of the Melbourne 2030 Implementation Reference Group; and has been a member of many government committees.

Expert commentary on...

International environmental law and its impact on national policy, Greenhouse policy, Integrated transport-land use planning and city planning, Fringe area and rural planning, Natural resource use.

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Projects

Improved Urban Systems for Liveability

2016–2021

This project investigates how major cities function and the effects of their land-use, housing and infrastructure systems on the humans that live in them.

Melbourne at 8 Million: Matching Land Supply to Dwelling Demand

2015–2016

This project investigated available land supply for residential development in Melbourne to test the city’s capacity to cater for a projected population of 8 million by 2050.

News & Blog

News

Assessing the impact of the Bushfire Royal Commission final report

09 November 2020

Set-up in the wake of the devastating 2019-20 bushfires, the Royal Commission has delivered its final report into national natural disasters. RMIT experts point to crucial gaps.

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How can we better prepare suburban Melbourne for climate change?

24 September 2020

Climate change presents critical challenges for future development, sustainability and resilience across Melbourne. Here, our experts offer insights on how we can better prepare our outer suburbs.

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Urban fringe critical to future food supply

05 May 2020

The COVID-19 crisis reinforces the vital need for cities to protect food-producing rural areas on the urban fringe to retain options and avoid the risk of future shortages, RMIT urban experts warn.

Media

Response, recovery and resilience: experts react to the bushfire crisis

14 January 2020

Our experts respond to Australia's bushfires with perspectives on topics ranging from policy and planning, to community resilience, the mental health of first responders and the psychology of loss.

Blog

This is how regional rail can help ease our big cities’ commuter crush

07 August 2017

In Sydney and Melbourne, the squeeze is on. Population is booming; house prices are still rising; roads and trains are congested. Australian governments generally have ignored the benefits of relating metropolitan and regional planning.

Blog

Airport privatisations have put profit before public safety and good planning

28 February 2017

The plane crash at Essendon Airport last week shows the folly of allowing runways to co-exist with commercial development.

News

Liveable Melbourne: Is it really?

22 September 2016

Melbourne has been named the world’s most liveable city again, but is it really? Environment and planning professor Michael Buxton explains why Melbourne is at risk of losing its liveable status.

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Shift in regional rail policy crucial to meet population growth: study

15 September 2016

RMIT Centre for Urban Research together with Rail Futures launch a new landmark report calling for major investment in Victoria's regional rail system to meet the state’s future challenges.

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New book maps Melbourne’s past, present and future

24 August 2016

A new book by RMIT urban planning experts delves into our city’s past to present a citizen’s handbook that unlocks the potential for shaping Melbourne's future.

Publications

The impact of planning ‘reform’ on the Victorian land use planning system

Buxton, M and Goodman, R 2014, 'The impact of planning 'reform' on the Victorian land use planning system', Australian Planner, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 132-140.

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