Portrait of Hannah Badland

Professor Libby Porter is the Director of the Centre for Urban Research


As a scholar of cities, Libby is motivated by the need to address urgent social and ecological injustices that stem from urbanisation processes. Her research aims to sharpen our understanding about the relationship between land and housing justice, the displacing effects of urban renewal and gentrification, critical questions of urban governance, the impact of mega-events, urban sustainable development, and the politics of urban property. In her work and life, Libby attempts to reckon with the politics and practices of learning, as a non-Indigenous person, to live lawfully on Country.

Her books include Unlearning the Colonial Cultures of Planning (2010 Ashgate), Planning for Coexistence? (with Janice Barry Routledge 2016) and Planning in Indigenous Australia: From imperial foundations to postcolonial futures with Sue Jackson and Louise Johnson (Routledge 2018). Libby has worked in urban policy and planning practice and taught in planning and geography schools in the UK and Australia. She co-founded Planners Network UK, a progressive voice for radical planning in the UK, is a member of the International Network of Urban Research and Action, and is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Libby is always keen to speak with students interested in pursuing postgraduate study in areas related to her research interests especially in the fields of settler-colonial urbanism, social housing policy, critical property studies, gentrification and urban regeneration.

The Centre for Urban Research consists of a number of Centre-based researchers from across RMIT University, PhD students and honorary members, including colleagues from local, national and international institutions.

Leadership Team

Ben Cooke

Associate Director, Geographies of Land, Home and Place

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David Kelly

Deputy Associate Director, Geographies of Land, Home and Place

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Iris Levin

Deputy Associate Director, Geographies of Land, Home and Place

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Sarah Foster

Associate Director, Planning & Transport for Healthy Cities

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Afshin Jafari

Deputy Associate Director, Planning & Transport for Healthy Cities

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Chris De Gruyter

Deputy Associate Director, Planning & Transport in Healthy Cities

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Bhavna Middha

Deputy Associate Director, Regenerative Environments & Climate Action

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Rebecca Olive

Associate Director, Regenerative Environments & Climate Action

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Thami Croeser

Deputy Associate Director, Regenerative Environments & Climate Action

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Libby Porter

Director, Centre for Urban Research

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People

Alan Both

Research Fellow

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Alexandra Kleeman

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

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Alexandre da Silva Faustino

Researcher and Lecturer

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Anahita Gangwani

Impact and Engagement Officer

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Andrew Butt

Associate Dean, Sustainability & Urban Planning

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Ani Landau-Ward

Lecturer

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Annette Kroen

Senior Research Fellow

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Anthony Kent

Lecturer

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Ascelin Gordon

Senior Lecturer

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Ashton De Silva

Professor

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Benno Engels

Dr., Level C Academic Staff Member

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Brigid Papaix

Knowledge Broker and Partnerships Development Manager

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Carl Higgs

Research Fellow

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Cecily Maller

Professor

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Darryn McEvoy

Professor

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David Rousell

Senior Lecturer in Creative Education

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Declan Martin

Research Associate

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Ellen van Holstein

VCRF Postdoctoral Fellow

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Erica Kuligowski

Principal Research Fellow

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Fatemeh Roohafza

Research Fellow

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Hector Manuel Padilla Gil

Researcher

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Holly Kirk

Research Fellow

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Jacinta Humphrey

Postdoctoral Researcher

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Jago Dodson

Professor of Urban Policy & Director, Urban Futures Enabling Impact Platform

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Jasmine Pearson

Research Fellow

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Jessica Rivera Villicana

Research Fellow, Artificial Intelligence for Geospatial Urban Research

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Joe Hurley

Professor of Sustainability and Urban Planning

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Julie Lawson

Adjunct Professor

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Kajsa Lundberg

Research Fellow - Sustainable Consumption and Policy

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Kaveh Deilami

Research Fellow

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Leonardo Nogueira de Moraes

Research Fellow, Disaster Resilience

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Liam Davies

Research Fellow / Lecturer

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Lucy Gunn

Senior Research Fellow

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Mahsa Abdollahyar

Research Assistant

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Manoj Chandrabose

Research Fellow

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Marco Amati

Professor

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Maria Sortino

Partnerships & Development Coordinator

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Melanie Davern

Director, Australian Urban Observatory

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Melanie Lowe

Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow

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Melissa Neave

Senior Lecturer

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Mittul Vahanvati

Senior Lecturer

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Monica Trubiano

Coordinator, Research Operations College of Design and Social Context

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Nicola Willand

Senior Lecturer

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Nícolas Guerra-Tão

Research Assistant

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Nooshin Torabi

Lecturer

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Ori Gudes

Research Fellow

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Priya Kunjan

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

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Rebecca Clements

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

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Rebecca Roberts

GIS Analyst

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Rosie Morrison

Research Fellow

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Ryan Turner

Research Assistant

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Sapan Tiwari

Research Assistant

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Sarah Barns

Vice-Chancellors Senior Research Fellow

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Sarah Bekessy

Professor, Sustainability & Urban Planning

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Sarah Robertson

Research fellow

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Solmaz Hosseinioon

Research Fellow

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Stefan Siebel

PhD, Research Assistant

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Steve Pemberton

Researcher

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Susie Moloney

Associate Professor Sustainability and Urban Planning

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Tiebei Li

Senior Research Fellow

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Wendy Steele

Professor

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Yaguang (Ozzy) Tao

Research fellow

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