Crawford School of Public Policy

Episode Summary

On this week’s Policy Forum Pod, we look at what’s driving migration to cities and tackle the challenges that the world’s ever-growing urban areas pose to policymakers and urban planners.

Episode Notes

With an estimated 68 per cent of the world’s population predicted to be living in cities by 2050, policymakers and urban planners have myriad challenges to tackle. On this Policy Forum Pod, Paul Wyrwoll leads a discussion with Jasmine Ha, Sharon Friel, and Glenn Withers, about why migrants – both from rural areas and overseas – are flocking to cities, and how to ensure that inequality, environmental and health issues don’t dominate urban areas. They also discuss why we might move beyond city living in the future, and how to maintain prospects for rural areas. Listen here.

Pod presenter Julia Ahrens also talks to Hayley Boxall about her research into domestic violence and the strategies that women who experience this employ to keep safe. You can read more about her work here.

Jasmine Ha is Research Fellow in the School of Demography at The Australian National University. Her research focuses on understanding the impacts of migration policies.

Sharon Friel is Professor of Health Equity and Director of School of Regulation and Global Governance at The Australian National University. Sharon is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia, an ANU Public Policy Fellow and an Australian Council of Social Services Policy Advisor.

Glenn Withers is Professor of Economics in the Research School of Economics and was founding CEO of Universities Australia. Glenn has served as chair of various Australian government bodies, including the National Population Council.

Hayley Boxall is a Principal Researcher at the Australian Institute for Criminology and a PhD student at the Centre for Social Research and Methods at The Australian National University. Her research is focused on domestic violence.

Paul Wyrwoll is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Climate and Energy Policy in the Crawford School, ANU. He is an environmental and resources economist who works on energy, water, and climate change.

Julia Ahrens is a presenter on Policy Forum Pod.

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