This episode is produced in partnership with the University of Sydney Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies Board of Advice.
Prof. Michael Kennedy OAM is one of Victoria's most experienced and innovative private and public sector chief executive officers. He’s worked in a wide range of leadership roles in the transport sector for decades before joining Monash University as a Professor of Practice ten years ago. Michael is the Director of the Monash Institute of Transport Studies, who are partners with ITLS at University of Sydney as ARC Centre of Excellence in Transport Management.
City planning is an interconnected system, not a single project. Transport, housing, taxation, political cycles, and human behaviour all shape outcomes and simplifying that complexity leads to impaired decisions.
Long-term planning collides with short-term politics. Governments plan 30–50 years, but elections happen every 3–4 years, creating structural tension in reform.
CBD Primacy. How improving connections that perpetuate the primacy of central business districts can undermine ‘multi-city’ infrastructure planning.
“If you wrote the algebraic equation for livability, it would be extraordinarily complex — innumerable variables, multiple levels of government, and 30–50 year time horizons.”
“Governments plan 30 to 50 years ahead. Voters decide every three or four… Are governments prepared to do things that make them unpopular with part of the voting base?”
“Is making it faster to get to the CBD actually a benefit? Or are we just reinforcing its primacy?”
01:17 — Guest introduction: Prof. Michael Kennedy (Monash ITS)
Background, current role, and the importance of professional networks in the transport sector.
04:59 — Collaboration between Monash ITS and ITLS (University of Sydney)
The ARC Centre of Excellence in Transport Management and how academic collaboration shapes transport research.
06:55 — Housing growth, liveability, and accessibility challenges
How growing cities struggle to balance housing supply with transport accessibility, and why city planning is “an extraordinarily complex equation” with Multiple variables across social, economic, environmental, and financial.
10:02 — Political realities in transport decision-making
Governments must balance long-term infrastructure decisions with short electoral cycles while still capturing value
12:00 — Agglomeration: Should we strengthen CBD dominance?
Debate about whether improving access to CBDs benefits or harms outer suburbs.
16:53 — Book recommendation: Australia’s Second Chance
Explores the historical development differences between Sydney and Melbourne.
Michael Kennedy’s Monash Profile
Connect with Emily via email: emily@compassiot.com.au
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