Dr. Kate Shaw (born 1961, in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, planning

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

and commentator, currently serving as a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

Background

Kate Shaw worked in alternative theatre and arts publicity in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in the 1980s, before undertaking a post-Graduate Diploma in urban policy and planning (1993) and a Masters in urban planning (1999), both at

RMIT RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

. She then moved to the

and taught planning law, statutory planning, urban design, and ran classes on political economy, gentrification and the cultures of cities. Professor Shaw's PhD in planning (University of Melbourne, 2005) was "Room to move: the politics of protecting the place of alternative culture" and used a number of case studies from European and Australian cities to investigate the range of policies that have been used to support alternative culture in neighbourhoods subject to

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

. From 2005 to 2008 she was research associate on a large project with Prof. Ruth Fincher titled "Transnational and Temporary: students, community and place-making in central Melbourne", looking at the growing student population and how they are housed in Melbourne. Her own ARC funded project on "Planning the ‘creative city’: reconciling global strategies with local subcultures" took place from 2009 to 2012.

Scholarly contributions

Her current research focuses on urban renewal in the 21st century. Accepting that the economic case for growth combines with the environmental case for limiting

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

to produce an irresistible logic for increasing the densities of Australian cities, it explores ways of improving on the renewal projects of the last 50 years. Current work examines the legislative, regulatory, financial, political and cultural barriers to socially equitable urban development, and researches practices across the world that do it well. Her most recent book is ''Whose Urban Renaissance? An international comparison of urban regeneration policies'', co-edited with Libby Porter of

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

Public engagement

Dr. Shaw is notable for her work in connection with the protection of local

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different cu ...

and alternative

sub-cultures A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...

. This has encompassed community activism and education, media contributions and academic publications. Shaw was involved in the 'Save the Espy' campaign in the late 1990s and early 2000s, formally known as The Esplanade Alliance.http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/16/1087244963667.html Interview, The Age, 2004. The Esplanade Hotel in the inner Melbourne suburb of St Kilda is an iconic venue famous for its support of a wide variety of Australian rock and alternative music acts. The site on which the hotel stands was purchased in 1997 by developer Becton who proposed to build a high-rise upmarket apartment complex to take advantage of the extremely good views across

Port Phillip Bay Port Phillip (Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completel ...

and back to the Melbourne central city area. Apart from the debate about the merits of such a tall building in an otherwise relatively low-rise area, the concern of local residents and the music community was that even if the hotel itself was allowed to remain, the venue would soon be forced to stop hosting live music due to complaints from the residents of the new apartment tower, as has been the case in many other gentrifying suburbs, such as

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

. The campaign was successful in reducing the height of the tower significantly and ensuring that key aspects of the hotels layout were retained to enable its survival as a live music venue.

Selected publications

* Porter, L. and Shaw, K. (Eds)(2008) ''Whose Urban Renaissance? An international comparison of urban regeneration strategies'', London: Routledge () * Long, C., Shaw, K. and Merlo, C. (Eds)(2005) ''Suburban fantasies : Melbourne unmasked'', Melbourne : Australian Scholarly Publishing () * Shaw, K (Ed)(1998) ''Planning practice 1998 : the best and worst examples of city planning and development'', North Melbourne, Vic. : People's Committee for Melbourne ()

References

Aesop Prize 2006

* ttp://www.coverbands.com.au/Articles/ViewArticle.asp?ID=64&Title=IF%20YOU%20VALUE%20LIVE%20MUSIC,%20PLEASE%20READ! If you value live music, please read!
The Esplanade Alliance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Kate Activists from Melbourne 1961 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Melbourne