Governing Long-Term Cities in Short-Term Political Cycles | Interview with Prof. Michael Kennedy OAM

This episode is produced in partnership with the University of Sydney Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) 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.

• Does faster CBD access reinforce inequality? How improving connections that perpetuate the primacy of central business districts can undermine ‘multi-city’ infrastructure planning.