The city’s longest-running free public talk series, Melbourne Conversations, will launch its 2025 season with a forum exploring the role Melbourne’s public space plays in its ever-evolving urban identity.
On Monday 24 February, leading urban design experts and academics will convene at The Edge at Fed Square for the event, This Is Public… Space.
Produced by the City of Melbourne, Open House Melbourne and Fed Square, the conversation will explore what constitutes public space and how it can drive culture and connection, while examining unique public spaces like Fed Square and considering the upcoming impact of major infrastructure works like the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation and Metro Tunnel.
Walkley award-winning journalist and community activist, Dr Jeff Sparrow will moderate the discussion, with panellists including:
- Claire Martin – Associate Director at landscape architecture firm Oculus. Through her work with the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and the International Federation of Landscape Architects, Claire has championed climate positive design – where design projects produce net positive climate outcomes.
- Katrina Sedgwick OAM – Inaugural Director and CEO of Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation (MAP Co), overseeing the delivery of the $1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation and the management of Fed Square.
- Professor Kim Dovey – Chair of Architecture and Urban Design and Director of the Informal Urbanism Research Hub at University of Melbourne. He is also the author of Framing Places: Mediating Power in Built Form, Fluid City, Becoming Places and Urban Design Thinking.
- Sarah Lynn Rees – A Palawa woman and architectural practitioner, academic and writer. She is an Associate Director at Jackson Clements Burrows Architects and a prominent advocate and advisor with a firm commitment to Indigenising the built environment.
Following a fully-booked program in 2024, this year’s Melbourne Conversations schedule will deliver six events around the central theme of Metro/Morphosis – the examining the vital signs of contemporary Melbourne across density, movement, place-making, housing, transport and climate adaptation.
According to the City of Melbourne’s Open Space strategy, approximately 15 per cent of the total area of the municipality is dedicated to open space – equating to around 570 hectares of public parks, gardens, waterways, forecourts, plazas, and sporting venues.
A curated selection of borrowable books and other learning resources will also be available at a pop-up library on the evening.
This Is Public… Space
The Edge – Fed Square, Corner Swanston & Flinders Streets, Melbourne
Event: Monday 24 February 2025 – 6.00pm
Free Event – bookings essential
For more information, visit: www.melbourne.vic.gov.au or www.openhousemelbourne.org for details.