Housing Affordability: Place by Place Forum

Mr Fong Chun Wah is Housing and Development Board's (HBD) deputy chief executive officer (Building) [DCEO(B)]. In this capacity, he leads the five Building Groups in HDB, and is responsible for the physical development and sustainability of HDB’s towns. The five Building Groups carry out long term strategic and comprehensive urban planning, infrastructure planning and development, and the design, construction and contracts management of new development and upgrading projects. The groups also carry out social and economic research and surveys to gather feedback. They also drive the implementation of sustainable and Smart towns.

Mr Fong joined HDB in 1980 as an architect, after graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture (Honours) from the University Of Singapore. He was awarded the HDB overseas postgraduate scholarship and attained his Master of City Planning and Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986. Mr Fong practised as an architect in the architectural department, and held various positions in the research and planning department before he was appointed as director (Building Quality) from January 2008 to August 2009 where he oversaw the management of HDB’s construction projects for about one and a half years.

He was group director (development & procurement) [GDDP] from Sep 2009 to Mar 2016. As GDDP, he was noted for his key contributions in the development and rejuvenation of public housing through design studies and overseeing design of new and upgrading projects, procurement and management of consultancy and building contracts and financial management, successfully meeting the demands of the ramped up building programme, and achieving sustainable and community-centric designs in public housing developments. In recognition of Mr Fong’s significant contribution to the Singapore public service, he was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2008.

Rick Graf is a global property expert having delivered major public and private projects in countries including the USA, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia over the past 40 years, earning numerous international awards. For six years he represented the four Wentworth Point Landowners in the development and delivery of Sydney's Bennelong Bridge, which has become a topical value capture case study in privately funded public infrastructure.

Rick is a member of the Planning Committee and the Urban Development Committee of the UDIA and member of their Housing Affordability and Greater Sydney Commission Task Forces. He is also a director of MetroWest Rail consortium that has submitted an unsolicited proposal to the NSW Government for the development of a new metro rail project connecting Parramatta and Sydney CBDs in 15 minutes by 2024.

Bob has over thirty years of directing architecture in Sydney, and is highly regarded for his innovative approach having won several inaugural industry awards for his work. Bob is a director at architectural practice Scott Carver and has built a strong reputation with the team, clients and peers as a visionary for place-making. His approach to problem-solving has seen him welcomed into leading a broad array of both private and public sector projects.

He has played an instrumental role in defining Sydney’s Darling Harbour, led a major portion of the building works for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, been a key advisor to the government on the Sydney Metro project, and is also joint design director for the ongoing works at the world heritage listed Sydney Opera House.

Bob’s involvement on large scale private developments facilitates an abiding interest in urban design and the forces that shape cities and neighbourhoods. He lectures regularly to promote new perspectives on urban design and density such as his ‘agoradynamics’ and ‘ultra-local cycling’ series. Bob travels frequently to Japan where he ‘bushwalks’ in Tokyo as a laboratory for 21st century solutions to connected urban living.

Dr Tarsha Finney is an architectural urbanist and educator. She is senior lecturer in the School of Architecture at the University of Technology Sydney, and visiting professor at the Royal College of Art, London. Her research work focuses on several areas: housing, domesticity and questions of density and centralisation in the city with reference to notions of disciplinary autonomy and change in architecture. Her doctoral work looked at the multi-scalar role of large housing projects in the transformation of mid-century New York.

At the RCA Tarsha leads the Intergenerational Cities Research project. This work links the cities of London, Sydney and Hong Kong through investigations into spatial performance in housing, demographic and labour changes and social equity in cities, in partnership with industry players such as British Land, MTR and Urban Growth NSW and with community social housing providers. Tarsha speaks regularly in Australia on radio and television, and she writes for the general press about the issues of housing and contemporary urban transformation.  

In 2012 she was an invited speaker at TEDx Sydney. She has been an invited critic in graduate architecture programs around the world including Hong Kong University, the Bartlett University College London, the Architecture Association and Nottingham University. She is currently putting together a publication that looks at the conditions for experimentation in housing transformation.

Tina Kao is a senior strategic planner at the City of Canada Bay Council. Tina has a background in social planning, strategic planning and community development at the City of Sydney and North Sydney Councils. She was involved in the development of the City of Sydney’s 2030 In Your Village visions and was responsible for development of the first ever ‘Markets in the City’ Policy and Management Guidelines in NSW, which provided multidisciplinary solutions to complex scenarios.

This Policy has been instrumental to the vibrant markets culture and locations currently throughout the City of Sydney. Since Tina began working at the City of Canada Bay, she has revamped Council’s Affordable Housing Policy through the development of an Affordable Housing Position Paper and Evidence Report to assist council in setting out its principles and direction in this important realm. Tina has also led community planning work at the City of Canada Bay and is currently working on priority precincts planning.

Maria Scott is the head of Corporate & Public Affairs at PAYCE, a major property development and investment company. Her appointment in July 2016 follows 16 years in her own business. She brings more than 25 years of experience to the role having worked in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors across a range of senior positions. Maria has always been attracted to challenging roles that require the fine balance of delivering good value while operating commercially.

Her expertise in marketing, internal communications, media relations, corporate social responsibility, community relations, government dealings and stakeholder management provides her with a sound foundation for increasing business performance and growth. Maria is a current board member at Adele House, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility with locations in Sydney and Coffs Harbour. She also held positions with Rotary International, both local and regional, and the Property Industry Foundation, caring for Kids at Risk.

Starting as a journalist, Miranda’s career has taken her across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors in the UK and New Zealand. Her path into sustainability and behaviour change started with digital tools for the transport sector in 2006, and has since embraced collaborative partnerships to effect change in energy, low-carbon business models and healthier homes. This covers projects as diverse as a ‘warrant for fitness’ for rentals, and launching New Zealand’s first energy rating for commercial buildings. As senior adviser of Sustainability at Panuku Development Auckland, her current focus is on finding innovative ways to weave sustainability — social, environmental and economic — into urban regeneration projects.

Dave Adamson is knowledge manager at Compass Housing Services, Newcastle, NSW.  He arrived in Australia in 2015 and retains the title of emeritus professor at the University of South Wales, UK, where he worked for 30 years and held the chair of Community and Social Policy. He has extensive experience of research, evaluation and policy development in housing, regeneration and anti-poverty related areas.  He was the author of the Towards a National Housing Strategy. His current interests include housing policy, housing-led community renewal and social housing innovation.