UNSW Cities Institute appoints director

The Central City District Commissioner for the Greater Cities Commission (GCC), Peter Poulet, has been appointed Director of the UNSW Cities Institute.

Launched in August 2022, the UNSW Cities Institute is an independent entity that plans to collaborate with government, industry, education, community, local partners and international partners to lead the reinvention of cities. It aims to advance highly productive, sustainable, prosperous, healthy and socially-just urban futures for Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and globally.

By collaborating across all UNSW faculties and key research centres, Poulet will build strategic teams to implement the mission of the institute.

Poulet is an architect with 35 years of experience in the private, public and university sector, as well as a practising and exhibiting visual artist. His professional background includes his current role as Central City District Commissioner for the Greater Cities Commission (GCC), delivering the NSW Government’s vision for Sydney’s future, and his previous appointment as NSW Government Architect, a key position he held from 2012 to 2018.

“The Cities Institute has a broad umbrella and the opportunity to engage with a variety of stakeholders and people who affect conditions in our cities, and we are able to make significant changes for the future, particularly for the next generation who are inheriting the decisions we’re making now about our cities,” Poulet said.

“It highlights the notion that our cities should be more equitable and give better and more equal access to opportunities, to jobs and housing, health and wellbeing, which is essential for a successful society.

“My vision for the Cities Institute is that it will become the go-to place for independent bodies to seek advice and opinion around how our cities should work better and what we as a collective community should do to facilitate that,” he said.

Claire Annesley, Dean of UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture, said: “We’re thrilled to have a director who will craft a vision for what the future of Cities Institute looks like with a diverse range of partners, who is ambitiously trying to solve problems, is established in his career and has an eye on the younger generation to solve problems through a diverse and inclusive approach.”

The Committee for Sydney, an advocacy and urban policy think tank for Greater Sydney and a key stakeholder for the institute, also welcomed Poulet’s appointment and his experience.

Image caption: Peter Poulet with Claire Annesley. Image credit: UNSW