strategic town planner, political economist

Dr Steven Liaros has over 30 years of experience in local government, as a consultant and in academic research. He is an innovator and trans-disciplinary, systems-thinker with interests in how economies shape our cities and how global mega-trends are changing the way we live. Steven challenges often unquestioned assumptions in town planning such as ever-increasing urbanisation, separation of land-uses, and the relationship between public and private domains.

Steven pioneered the Voluntary Planning Agreements process in NSW prior to its adoption in legislation in 2005 and has written extensively on the future of cities, including how they are being reshaped by distributed information and energy systems. He is co-creating a new model for village-scale, regenerative development based on the principles of the Circular Economy.