Dr Suzanne Barker

Suzanne Barker is Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design at Monash University. Her work spans the fields of urban planning, urban design, and stakeholder engagement, informed by an industry-based career spanning two decades in State and local governments as well as the private sector. She draws on her professional expertise teaching into the Master of Urban Planning and Design program.

Suzanne recently completed her doctoral studies at MADA. Her research delved into the interplay between place attachment and cognitive bias, unearthing the importance of community engagement to engender support from residents to urban intensification proposals. Suzanne's research interests extend to the integration of behavioural sciences and design-centric engagement methodologies into the fabric of strategic planning processes with a view to challenge and improve business-as-usual development practices.

Her teaching and research are informed by her practice-based role as Director at Town Matters a boutique consultancy, bolstered by her master's qualifications in urban planning, urban design, and landscape architecture. She is also a trained facilitator and well-versed in steering complex processes.

An avid proponent of collaboration, Suzanne's professional portfolio showcases her involvement in an array of diverse projects including growth planning, the revitalization of urban areas, integrated water management and flood mapping, and economic development initiatives. This diverse experience underscores her keen understanding of the critical role of well-defined project governance and stakeholder engagement protocols including the need to integrate deliberative processes.

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