Patrick Hefferan, Urbis - Solving the Gold Coast housing crisis: an urban planning perspective
Episode description (50 mins)
A seasoned urban planner with over 20 years’ experience, this week’s podcast guest Patrick Hefferan provides an expert and nuanced perspective on how to address one of the Gold Coast’s most pressing issues: housing supply. Paradoxically, Patrick believes our housing crisis is actually a good problem to have – it means people are wanting to live, work and play on the Gold Coast, and the economy is accelerating.
But where do we go from here? In a free-ranging conversation, we talk about issues such as the need for non-traditional housing types and purpose-built student accommodation, ‘build to rent’ development and how it works, incentivisation for developers, and how transport and sustainability issues impact housing design. This is also a great episode for aspiring urban planners; learn how this multi-disciplinary calling is shaping the city, the economy and our future.
About Patrick
Patrick Hefferan, a Director at Urbis, is a town planner with over twenty years of experience in state government, local government and private consultancy. Known for his expert knowledge, he has served as an expert witness in the Planning and Environment Court (Qld) and the Supreme Court (NSW). Patrick builds strong client and government relationships, delivering timely, cost-effective outcomes for various planning projects. He has led major development applications in Southeast Queensland and contributed to drafting planning instruments. Specializing in market analysis and residential trend forecasting, Patrick optimises large commercial assets to meet market demands.
