Peter Murphy joined UNSW in 1982 as a Lecturer in Town Planning and was promoted to Professor in 2000. He served as Head of the School of the Built Environment and Associate Dean Research from 1999 to 2002. Professor Murphy was appointed Faculty Dean in October 2003.
He conducts research and provides advice on urban and regional affairs to national, state and local governments; the private sector; and the media.
As Faculty Dean, Professor Murphy is responsible to the Vice Chancellor for the strategic development of the Faculty of the Built Environment and the management of its financial, material and human resources in support of strategic goals. As a member of the Vice Chancellor's Advisory Committee, Professor Murphy is engaged in the broader development of UNSW and specific university projects.
Professional affiliation and membership
- Institute of Australian Geographers
- Planning Institute of Australia
Teaching
Peter Murphy's teaching is grounded in his knowledge of the economic aspects of how cities function, as spatial and economic systems, to enable public interest objectives related to equity and the environment to be met through market incentives and, on the other hand, to demonstrate how planning regulations may impact inappropriately on economic efficiency. His guiding principle is that urban planning suffers from too great a focus on regulation and that there is too little appreciation amongst planners and the politicians they advise of the importance of manipulating production and consumption behavior through pricing strategies.
Research
Peter Murphy's primary interests are in the economics of urban land use and activity systems, management of growth and change in large urbanized regions, and regional development planning.
His research deals with: (1) urban public interest implications of immigration, especially in relation to housing affordability, environmental management, infrastructure planning and governance; (2) social equity implications of economic restructuring, including cost recovery pricing of urban services and privatized infrastructure provision; (3) growth and change in peri-metropolitan and non-metropolitan amenity regions.
In addition to these primary research themes, Peter Murphy has worked on the development and characteristics of metropolitan employment centers, urban cultural economies, the export of built environment services and evidence-based planning.
Recent Publications
Books
T'ai, B, P. Murphy and P.S. Rana, (2007), Environmental impact assessment: an Indo-Australian perspective, Bookwell, New Delhi
Burnley, I and P. Murphy, (2004), Sea Change: Migration from Metropolitan to Arcadian Australia., UNSW Press, Sydney
Burnley, I, P. Murphy and R. Fagan, (1997), Immigration and Australian Cities, Federation Press, Sydney
Murphy, P.A., S. Watson, (1997), Surface City: Sydney at the Millennium, Pluto Press, Sydney
Papers
Burnley, I.H., Marshall, N., Murphy, P.A. and Hugo, G.J., (2007), Welfare migration to and from metropolitan areas in Australia, Urban Policy and Research, (in press)
Marshall, N., Murphy, P.A., Burnley, I.H. and Hugo, G.J., (2005), Australian intrastate migration: the story of aged pensioners, Australian Social Policy, 65-86.
Murphy, P.A., O'Brien, B. and Watson, S, (2003), Selling Australia, Selling Sydney: the ambivalent politics of entrepreneurial multiculturalism, Journal of International Migration and Integration, Vol. 4, No. 4, 471-498.
Burnley, I.H. and Murphy, P.A., (2002), Continuity, cycles and change: the population turnaround in New South Wales, Journal of Population Research, Vol.19, No.2, 137-152.
Murphy, P.A., (2002), Sea Change: Re-Inventing Rural and Regional Australia, Transformations, No.3, 1-14.
Freestone, R., Murphy, P. and Jenner, A., (2002), The functions of Australian towns, revisited, TESG, Vol.94, No.2, 188-204.
Gibson, C., Murphy, P.A and Freestone, R., (2002), Sydney's cultural economy: employment and social relations in the ‘creative’ industries, Australian Geographer, vol.33, No.2, 173-189.
Murphy, P.A. and Wu, C-T, (2001), Globalization and the sustainability of cities in the Asia-Pacific region: the case of Sydney, Ch. 13 in Lo, Fu Chen and Marcotullio (eds.) Globalization and the sustainability of cities in the Asia-Pacific region, Tokyo, United Nations University Press, 399-427.
Ley, D., Murphy, P., Olds, K. and Randolph, B., (2001), Immigration and housing, Progress in Planning, Vol. 55, Pt 3, 141-152.
Ley, D. and Murphy, P., (2001), Immigration the metropolis and public policy, Progress in Planning, Vol. 55, Pt 3, 185-187.
Ley, D. and Murphy, P., (2001), Immigration in gateway cities: Sydney and Vancouver in comparative perspective, Progress in Planning, Vol. 55, Pt 3, 121-126.
Pfister, N., Freestone, R. and Murphy, P., (2000), Polycentricity or dispersion? Employment in metropolitan Sydney, 1981 to 1996, Urban Geography, Vol.21, No.5, 428-42.
Murphy, P., (2000), Urban infrastructure in Australian cities: metropolitan planning and social equity implications of cost recovery pricing and private provision, Ch.15 in Singh, K. and T'ai, B. (eds) Financing and pricing of urban infrastructure, New Delhi, New Age International.
Freestone, R and Murphy, P, (1998), Metropolitan Restructuring and Suburban Employment Centres: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Australian Experience, Journal of The American Planning Association, 64: 286-297.
Murphy, P., Burnley, I. And Jenner, A., (1997), A view from the fringe: residential location choice to outer suburban Sydney, Urban Studies, Vol. 34, No.7, 1109-1127.
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Chapters
Murphy, P., (2007), Planning the metropolis, Ch. 8 in S. Thompson (ed.) Australian urban planning., Cambridge UP.
Murphy, P.A., (2007), EIA in context: strategy and tactics, Ch. 1 in Ta'i, B., Murphy, P.A. and Rana, P.S. eds (2007) Environmental impact assessment: an Indo-Australian perspective., Bookwell: New Delhi.
Murphy P.A., (2007), Economy and affect: people-place relationships and the metropolis, Ch. 12 in Ruan, X and Hogben, P. eds, Topophilia and topophobia: reflections on human habitat in the 21st century., London: Routledge.
Murphy, P., (2006), The future of country towns: a new equilibrium?, Ch. 1 in Rogers, M.F. and Jones, D.R. eds, Renewing country towns., Latrobe UP.
Murphy, P.A. and Wu, C-T, (2001), Globalization and the sustainability of cities in the Asia-Pacific region: the case of Sydney, in Lo, Fu Chen and Marcotullio (eds.) Globalization and the sustainability of cities in the Asia-Pacific region. Tokyo, United Nations University Press (in press),
Murphy, P., (2000), Urban infrastructure in Australian cities:metropolitan planning and social equity implications of cost recovery pricing and private provision, Ch.15 in Singh, K. and T'ai, B. (eds) Financing and pricing of urban infrastructure. New Delhi, New Age International.
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Keynote Addresses
Murphy, P.A. (2007) Pricing the metropolis: economic instruments for urban management, Proceedings of CRIOCM Symposium, Sydney
Murphy, P.A. (2006) Changing demography and the regions, Developing Australia's region's: driving a strong national economy, Australian Financial Review Conferences, 18-19 July, Sydney
Murphy, P.A. (2006) Pricing the metropolis: economic instruments for urban management, Proceedings of IMFRD 2006, International forum on metropolitan regional development, SJTU, Shanghai.
The future of country towns: a new equilibrium. Keynote address presented at 2nd National conference on the Future of Australia's Country Towns, Latrobe University, 11-13 July 2005
Murphy, P.A. (2005) Issues in urban sustainability, International Conference on Sustainable Habitat Synergies, New Delhi, March 11/12 2005
Murphy, P.A. (2004) Urban renewal in Australian cities: re-engineering regional population densities, International Workshop on Urban Renewal, HUDCO/HSMI/TIFAC, New Delhi, February 17-19.
Murphy, P.A. (2004) Network infrastructure and metropolitan development, Sustaining the city: Sydney 2025 and beyond, Committee for Sydney, February 19.
Murphy, P. A. (2004) City hinterland relationships: the drivers of coastal urbanisation, National Urbanisation Symposium, Griffith University and Gold Coast City Council, Robina, March 29
Murphy, P.A. (2004) Sea change and regional Australia, Standing Committee on Regional Development National Research Network, Sydney, DSRD. 15 April.
Murphy, P.A. (2001) Sea change: re-inventing rural and regional Australia, State Library of NSW, Lecture Series, 15 August.
Murphy, P. and Wu C-T (2000) Sydney's re-constitution since the 1970s: managing the aftermath, Re-inventing the city: international and regional experience and Hong Kong's future, Proceedings of CUPEM (UHK) 20th Anniversary Conference.
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Page Last Updated: 13 Feb 2008
Management Group
2001 & 2003 - Australian Housing and Urban research Institute