Everybody should live in a place they love.
Steven Burgess is a leading authority on the planning, design and development of liveable cities. As Director of Complete Streets Pty Ltd, Steven brings over 30 years of experience as an engineer and urban strategist to creating resilient, people-focused communities. He has worked on transformation projects across Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe, the Middle East and South America, helping cities reimagine their streets and public spaces.
Steven is the author of Complete Streets – Guidelines to Urban Street Design and a contributor to global street-making guides, including the NACTO Global Street Design Guide and Auckland Street Design. His expertise lies in reconnecting people with the qualities that make towns and cities thrive, encouraging bold decisions that prevent urban decay and restore competitiveness.
An engaging international speaker and commentator, Steven inspires audiences to rethink city-making and embrace strategies that create places people love.
Talking Points
Better Cities
Cities can and should be better. There are ones around the world that get certain aspects right, but rarely are they as happy and healthy as they should be. Our real failing is that we have almost forgotten the users or customers. We make Cities about buildings, about transport, about Smart Tech, but we have forgotten about making them for people.Better Cities
Steven will take you on a grand adventure, providing some unique insights on why cities are successful, and what you have to do to make your City one of those.
Movement and Place
In our public spaces, there are two basic activities that occur. We are either moving or we are exchanging. Moving is self-explanatory, but also includes the associated moving and parking infrastructure. Exchanging is when the magic happens. When people gather, shop, eat, drink, create, play, etc. This happens when we create a place rather than movement. The reason for getting the priorities right between movement and place is that movement costs money, and we need to exchange places to return money to the community. The world is overloaded with cities and suburbs where, in the pursuit of better movement, our places have been destroyed. We need to re-learn the art of street making and make people our priority.
Movement and Place
Seriously a car park?
So, you need more car parking? I bet you don't. Cities all over the world have car parking problems, but by and large, the problem is that you have too many! Way too many! It's costing you millions. Millions in lost retail, millions in additional traffic snarls and crashes, millions in construction costs, the list goes on. We are ruining our towns and cities with a land use we don't even need! We do, of course, need some parking, but find out why it is not the government's responsibility to provide it. Getting on top of your parking issues will open up a whole new world of investment, tourism and local vitality. Less is more important than you think!
Seriously a car park?
Video
You are allowed to live in a place you love | Steven Burgess | TEDxHobart
Steven takes on a journey of why too many suburbs are just unloveable and some key steps that, as a community we should develop the courage to take to rectify the situation. No matter how much your house costs of what rent you pay, you should still be able to live in a place that you love. Steven Burgess is a change agent for Cities. He brings 30+ years’ experience as a transport engineer and urban strategist to reform the balance between car space and people space in towns and cities all over the world. His superpower is enabling a diverse range of stakeholders to expand their potentially myopic view of how cities should be and raise their expectations about what cities, towns, villages and neighbourhoods could be. Our lives depend on a serious re-examination of how our urban places of every size and shape are delivering liveability. Steven is the author of ‘Complete Streets - Guidelines to Urban Street Design’ published in 2010 and was a contributor to two other international street making publications. He is an international keynote speaker on people, places, and liveability having spoken at events all around Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Europe and the UAE.Steven delivered an outstanding and thought-provoking keynote speech at the conference opening, and he carried these themes throughout the conference. His technical background and extensive ... keep reading IPWEAQNT
When Steve Burgess sets foot on the stage, he captivates the audience. In speaking to the function of streets and their preeminent functions in social engagement as well as handling traffic, he distils the essence of his narrative to a clear irrefutable case, whilst simultaneously being able to back-up his argument with technical data. Steve proved himself one of the standout keynote speakers at this year's Planning Institute of Australia State Conference, evidenced by the follow-up audience interest in having him return to address various agencies.
Steven Burgess has spoken at several Expotrade infrastructure events across Australia, speaking very passionately on the need to reconnect people with the streets outside their own front door. Steven has an ability to get the cogs of thinking to be practically visible in an audience. He is a highly engaging and animated speaker who is able to capture the interest and attention of delegates throughout his presentation. His expertise and knowledge also extends him very well to panel discussions and I would not hesitate to recommend him as a guest speaker.
Steven Burgess is an exceptional speaker, fully conversant with the issues concerning his topic, direct and concise in his delivery, easy to listen to, responds to questions well, and while the presentation was delivered with the utmost professionalism, Steven still manages to set the audience at ease with his laidback style.I have no hesitation in recommending Steven as a guest speaker to any industry group, and I look forward to re-engaging him as a presenter to our members in the future.
Steven Burgess was a presenter at the Working Well Together: Putting Partnerships on the Map' summit held on the Sunshine Coast. Steven was an outstanding speaker on the day with a great combination of engineering knowledge and experience, a realistic and very human' approach to remind participants of the meaningfulness of streets. This was delivered with an incredibly engaging presentation style that resonated with the whole audience regardless of their qualification or occupation.
Steven Burgess has been a keynote speaker for Walk 21 conferences in Sydney, Calgary and Bogota, and is, without doubt, a dynamic, inspiring speaker. He not only lights up a room, but holds a crowd in awe while he presents ideas with a creative lens that enables broad recognition and understanding. His presentations are well grounded in good practice for street level interventions, while ensuring broader frameworks underpin that practice.
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