Quentin Stevens

Dr Quentin Stevens is an Associate Professor in RMIT University’s School of Architecture and Urban Design, and Chief Investigator on the current Australian Research Council Discovery project ‘Temporary and Tactical Urbanism’. He is also currently researching how the design of public spaces can contribute to social cohesion, with partners in the UK and Denmark. He is a past director of RMIT’s Centre for Design Practice Research (2016-17) and Centre for Design and Society (2013-16). Prior to working at RMIT, Quentin was a Senior Research Fellow at Humboldt University in Berlin, funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and Reader in Urban Design at University College London.

Quentin has over 20 years of experience researching how people use public spaces, with a particular focus on playful and unexpected uses and transformations of public spaces, temporary design interventions, and the complex networks of actors and processes that shape the public realm. He has conducted fieldwork throughout Australia, Europe and East Asia. His current research on Temporary and Tactical Urbanism has included case study fieldwork in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.

Quentin’s other areas of research expertise include urban waterfront redevelopment, the planning, design and reception of public memorials, and the planning of creative clusters. He is among the most widely published and cited urban design academics in Australia, having written or edited 8 books and 35 refereed articles. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Urban Design and Urban Design International. Quentin is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia, and has worked professionally in architecture and urban planning in both the private and public sectors in Australia and the United States.