Dr Christopher Martin Standen

I have two core research interests. First, improving decision-making methods and tools used in urban planning (e.g., cost benefit analysis, health impact assessment and environmental impact assessment) - to better account for, and communicate, health and sustainability costs and benefits. Second, embedding health in urban planning/transport...view more

I am a Research Fellow in urban development in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at UNSW Sydney.

I have a passion for teaching, evidenced by awards and consistently high student satisfaction scores. I am regularly invited by major media outlets to comment on urban planning and transport issues.

My areas of expertise include transport/land use planning, travel behaviour, health/environmental impact assessment, environmental management, planning law, welfare economics, econometrics, spatial data analytics, and data science.

Teaching experience includes transport policy, health impact assessment, supply chain planning/design, GIS/spatial data analytics, quantitative analysis for transport and logistics, data science, health inequalities, and visual data analytics.

Editorial board member for Oxford Open Infrastructure and Health and the Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research.

My Grants

Public Health Wales. "Health in local development plans" (2024). $19,000.

CPHCE Research Stream Seed Funding Scheme. "Embedding health into urban planning education" (2023).

NSW Ministry of Health. “NSW Active Transport Health Model Phase 3” (2021).

Healthy Urban Environments Collaboratory Seed Funding Scheme. "Waterloo housing estate redevelopment: Longitudinal assessment/study of residents’ health needs and circumstances (pilot project)" (2020).

University of Sydney Business School Pilot Research Grant. "Looking for Positives: Health, Wellbeing and Active Transport Following a Pandemic" (2020).

Charles Perkins Centre Seed Funding Scheme. “Evaluation of the health impact of new urban motorway infrastructure” (2019).

City of Sydney Environmental Grants Program. “Profiling of George Street cycleway users for a community social marketing program” (2014).

My Qualifications

PhD

Master of Environmental Management

BSc (Hons.) Physics, computer science

My Awards

Sydney Local Health District Innovation and Excellence Award: Health Innovation and Research, Highly Commended (2023)

Dean's Citation for Teaching, University of Sydney Business School (2020)

Australian Postgraduate Award Industry Scholarship (2013)

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords

city and urban planning

travel behaviour

active transport

equity of access

cost-benefit analysis

public health

traffic modeling

equity

Areas of supervision

I welcome supervision enquiries about PhD/masters/honours research on:

urban planning, travel behaviour and health;
the relationships between them; and
translation into policy and practice.

Potential research topics/questions:

Exploring the design of interchanges with homelessness in mind (in partnership with Transport for NSW).
Social return on investment tool for infrastructure and transport projects (in partnership with Transport for NSW).
How to price-value the benefits of placemaking for the development of business cases (in partnership with Transport for NSW).
How to price-value the benefits of active transport (in partnership with Transport for NSW).
How well are public health and health equity considerations incorporated into urban planning education?
Improving modelling and forecasting for active travel (walking and cycling).

All enquiries should include a CV and a brief (about 2 pages) research proposal.

For information about scholarships, see https://research.unsw.edu.au/graduate-research-scholarships.

For information about admission requirements, see https://research.unsw.edu.au/submit-application.

My Engagement

Expert witness

NSW Parliament Inquiry into the impact of the Rozelle Interchange, May 2024

Consulting

Health impact assessment for Sydney Metro West project
Economic Active Transport Project to deliver a best-practice method to cost the health benefits of active transport in NSW

In the media

The South Sydney Herald, December 13, 2024:
Unlawful footpath narrowing
Eastside Radio, August 22, 2024:
Sydney traffic chaos
The Sydney Morning Herald, July 18, 2024:
Rozelle Interchange has taken a toll, but for Sydney transport, the road ahead looks grim
UNSW Newsroom, July 15, 2024:
Stress, lethargy, congestion: the unhealthy symptoms of Sydney’s transport system
Radio Skid Row
Parliamentary inquiry into the Rozelle Interchange
ABC NewsRadio, March 11, 2024:
Health impacts of SUVs
Yahoo News, February 7, 2024:
$30 per hour SUV parking tax set for Paris – would it work in Australia?
UNSW Newsroom, January 24, 2024:
Would congestion pricing work in Australia?
news.com.au, December 7, 2023:
Urban planning expert says Rozelle interchange working as planned, despite chaos and community outrage
The Sydney Morning Herald, December 6, 2023:
The Rozelle interchange is working exactly as planned
ABC News, December 5, 2023:
Rozelle Interchange design issues will be a problem for Sydney's future, experts say
The World Today, ABC Radio National, December 4, 2023:
Urgent changes being made to Australia's newest motorway maze
The Sydney Morning Herald, March 14, 2022:
Brace yourself Sydney for more transport chaos
The Sydney Morning Herald, Apr 23, 2019:
The M4 East: so much pain and public expense and for what?
The Conversation, May 10, 2018:
Why the need for speed? Transport spending priorities leave city residents worse off
The Conversation, Sep 7, 2017:
People take to their bikes when we make it safer and easier for them
The Sydney Morning Herald, Aug 18, 2016:
Who’s planning Sydney? Not Lucy Turnbull, as Haberfield shows
The Sydney Morning Herald, May 12, 2016:
Sydney needs congestion on its roads so we don't have complete gridlock