Pre-Summit Day
Great Places, Great Neighbourhoods: Placemaking for Affordable Housing
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Join us while we explore how the focus on placemaking in affordable housing and precinct regeneration can help respond to Australia’s housing challenges by improving livability, connection and long-term neighbourhood outcomes.
This Pre-Summit Day will study practical approaches, investment settings and policy directions that support not just the delivery of more homes, but the creation of resilient, inclusive places for communities to thrive.
Learn from a range of perspectives across affordable housing, urban renewal, local government and community development, with a strong emphasis on resident and community experience. Through a mix of content and interactive activities, the day will explore themes such as understanding place and context, designing great streets and shared spaces, supporting tenure-inclusive neighbourhoods, and sustaining vibrant mixed communities over time.
Meet Your Facilitator
Emma Hall
Director of Placemaking
Village Well
Emma Hall is Director of Placemaking at Village Well, specialising in regenerative placemaking, community engagement and place-led development. With a background in architecture and urban design, she focuses on unlocking a place’s potential to shape inclusive, resilient and high-performing communities.
She leads strategic placemaking initiatives across affordable housing, urban renewal and community development, with expertise spanning place analysis, engagement, visioning and long-term frameworks. Emma has also pioneered trauma-informed and regenerative placemaking approaches, grounded in evidence and systems thinking.
Her work directly aligns with creating liveable, connected neighbourhoods—bringing practical insight into how placemaking can strengthen affordable housing outcomes and support thriving, inclusive communities over time.
Agenda
Tuesday, 16 June
8:30
Registration Opens
9:00
Opening Session
Welcome, overview of the day, and introduction to the role of placemaking in affordable housing.
Emma Hall, Director of Placemaking, Village Well
Session 1: Starting with Site and Context
9:30
Reading the Place — From Paddock or Precinct to Neighbourhood Plan
Early-stage visioning, site analysis and partnership approaches in regeneration and greenfield contexts; embedding affordability and placemaking from the outset.
Representative from Housing Choices
Justine Boland, Head of Sales and Leasing, Assemble
10:45
Coffee Break
Session 2: Streets, Spaces and Social Infrastructure
11:00
Streets, Spaces and Services that Make Housing Liveable
How streets, open space, local centres and social infrastructure support density and mixed communities.
Lisa Sorrentino, Directors Development, City West Housing
Dan Szwaj, Architect, Turner
12:15
Lunch
Session 3: Mixed Tenure in Practice
1:15
Designing and Managing Mixed Tenure without Labels
Architecture, entries, common areas, allocations and communications that make tenure mix invisible in day-to-day experience.
Dan Szwaj, Architect, Turner
Session 4: Managing Mixed-Tenure Communities
2:15
Service delivery and resident experience across tenure types
Discussion on service standards, CHP coordination, resident experience, and reputation risk across mixed-tenure precincts.
3:30
Wrap-Up and Close
Reflection on key themes, final takeaways, and close.
Emma Hall, Director of Placemaking, Village Well