A semester studying in Australia, spent on one question: who do preservation and public space actually end up serving? Two threads of research, both circling back to the deliberative work Patrick does at home.
Written for university coursework using the analytical frameworks required by each assignment; presented as academic work, not statements of personal political belief.
The Sydney Terrace House
A three-part study across the semester (March–June 2025) tracing how Sydney’s terrace houses went from cheap working-class housing to stigmatized “slums” to some of the city’s priciest real estate. The conclusion: the terrace was never saved for the people it was built for.
Public, for Whom?
From the First Fleet to today’s fights over Bondi Beach, the Cross City Tunnel, and Redfern’s public housing: a look at how exclusion from public space is a political choice, not an accident of planning.
Correction: the public space paper cited the Cross City Tunnel’s cost as $800M; the actual figure is approximately $680M AUD.
Patrick McCabe 