Kim Dovey

Kim Dovey is an urban planner, researcher, and author specializing in the social and cultural dimensions of urban design, planning, and housing. She is a Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Dovey's work focuses on the ways in which the built environment shapes and is shaped by social relations, particularly in relation to issues of power, identity, and belonging. Key themes in her research include:

• Informal settlements and urbanism: Exploring the dynamics of self-built housing and its relationship to formal planning processes.
• Urban place-making: Investigating the processes by which places acquire meaning and identity, focusing on the role of design, social interaction, and cultural practices.
• Housing and social inequality: Examining the links between housing affordability, urban segregation, and social exclusion.
• Power and space: Analyzing how spatial arrangements reflect and reinforce social hierarchies and power relations.

Dovey is the author of several influential books in the field, including Framing Places: Mediating Power in Built Form (1999), Fluid City: Transforming Melbourne's Urban Waterfront (2005), Becoming Places: Urbanism / Architecture / Identity / Power (2010), and What is Spatial Justice? (2016). Her work is characterized by a critical perspective on conventional planning practices and a commitment to promoting more just and equitable urban environments. She has received numerous awards for her research and teaching.