Internship Program_____

Evolving Character of Developing Regions

Victoria’s regions are growing faster than ever, with forecasts predicting that over 280,000 people will be moving to regional cities and towns over the next 15 years*. This is likely to increase with flexible working arrangements ‘unshackling’ us from capital cities and our desire for a more relaxed lifestyle increasing as a result of the pandemic.

This growth is placing significant pressure on regional areas, with the look and feel of many towns rapidly changing. Picturesque farm land is being replaced with expansive housing estates resembling the new suburbs of Metropolitan Melbourne. Roads, shops, parks, and services are under increasing pressure and housing affordability is decreasing causing concern for many regional Council’s and communities.

Through our 2022 internship, Tract will invite landscape architecture, town planning and urban design students to explore what gives regional cities and towns their unique character and how new development can be better planned and designed to respond.

Students will investigate the elements that contribute to character, and whether government guidelines and standards are effective in achieving the desired character. Benchmarking of recent developments in regional cities and towns will be used to understand what has and hasn’t worked. Students will then develop their own toolkit for planning and designing new communities in regional cities and towns for application to a real development site.

The internship will offer the opportunity for students to visit a number of regional cities and towns to see firsthand how new development is reflecting character. The outcome of the internship will be a graphic presentation to Tract’s national team and key industry partners, outlining how the toolkit can be applied to improve development in our regional cities and towns.

* Victoria in Future 2019

Application Process

Applications should include:

- Current Resume
- Folio e.g. drawings and/or reports

Cover letter outlining:

- Why you’re interested in the research project topic
- What skills you can bring to the project and collaborative team
- Your discipline preference

Applications should be sent via email to applications@tract.net.au

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Applications Close

Monday, 11 October 2021 at 9am

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More Information

Our internship program has been running at Tract since 2016.

This internship will provide an opportunity for three interns, one in each discipline of Landscape Architecture, Town Planning and Urban Design, to work collaboratively on this exciting joint research project.

The interns will be current University of Melbourne students at the Masters level and enrolled in the 2022 academic year. The intern program will run full-time, across three weeks, 31 January to 18 February 2022.