Religion and Society
Associate Professor Awais Piracha
Awais Piracha is an urban planning academic and practitioner with the Western Sydney University in Australia. He is a renowned international expert in the areas of sustainable urban development and use of spatial analysis in land use and transport planning and other areas. Awais Piracha was trained as a civil/environmental engineer as well as a town planner. He is a Planning Institute of Australia Registered Practicing Planner and a NSW Local Planning Panel Expert. He also serves on the Western Sydney Transport Infrastructure Panel appointed by the Prime Minister of Australia. He previously worked as a researcher with the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Bangkok and University of Dortmund Germany. In his professional career spanning over two decades, Awais Piracha has led or participated in numerous research and consultancy projects as an urban and transport planning expert. Awais Piracha has conducted contract research for the World Bank, Nanjing City, Landcom NSW, Transport for NSW, Penrith City Council, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and other entities.
Qualifications
PhD Urban Environmental Planning and Management (2001), Asian Institute of Technology
M.Sc. Regional Development Planning and Management (1996), University of Dortmund, Germany
M.Eng.Sc. Environmental Engineering (1992) UNSW Australia
B.Sc. Civil Engineering (Honours) (1990), University of Engineering and Technology Lahore
Current Grants
Prevalence, form, and impact of racism in Uber – Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies 2022-2023
Honours and Awards
2022-2023
Member Prime Minister’s Western Sydney Transportation Infrastructure Panel
2018-2023
Local Planning Panel Expert appointed by the NSW Australia Minister of Planning
2009
Harvard Fellowship for training on “Intelligent Cities in a Global World”
Selected Publications
Farid Uddin, K., Piracha A., 2023, Neoliberalism, Power, and Right to the City and the Urban Divide in Sydney, Australia Social Sciences
Farid Uddin, K., Piracha A., 2023, Urban planning as a game of power: The case of New South Wales, Habitat International
Piracha, A., 2022, As Asian communities grow in our urban areas, what are the implications for race relations? Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies
Piracha A, Chaudhary MT., 2022, Urban Air Pollution, Urban Heat Island and Human Health: A Critical Review. Sustainability
Veal A. J. & Piracha A. 2022, Meeting the need for a rational basis for open space and recreation planning in new high density residential areas: the Recreational Activity Benchmark model, Australian Planner
Farid Uddin, K. A., Piracha, A., & Phibbs, P., 2022. A tale of two cities: contemporary urban planning policy and practice in Greater Sydney, NSW, Australia. Cities
Farid Uddin, K., Piracha, A., 2022, Sustainable and Resilient Community in the Times of Crisis: The Greater Sydney Case. Springer
Pfautsch, S., Wujeska-Klause, A., Piracha, A., Paolini, R., Nouwelant, R. van den, & Morrison, N., 2022. Despicable Urban Places: Hot Car Parks Western Sydney University
Morrison, N., Piracha, A., 2022, Half of Western Sydney foodbowl land may have been lost to development in just 10 years, The Conversation
Stevens, M., Piracha, A., 2022, Contractor bankruptcies in the Australian construction industry : causes and impacts. Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Approaches In The Built Environment
Piracha, A., Sharples, R., and Dunn, K., 2021, Discrimination in the urban sharing economy, A Modern Guide to the Urban Sharing Economy, 282-295
Greiss, G., and Piracha, A. (2021). "Post-political planning in Sydney: a turn in the wrong direction." Australian Planner 57(1): 13-22.
Uddin K.F., Piracha A. (2020) Differential application of planning policy deepening the intracity divide: the case of greater Sydney, NSW, Australia SPATIUM, 44 (Dec.) 1-11
Rana, M. M., & Piracha, A. (2020). Supplying water to the urban poor: government's roles and challenges of participatory water governance. Cities, 106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102881
Piracha A, Sharples R, Forrest J, Dunn K, 2019, Racism in the sharing economy: regulatory challenges in a neo-liberal cyber world, Geoforum 98 (2019) 144–152
Yagitcanlar T, Mohamed A, Kamaruzzaman M, Piracha A, 2018, Understanding transport-related social exclusion: a multidimensional approach, Urban Policy and Research
Bijen, G., and Piracha A, (2017) “Future directions for social housing in NSW: new opportunities for ‘place’ and ‘community’ in public housing renewal” Australian Planner
Piracha A, Onnudottir H, Dunn K, 2016, Urban-rural geographies of Aboriginal religious and non-religious identification in Religion and Non-Religion Among Australian Aboriginal Peoples, Cox, James L., Possamai, Adam, U.K., pp 47-64
Dunn K, Piracha A, 2015, The multifaith city in an era of post-secularism: the complicated geographies of Christians, non-Christians and non-faithful across Sydney, Australia in The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics, Brunn, Stanley D., U.S., pp 1635-1654
Dunn, K.M. & Piracha A (2014) “The Multifaith City in an Era of Post-secularism: The complicated Geographies of Christians, non-Christians and Non-faithful across Sydney, Australia”, in S.D. Brunn (Ed) The Changing World Religion Map, (Springer)
Bijen G, Piracha A, 2012, Evaluating the urban design and community life in public housing in Australia, Australian Planner, vol 49, no. 4, pp 349-360
Fisher D, Piracha A, 2012, Crime prevention through environmental design: a case study of multi- agency collaboration in Sydney, Australia, Australian Planner, vol 49, no. 1, pp 79-87
Piracha A, 2011, Collaborative city liveability study using Gehl methodology: Pedestrian and bicycle counts and stationary activity survey in Penrith, Journal of Town and City Management, vol 2, no. 3, pp 287-299
Piracha A, 2010, The NSW (Australia) Planning Reforms and their Implications for Planning Education and Natural and Built Environment, Local Economy, vol 25, no. 3, pp 240-250
Stevenson D, Dunn K.M., Possamai A., Piracha, A., 2010: “Sydney: An Examination of a ‘Post- Secular’ World City”, Australian Geographer Vol. 41, no. 3, pp 323-350
Selected Project Reports
Rogers D, Mcauliffe C, Piracha A, Schatz L, 2017, Resident Involvement in Urban Development in Sydney: The New Politics of the City, Henry Halloran Trust, The University of Sydney
Bijen G, Piracha A, 2017, Dunbar Way Renewal Evaluation: A Study to Contribute an Evaluation of the Dunbar Way Estate Regeneration Program (DWRP), Pacific Link Housing
Piracha, A, 2016, City Planning Labs – capacity building and planning applications in Indonesian Cities – World Bank
Piracha A, Lee C, Darcy M, Blunden H, Rouillard D, 2014, Estimating Transport Disadvantage and Unmet Transport Need: Methodological Options: Final Report, Transport for NSW
Piracha A, 2013, Jiangbei New District Master Plan, Nanjing: ISOCARP Urban Planning Advisory Team Report, Nanjing Urban Planning Bureau
