Professor Michael Buxton: Urbanist, Emeritus Professor, and Author Exploring Australia’s Suburban Landscapes

Professor Michael Buxton, Emeritus of RMIT University, is widely recognised as one of Australia’s most influential voices in urban planning, suburban policy, and environmental protection. Over several decades, he has shaped national conversations about how Australian cities grow, how communities form, and how landscapes—both built and natural—shape the lives of the people who inhabit them. But beyond his academic and policy contributions, Buxton has also emerged as a compelling author of reflective Australian fiction, bringing his deep understanding of place into the world of storytelling. His works, including 1964 and Misplaced Memories in Moments of Being, reveal a writer attuned to the emotional architecture of everyday life.

A Distinguished Career in Urbanism

Throughout his academic career, Professor Buxton has been a leading advocate for sustainable planning, metropolitan strategy, and the protection of Australia’s green wedges. His research and public commentary have influenced government policy, challenged unsustainable development patterns, and inspired generations of planners, students, and community advocates. His work has always centred on a core belief: places matter. The environments we build—and the ones we lose—shape our identities, our opportunities, and our collective memory. This lifelong fascination with the relationship between people and place naturally extends into his fiction.

From Academia to Storytelling

Michael Buxton’s transition into fiction is not a departure from his academic life but a deepening of it. His stories explore the lived experience behind the planning theories: the families who grow up in new suburbs, the children shaped by changing neighbourhoods, and the quiet tensions that ripple through ordinary households.

1964

In 1964, Buxton captures a moment of profound cultural and personal change. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly shifting Australia, the story reflects on innocence, memory, and the subtle forces that shape a young person’s understanding of the world. It is an observed piece that resonates with readers who recognise the complexities of growing up in a country on the cusp of transformation.

Misplaced Memories in Moments of Being

His latest collection, Misplaced Memories in Moments of Being, expands this exploration across decades. Through interconnected short stories spanning the 1930s to the early 2000s, Buxton traces the rise—and gradual unravelling—of the Australian suburban dream. The book examines childhood freedoms, domestic expectations, generational change, and the myths of progress that shaped post‑war Australia. Buxton’s background as an urbanist gives the stories a vivid sense of place. Suburbs are not just settings; they are characters—shifting, influencing, and holding the memories of those who pass through them.

Why His Work Matters

Whether writing policy or fiction, Michael Buxton invites readers to look more closely at the landscapes around them. His academic work asks how we should build our cities. His fiction asks how those cities shape us in return. Together, his contributions form a rare and powerful combination: a modern urbanist who understands the structure of cities, and a storyteller who understands the structure of lives. For readers interested in Australian history, suburban life, memory, and the quiet beauty of ordinary moments, Michael Buxton’s work offers insight, depth, and a uniquely Australian voice.

www.michaelbuxton.com.au