About

I am a lecturer in urban and regional planning. I am currently a PhD scholar on the Challenges for Urban Development in Africa (CHIDA) Project, an international research project involving FAU in Germany. Rhodes University, University of Malawi and Mzuzu University. My research area of interest is in Nature-based solutions for urban climate change adaptation and mitigation in Malawi. Before getting into academia, I was an urban planning practitioner for 23 years, most of which (17 years) were spent in Melbourne, Australia. There, I rose to a mid-level management position in local government in local government before making a career switch to academia in Malawi. I am an experienced project manager, having worked on a number of large-scale urban development projects, such as the Revitalisation of Central Dandenong, a multi-million-dollar urban renewal project in Melbourne's outer East; the Central Springvale Commercial Hub, a multi-million-dollar public-private project; the Springvale IKEA complex, the largest Swedish furniture retail outlet in the Southern Hemisphere, among others. My leadership experience involved providing oversight in the regulation of urban land use and development and in the conceptualisation and operationalisation of an industry award-winning streamlined urban development assessments framework which fast-tracked development approvals for major commercial projects in the urban jurisdiction in which I was working. I also worked in urban planning law advocacy, becoming one of the most experienced local government urban planning appeals advocates in the State of Victoria. I have

Skills

  • Project Management
  • Teaching
  • Urban and regional planning
  • urban planning and design
  • Climate change adaptation
  • climate change and SDGs
  • climate change advocacy
  • environmental conservation and climate change
  • Housing

Experience

Loudon Luka

Work experience
  • Teaching and research on urban planning and related fields

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