Dr. Scott Hawken is a Landscape Architect, Urban Designer, and Landscape Archaeologist and his research and teaching bring together these three disciplines in creative ways. He is a strong supporter of the kind of transdisciplinary thinking necessary to tackle the large problems of our time. Scott is an Associate Professor in Landscape Architecture and the Program Director of the Masters of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design in the School of Architecture and Civil Engineering. He works across the architecture and landscape architecture programs in the school and convenes postgraduate courses in Landscape Architecture, Architecture and Urban Design. Scott is a national leader on biodiversity and landscape architecture, working with government and professional agencies to further biodiversity positive design. He is chair of AILA's National Biodiversity Positive Working Group and a strong advocate for creative design and planning that addresses the biodiversity crisis. He has recently led projects that bring together global knowledge on rapid urban greening to help turnaround biodiversity loss in Adelaide and other cities. Scott is a world authority on the landscape systems of Angkor, the largest city in the preindustrial world. He has presented his work on the BBC and National Geographic documentaries speaking on his research in the field. His archaeological academic background is backed up with extensive field expertise in mainland and peninsula Southeast Asia. He has published invited papers in eminent special issues and volumes including the recent “The Angkorian World” Routledge Volume. He is currently editing a special issue for the leading journal "Urban Studies". The special issue synthesizes Archaeology and Urban Planning and Design. He is further developing this line of inquiry relating it to contemporary questions of patch urbanism and low-density urban landscapes using a mix of methods including advanced geospatial approaches and patch and network analytics. His Ph.D., awarded in 2012, involved the mapping of over 20,000km of archaeological features from 1000 sq km of remote sensing imagery to gain new insights into the evolution and ecology of archaeological landscapes and green infrastructure within Southeast Asia, It generated new knowledge on the socio-economic and ecological adaptation strategies of Angkor, the world’s largest pre-modern city. Such insights advance understanding of green infrastructure and social-ecological change in a long-term context which is important for today’s societies and their adaptation to climate change and urbanization. The findings are highly significant in the context of the sustainability and durability of socio-ecological systems within megacities. As a result of his expertise on urban development, Southeast Asia and megaprojects, Scott was invited to consult with the United National’s High Commissioner for Human Rights in Kuala Lumpur and this resulted in UN policy documents and peer reviewed publications published in Q1 journals “Cities” and “Sustainable Cities and Society”. Theoretically, Dr. Hawken's research spans critical urban scholarship, radical political ecology, and landscape archaeology. Methodologically he makes use of high-end geospatial technologies including GIS, remote sensing, Geodesign, and on-the-ground survey to enable the integration of “big data” into real-world applications. His work on smart cities theory seeks to identify how digital technologies are changing cities. He is currently on the editorial board for Environment and Urbanisation ASIA and the Journal for Knowledge Based Development and reviews for many high-profile journals. His courses typically engage with both local and international public and private agencies around the world. He has led international workshops in New York, Japan, Delhi, Chennai, Madrid, Bilbao, Venice, Berlin, and Cape Town for postgraduate students, professionals, and governments. He has worked at UNSW Sydney as part of the Urban Development and Design Program for nine years and prior to that, he worked with leading landscape and urban design practices such as Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture, Room 413, and Terragram as well as the NSW Govt Architect. He has worked on various significant masterplans and projects such as landscape masterplans for Sydney Olympic Park, Parramatta Park, the Sydney Green Grid, Barangaroo, and Sydney's Circular Quay. He has been invited to juries for major urban design awards including for the annual Australian Urban Design Awards from 2020-2022. Scott led the Smart Cities Research Cluster at UNSW for many years and during this time chaired various international and national symposiums on this theme and edited a special issue on Smart Cities and a volume on Collaborative Cities in the Information Era which critically addressed how cities can grapple with the massive increase in data for the benefit of the city and its citizens. Based on his expertise with smart cities and digital transformation and design 2023 Scott was invited to give a keynote address to the Japanese Society of Landscape Architects in 2023 and regularly lectures on this topic.Scott is a passionate and innovative teacher and is currently interested in supervising Ph.D. students in the areas of cultural landscapes, landscape archaeology, urban design, smart cities, and green and blue infrastructure. Scott would be delighted to consider working with and mentoring you as a postgraduate student; however, please note that due to the limited number of students that can effectively be supervised at one time, the selection process is highly competitive. Students interested in working on the landscape archaeology of the tropical world with a focus on Southeast Asia and with a strong publication track record and a capacity or an interest in GIS and machine learning are invited to apply. 
 
Scott is available for media appearances and can be contacted by email.