LivingBen JacksonWed 01 Jul 26
Urbanity-26 Adds Next Wave of Industry Leaders to Line-Up
With just three weeks to go, The Urban Developer Urbanity-26 speaker lineup keeps growing. Here is the next wave of speakers added to the program.
Looking beyond: Perspectives from the top
JLL head of residential project sales Freya Watson leads one of Australia’s most active residential project sales platforms, having previously led JLL’s International Residential business in London.
Watson joins the panel on how Asia Pacific’s urban leaders are anticipating the future and navigating change.
Gurner Group chief development officer Rob Clarke leads a $14.6 billion portfolio and a pipeline of more than 11,000 homes across five cities.
Recent projects include the $2.75-billion Elysium Fields precinct at Docklands and an $800-million project at 189 Kent Street, Sydney.
Clarke joins the panel bringing a perspective on navigating luxury development at scale.
Finding value in a volatile ‘investi-verse’
MA Financial managing director of real estate credit Cathy Houston has scaled the firm’s real estate credit platform from $200 million to $2.5 billion since joining in 2019, with prior roles at HSBC, RBS, NAB and Bankers Trust.
Houston joins the session on where real value is being found in a market shaped by geopolitics, interest rates and shifting capital.
Outperformers: Inside real estate’s growth sectors
Hub Australia co-chief executive Rebekah Murphy was appointed to the role in December 2025 and has led the business through national expansion across Australia’s major cities since joining in 2022.
Murphy joins the panel on how flex workspace, self-storage, social infrastructure and land lease have outperformed through a difficult cycle.
The magnetic power of human-led precincts
Urbis partner and Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Queensland chapter president Glen Power brings more than 25 years delivering parklands and urban public realm across Queensland.
Power is a leading advocate for the Green Grid—the connected green space legacy of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
JD Property Group founder and managing director Jason Dunn left Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Commonwealth Bank to return to Byron Bay, where his flagship Jonson Lane development was named best boutique development in Australia. His current project, Secret Garden Residences, is under construction.
Power and Dunn join the panel on the people, policies and projects creating places that attract, convert and retain human vibrancy.
Developing cities in the age of robots and agents
QUT Centre for Robotics director Michael Milford opens the main stage with a keynote on how robots and autonomous agents will reshape the cities of tomorrow.
He has delivered more than 200 keynotes across 13 countries for Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Toyota, OpenAI and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Smart cities, future mobility and powering AI
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority lead innovation officer Russell Vine leads a project integrating BIM, GIS and gaming engine technology to produce a real-time digital twin of Brisbane’s CBD.
That twin is evolving from a construction tool into a long-term city-planning platform for the Queensland government.
Ollo co-founder and chief executive Luke Rust built his business after identifying a gap in how Australian developments handled transport, embedding shared EV fleets, charging infrastructure and micromobility solutions directly into buildings as a managed amenity.
Future Charging Solutions founder and managing director Nas Jafari built her firm to get EV charging into apartment buildings not designed to accommodate it.
With more than 15 years in safety and sustainability, she has co-authored a book on apartment EV charging and won the 2025 Australian Small Business Champion Award.
Vine, Rust and Jafari join the panel on how cities are becoming platforms for data, digital infrastructure and emerging technology.
Big ideas showcase
Samuel Property founder and managing director Illan Samuel has built a Melbourne boutique residential firm with projects across Toorak, Hampton, Brighton and Glen Iris recognised for rigorous site selection and design quality.
He presents on rethinking feasibility, drawing on lessons from Formula One.
MAIN&FRANK co-founder Frank Burridge is a regenerative architect who designs buildings to produce more than they consume.
He has collaborated with Joost Bakker on the GreenhouseByJoost prefabricated construction system and presents on developing the most resilient building on the planet.
Freecity executive director of development Michael Romano brings more than 25 years across Mirvac, Crown Group and Lendlease.
Freecity has a $6-billion portfolio and a 6000-home pipeline. Romano has built a strong case arguing how modular construction can reduce delivery time by 40 per cent.
From tourism to lifestyle: Reshaping the Gold Coast
Palm Valley Gold Coast founder and managing director Luke Altshwager spent more than 30 years in professional golf before developing Palm Valley.
That proejct is a fully approved masterplanned lifestyle precinct integrating a Mick Fanning-backed surf lagoon, golf course, beach club, resort hotel, retirement living and more than 200 residences. The first $120-million phase is opening in 2027.
Altshwager will present on how tourism infrastructure and lifestyle amenity are converging to reshape the Gold Coast’s development identity.
The rise of institutional residential living
One Living founder and executive director Joseph Scuderi has delivered more than 4000 homes and transacted more than $4 billion in real estate across his career at Mirvac and Landmark Group Australia.
He founded One Living—an institutionally backed, fully integrated developer-builder—to scale residential delivery through technology and disciplined process.
Scuderi joins the panel to discuss whether housing affordability pressures have created a generational institutional real estate opportunity.
Urbanity-26 takes place from July 22 to 24 2026 at The Star Gold Coast. More speakers will be confirmed soon. The full program is available now.
Tickets are on sale now. Final Release pricing is now in effect.
