BOOK REVIEW
THE PROMISE OF THE CITY, ADVENTURES IN LEARNING CITIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION BY DAVID WILMOTH
Jo O’Brien SEQ Branch President
David Wilmoth, the author of The Promise of the City, is the son of Geoff Wilmoth after whom the Annual Conference Best Paper award is named. The Promise of the City is a fascinating life story of David’s development as a professional (and as a person) in his career as an urban planner. ‘The City’ describes his life experiences during a time of enormous social and economic change in Australia and the world through the dynamic periods from the 1960’s to today. This includes David’s observations on the effects of the current pandemic. But urban planner is such a limited description of David’s work in the areas of planning, education and the urban sector where his influence on the development of innovative and successful places of learning and cities across the globe has been significant. From a young age David’s spark of fascination about cities, how they work and how they could be changed for the better was lit by his experience taking part in the American Field Service
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(AFS), an international youth exchange program, which still sends thousands of high-school aged students abroad today. David’s first overseas trip, a year participating in the AFS in America, particularly his time in New York and the social injustices he saw there in the mid 1960’s, planted the seeds of his views on urban politics and the need for change. His time in the AFS, after which he ‘returned as a different person’, kickstarted a career that spans both Federal and State Government in Australia, Higher Education and Consulting internationally, across many different and varied projects. A self-proclaimed ‘Planner who doesn’t plan’, David modestly notes that ‘one opportunity has led to another’. However, the career that has resulted is nothing short of fantastic. His curiosity and eagerness to find solutions to difficult issues has driven his success and obvious enjoyment in his career, staying true to his values of equity and social justice. David’s story is forthright in its honesty about the things that didn’t go well, as well as the successes. It’s a story of taking risks, learning by doing and by not being afraid to say ‘yes’ and see where it might take you. We’ve all been out of our depth at one time or another, in careers and in life, and David’s story gives you the inspiration to take a risk and see where it might take you.
Author, David Wilmoth
I really enjoyed David’s story – very inspirational. The Promise of the City, Adventures in Learning Cities and Higher Education is available from Booktopia and the Kindle Store.
ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022
