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Planning education is often criticized for being "too theoretical" and subsequently producing graduates who lack the requisite technical skills for the job marketwho, in other words, are not "work ready." It is assumed that employers will prefer graduates with technical and procedural know-how. This article reports on an employer workshop to evaluate the urban planning studio courses at the University of Queensland in Australia. The results were surprising. The attending employers agreed that procedural planning skills can be learned "on the job" while the university environment is an opportunity to develop critical and spatial thinking.

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Development of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) precincts in the Australian context has been hindered by several obstacles. The main challenges to be addressed are land amalgamation issues around train stations and the lack of governance arrangements to facilitate the delivery of TODs. This article identifies the main factors contributing to the effective delivery of three Australian TODs. The article is based on the analysis of case studies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Based on semi-directed interviews with urban stakeholders (planners at the council level and state level, and developers) for each case study and on the analysis of official planning documents, we analyse the governance arrangements, the planning frameworks and the financial mechanisms that have facilitated the delivery of the case study TODs. We also survey stakeholders to assess the general TOD delivery process and outcomes on different criteria, to better inform TOD policymaking. We find that large sites in single ownership and special state government measures to facilitate development approvals have been critical factors in TOD success.

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