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Battling Hideous Things: The National Trust of Australia in its first two decades
An extract from James Lesh's book 'Values in Cities' on the founding of the Australian National Trusts.
Oct 2, 20246 min read

A single sentence cannot get a house heritage protected, but that doesn’t mean Boroondara has done everything right by its local heritage
While it might make an irresistible newspaper headline, a single sentence cannot get a house heritage protected.
Aug 30, 20243 min read


Heritage Workshop on Developing a new Plan for Victoria
Heritage Workshop's submission to the new Plan For Victoria.
Aug 22, 20244 min read


The future of Australian urban heritage policy
James Lesh writes about policy opportunities for strengthening Canberra's role in urban heritage matters.
Jul 1, 20241 min read

Values in Cities: Urban Heritage in Twentieth-Century Australia: Book Published
James Lesh's 'Values in Cities: Urban Heritage in Twentieth-Century Australia' a new book, has been released.
Jun 20, 20243 min read

Draft National Urban Policy Public Feedback
I am making a written submission on the relationship between cultural heritage and the national urban policy. Positively, the national...
Jun 6, 20243 min read

Values-Based Heritage Conservation: Historical Origins and Future Directions
An extract from James Lesh's book 'Values in Cities' on values-based conservation, both where it's come from, and where it's heading.
Sep 14, 20235 min read


Cities in a Sunburnt Country: Water and the Making of Urban Australia: Book Review
James Lesh reviews Cities in a Sunburnt Country for the Urban History Review/Revue d’histoire urbaine.
Jul 25, 20235 min read


We must protect Melbourne’s 20th-century heritage – here’s how to do it right
The City of Maribyrnong has abandoned its local heritage protections for interwar and postwar housing in Melbourne’s western suburbs. Why?
Jul 14, 20234 min read


YIMBYs and NIMBYs unite! You can have both heritage protection and more housing
Heritage conservation has been blamed for making the housing crisis worse by standing in the way of new, higher-density housing. But protecting heritage and increasing housing should be complementary objectives.
Jul 11, 20234 min read

Urban Change on Bourke Street, Melbourne: Eastern Market, Southern Cross Hotel, SX Towers
Destruction, Development and Heritage at one site in Melbourne.
Jul 1, 20231 min read

Giving Value to Architecture and Heritage: Book Review
James Lesh reviews 'Valuing Architecture: Heritage and the Economics of Culture'.
May 5, 20235 min read


Melbourne, Sydney, and the Population Prize
Does city size matter? What does Melbourne 'overtaking' Sydney as Australia's largest city tell us about urban rivalry?
Apr 24, 20233 min read


Queen Victoria Market and its enduring heritage
The heritage of Queen Victoria Market is a historical question.
Nov 30, 20221 min read


Jaynie Anderson, Max Vodola and Shane Carmody lead two volumes on a Baroque Archbishop who shaped Melbourne’s colonial life: Book Review
James Lesh reviews 'The Invention of Melbourne' and 'The Architecture of Devotion: James Goold'
Nov 17, 20225 min read

What is worth keeping and who decides?
My words on heritage appear in Architect Victoria magazine, Edition 3, 2022. I collaborated with Loren Adams, Felicity Watson, Kerstin...
Oct 19, 20221 min read


Frozen in time, we’ve become blind to ways to build sustainability into our urban heritage
Adopting new perspectives won’t only preserve our historic buildings and places by enabling us to shape them for today’s needs. It will also mean urban heritage can contribute to cities becoming more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.
Sep 29, 20224 min read

Establishing Australia’s Heritage Mafia
How was Australia's heritage mafia established? To answer, let's unpack urban heritage in 1990s Australia.
Sep 15, 20225 min read

Release of the "Report on the Place Name: Moreland"
The name “Moreland”, used to designate the municipality, road, and train station, has associational and financial links to slavery.
Apr 14, 20223 min read


Managing Indigenous Heritage Values at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra raises significant questions about the management of Indigenous heritage values in Australia.
Jan 31, 20221 min read


Conserving Melbourne’s creative heritage: The Nicholas Building
In mid-2021, the owners of the historic Nicholas Building in the heart of Melbourne put the landmark on the market.
Jan 20, 20224 min read


Building Federation Square, 1994 – 2002
James Lesh shares his academic article on Federation Square's inception.
Dec 11, 20211 min read


Slave names have no place in modern Melbourne
The City of Moreland in Melbourne’s inner north is named after the late 18th-century Jamaican slave plantation of the McCrae family. Including the suburbs of Brunswick, Coburg and Pascoe Vale, the municipality’s name valorises slavery and colonialism. Moreland’s councillors are considering a new name for the local government area after being made aware of the links.
Dec 2, 20213 min read


War on the demolishers? Probably not, and timing of NSW heritage review is curious
The New South Wales government has released a discussion paper expressing its ambition to review and “modernise” the Heritage Act (1977).
May 26, 20215 min read
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