Senior Lecturer
Information systems, urban geography policy and planning
Phone: +61 (0)2 6125 4267
Fax: + 61 (0)2 6125 0746
E-mail: Ken.Johnson@anu.edu.au

Ken studied geography and economics at the University of Queensland before moving to a research-teaching position at the University of Glasgow in the Department of Social and Economic Research. During this time his interests focussed on the economics and location of distribution, first of retailing and then wholesaling and intermediate warehousing. As transport systems changed the importance of these activities became paramount. On return to Australia and the Urban Research Unit of the ANU the knowledge gained was extended to research into the processes of urban development, with a particular focus on Melbourne. In this work interests of the research group ranged from the policy and planning of public authorities to processes of residential selection and property markets. Since joining the Department of Geography in 1972 Ken has taught in a wide range of courses from urban geography to the geography of Australia, and, more recently extended to longer term variation in climate as seen in the instrumental record.

Professional Activities

Over this wide ranging career my interests have regularly returned to the issues of policy and planning. This involves the institutions and instruments by which our society organises itself. Tracing the changes of policy and planning in both urban and rural areas from the 1950s to the deregulated days of the turn of the century is fascinating. Seeking to interpret and explain the changes for people and the landscapes of the places where we live is a continuing challenge.

Teaching and research have come together from a deep interest in data analysis. Creating information from data has always posed problems and the development of analytical systems has extended the frontiers of teaching and research. My teaching-research program deals with temporal and spatial data. One of the greatest problems facing data analysis is understanding environmental change, and climate in particular. The record is complex and widely applied techniques inflexible and the outcomes not "user friendly," for the wider community. Developing ways of teaching the nonlinear and nonparametric techniques of the 1990s and researching the information the records contain has been a focus of my attention. The challenge of teaching the techniques and the interpretation of the results led to a deep interest in the nature of human intelligence and its development for these ends.

Academic Highlights

Selected Publications

Johnson, K.M. 1994. Creating place and landscape. Chapter 3 in Stephen Dovers, Australian environmental history. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Johnson, K.M. 1992. The AUSMAP atlas of Australia, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne.

Johnson, K.M. 1991. The long-term variation of seasonal rainfall in the Darling basin. Proceedings of the 2nd Australian conference on agricultural meteorology.

Johnson K.M. and H.C. Garnett. 1970. The economics of containerisation. Allen and Unwin, London