Chris Cunningham

Chris Cunningham is a retired Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia. Born in Tamworth, NSW, he grew up and completed his primary and secondary education in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. He studied architecture and town planning at the University of Sydney, and geography and economics at Macquarie University.

He worked as a regional planner and policy adviser in Australia and the UK before taking up an academic position at the University  of New England in 1981. He is the author of several books as well as numerous academic articles and broadcasts on topics related to town planning and community. His book about early European exploration in the Sydney Region, The Blue Mountains Rediscovered, won the inaugural NSW Premier’s Prize for Regional and Community History in 1997. Chris is married to Anne, a retired GP. They have four adult children.