Peter Newman

Who is Peter Newman?

Peter William Geoffrey Newman is an environmental scientist, author and educator based in Perth, Western Australia. He is currently Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University and since 2008 member of Infrastructure Australia.

He has a PhD degree in Chemistry and completed post doctoral studies in Environmental Science, Delft University, Dip EST, Environmental Science, 1972.

Peter Newman is best known internationally for popularizing the term ‘automobile dependence’ in the second half of the 1980s. He was closely associated with the redevelopment of Perth's rail system from 1979 to the present, which is now seen as a model for how car dependent cities can change towards more sustainable transport. He is author of numerous publications on sustainable cities and a Lead Author for Transport on the IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.