I am an urban planner/geographer with research interests/exeprtise in the following areas: (i) strategic metropolitan planning and planning reform; (ii) qualitative methods in urban/housing policy; (iii) urban politics and local government; (iv) social and cultural aspects of suburbia; (v) geographies and regulation of the sex industry; and (vi) online porn consumption.

I am from Belfast, Northern Ireland, where I completed a BSc (Hons) in Regional Analysis and Development at the University of Ulster (Coleraine) and a PG Diploma in Town and Country Planning at Queen's University of Belfast. I received my PhD from London South Bank University.

Since moving to Australia I have worked at Edith Cowan University, the University of South Australia and the University of Western Australia where I am the Programme Co-ordinator for the Masters in Urban and Regional Planning.

I am the Editor-in-Chief of Urban Policy and Research; Co-Convenor of the Australian Cities Research Network; a Board Member of Sexual Health Quarters (formerly Family Planning WA); and, Co-Chair of the 2019 State of Australian Cities Conference (Perth, WA, 3-5 Dec).

I am a founding member of the Urban Broadcast Collective (@UrbanPodcasts), a curated network of podcasts on all things cities and suburbs, set up by a small number of Australian urban studies scholars. I have my own podcast - The Suburbanista Podcast (@SuburbanistaPod).

I am Editor-in-Chief of Urban Policy and Research.

I have acted as an academic referee for the following international journals: Porn Studies; Policy and Politics; Sexualities; Applied Geography; Australian Planner; Planning Theory; Planning Practice & Research; Urban Studies; Housing Studies; Geographical Research; Int’l Journal of Urban & Regional Research; Qualitative Research; Space and Polity; Urban Policy and Research; Environment and Planning A; Environment and Planning C; Journal of Education in Built Environment; Land Use Policy; Qualitative Research; and, Town Planning Review

Academic Positions

Lecturer, Urban and Regional Planning, University of South Australia (2005-2007).

Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Edith Cowan University (2003-2005)

Post-doctoral Research Fellow, London South Bank University (2002)


Conference Organisation/Chair

Maginn, P.J. and Macallum, D. (2019) State of Australian Cities Conference (Co-Chair) - "Australian Cities/Regions in an Era of Disruption and Innovation" - UWA, Perth, WA, 3-5 December.

Maginn, P. J. (2011) World Planning Schools Congress (Congress Chair) – Planning’s Future – Futures Planning: Planning in an Era of (Un)Certainty and Transformation – Perth, 4-7 July – this is a 5 yearly international academic urban planning conference.

Maginn, P. J. and Jones, R. (2009) (Lead Conference Co-convenor), 4th State of Australian Cities Conference: City Growth, Sustainability, Vitality and Vulnerability, Perth, UWA, 24-27 November – this is a national biennial A-rated peer reviewed conference.

Maginn, P.J. (2005) Australian and New Zealand Association of Planning Schools Annual Conference, 25-27 September, 2005, University of South Australia.

Census of Local Government Elected Members in Western Australia (with Prof. Fiona McKenzie), funded by WA Department of Communities and Local Government and WA Local Government Association.

Suburbia in the 21st Century: From Dreamscape to Nigthmare? - Maginn, P. J and Anacker, K. (Eds) - Edited volume due for publication in 2020 by Routledge.

Sex and the City: Reactionism, Resistance and Revolt - specially convened session at the 2016 Assoc. of American Geographers annual conference, San Francisco, Convenors: Maginn, P. J., Cooper, E., Zebracki, M. and Smith, C.

(De)Sexualisation & (De)Pornification of Space: Spatialisation, Politicisation and Regulation of Sex, Sexuality, Sex Work & Pornography - specially convened session at the 2015 Assoc. of American Geographers annual conference, Chicago, Convenors: Maginn, P. J., Cooper, E., Zebracki, M.

My current primary research expertise/interests include:

(i) geographies and regulation of the sex industry;

(ii) strategic planning and planning reform in Australia;

(iii) meanings, attitudes, experiences and significance of suburbia; and

(iv) gender and cultural representation in local government.