ACU (Australian Catholic University)

Dr Melanie Lowe is a Lecturer in Public Health in the School of Allied Health, Faculty of Health Sciences. Prior to this she worked as a research fellow at the University of Melbourne and RMIT University.  Her research spans the public health and urban planning fields, examining how to plan healthy and liveable urban environments. She works collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams of researchers and policymakers to strengthen the consideration of health in urban policy and planning. Melanie has published work on integrated planning for health, urban design and health, liveability indicators, translating research into practice, and policy options with co-benefits for mitigating obesity and climate change. Dr Lowe completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne, and also holds Master of Public Health and Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) degrees. 

Journal articles

1.      Giles-Corti, B., Vernez Moudon, A., Reis, R., Turrell, G., Dannenberg, A., Badland, H., Foster, S., Lowe, M., Sallis, J., Stevenson, M., & Owen, N. (2016). City planning and population health:  A global challenge. The Lancet, 388(10062), 2912-2924.

2.      Legacy, C., Lowe, M., & Cole-Hawthorne, R. (2016). (Re)constituting urban research in a neo-liberal planning climate. Australian Planner, 53(1), 1-4.

3.      Giles-Corti, B., Sallis, J., Sugiyama, T., Frank, L., Lowe, M., & Owen, N. (2015). Translating active living research into policy and practice: One important pathway to chronic disease prevention. Journal of Public Health Policy, 36, 231&ndash243.

4.      Lowe, M., Whitzman, C., Badland, H., Davern, M., Aye, L., Hes, D., Butterworth, I & Giles-Corti, B. (2015). Planning healthy, liveable and sustainable cities: How can indicators inform policy? Urban Policy and Research, 33(2), 131&ndash144.

5.      Badland, H., Whitzman, C., Lowe, M., Davern, M., Aye, L., Butterworth, I., Hes, D. & Giles-Corti, B. (2014). Urban liveability: Emerging lessons from Australia for exploring the potential for indicators to measure the social determinants of health. Social Science and Medicine, 111, 64-73.

6.      Lowe, M., Boulange, C., & Giles-Corti, B. (2014). Urban design and health: progress to date and future challenges. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 25(1), 14-18.

7.      Lowe, M. (2014). Obesity and climate change mitigation in Australia: Overview and analysis of policies with co-benefits. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 38(1), 19-24.

Book chapter

Lowe, M., & Giles-Corti, B. (2015). Cities and health: Preventing NCDs through urban design. In G. Blashki & H. Sykes (Eds.), Dancing in the Rain: Future Leaders, Melbourne.

Peer-reviewed conference papers

1.      Lowe, M., Whitzman, C., & Giles-Corti, B. (2015). Improving integrated planning in Melbourne: Exploring barriers and enablers of health-promoting policy integration. State of Australian Cities Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland.

2.      Henderson, H., & Lowe, M. (2015). Conceptualising &lsquointegration&rsquo in policy and practice: A case study of integrated planning in Melbourne. State of Australian Cities Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland.

3.      Lowe, M., Carolyn, C. & Giles-Corti, B. (2013). Integrated planning for healthy communities: Does Victorian state legislation promote it? State of Australian Cities Conference, Sydney.

Research reports

1.      Giles-Corti, B., & Lowe, M. (2015). Invited contribution, Second Global Report on Urbanization and Health, UN-Habitat.

2.      Giles-Corti, B., Eagleson, S. & Lowe, M. (2014). Securing Australia&rsquos future - sustainable urban mobility: The public health impact of transportation decision, Consultancy report for Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA).

3.      Lowe, M., Whitzman, C., Badland, H., Davern, M., Hes, D., Aye, L., Butterworth, I. & Giles-Corti, B. (2013). Liveable, healthy, sustainable: What are the key indicators for Melbourne neighbourhoods? Research Paper 1, Place, Health and Liveability Research Program, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne. 

Dr Lowe's research investigates how to create healthy cities, with a focus on integrated planning for health, urban design and health, sustainable urban development, liveability indicators, and translating research into practice.

Public Health Association of Australia