Paula Hooper

Dr. Paula Hooper is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Discipline of Urban Design within the UWA Design School at The University of Western Australia. She serves as Co-Director of the Australian Urban Design Research Centre (AUDRC) and holds a Healthway Research Fellowship. Her research focuses on the intersection of urban design, public health, and policy, with expertise in spatial analytics, GIS, and evidence-based planning support systems. She has led projects on designing healthy communities, evaluating alcohol advertising impacts, and promoting active transport.

Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to health (SDG 3), sustainable cities (SDG 11), and climate action (SDG 13). Key grants include the NHMRC-funded 'Food Atlas' project and AUDRC collaborations with government and industry partners. She has received multiple awards, including the 2021 Planning Research Award and two Healthway Research Fellowships.

Dr. Hooper’s research interests span urban health equity, greenspace utilization, and policy evaluation. Her recent work analyzes alcohol advertising near schools and waterways, apartment design quality linked to socioeconomic disadvantage, and thermal comfort in parks under climate change scenarios. She collaborates widely with planners, public health experts, and community groups to translate research into actionable policy.