Dr Caroline Butler‐Bowden is the Executive Director, Public Spaces in the new Place, Design and Public Spaces team at NSW Department of Planning, Industry & Environment where she leads a team of strategists, policy-makers, place-managers, landscape architects, project managers, planners and storytellers to improve and shine a spotlight on public space in NSW. She was before this, the Director, Strategy & Engagement at Sydney Living Museums. Spanning 20 years, her career has been dedicated to cultural leadership that connects citizens and tourists to special places, the arts and heritage through a broad range of citywide public engagement programs, including festivals, exhibitions and books. She is a 2017 Churchill Fellow with her fellowship focused on heritage precincts and tourism. She completed her PhD on the history of apartment living in Sydney in 2009.