Emma Appleton is an Australian landscape architect and urban designer notable for her contributions to urban planning and development. She is the Director of City Strategy at the City of Melbourne, Victoria.

Appleton has held senior public agency and design consultancy roles in Australia and the UK. She was identified in the list of Top 50 Public Sector Women in Victoria (2018).^[1] Prior to joining the City of Melbourne, Appleton served as Director of the Office of the Victorian Government Architect's Victorian Design Review Panel (2011-2016) and was Director of Urban Design for regeneration projects at VicUrban (2009-2011). Appleton was also Advisor and Head of Urban Design and Housing at the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE 2003-2008) in London. At CABE, she co-authored ‘Creating Successful Neighbourhoods’ and contributed to ‘Creating Successful Masterplans’. Appleton's early appointments were at Gillespies (1999-2002) and Maroochy Shire Council (1997-1999).

Appleton is a Churchill Fellow. Her memorial trust scholarship focussed on the revitalisation of post-industrial contexts in Germany and the Netherlands. She has a Master of Urban Design from Oxford Brookes University (2002-2003), a Graduate Diploma in Landscape Architecture from Queensland University of Technology (1994-1996) and a Bachelor of Design Studies in Architecture from The University of Queensland (1991-1994). Appleton is a Registered Landscape Architect and contributes to advisory boards of design courses at Melbourne universities. and contributed to the Board for Urban Places for Queensland Government.

• Homes Victoria, Director, Planning and Portfolio Development 2021
• City of Melbourne, Director City Strategy 2016-2021
• City of Melbourne, Acting General Manager Strategy, Planning and Climate Change 2019-2020
• Office of the Victorian Government Architect, Victorian Design Review Panel Director 2011-2016
• VicUrban, Director Urban Design - Regeneration 2009-2011
• Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), Head of urban design and homes 2005-2008
• Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), Advisor / senior advisor 2003-2005

• 3RRR The Architects - Show 260 - VicUrban radio interview 2010^[2]
• Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, Churchill Fellowship - The potential of urban waterways in post-industrial cities 2005^[3]

• CABE DownUnder initiative with David Rayson, Geoffrey London, Jill Garner, Jenny Rayment, Laura-Jo Mellan, Justin Kelly, Gerry McLoughlin, Bruce Echberg, Leon Yates, Rod Duncan and Bill Chandler.^[4][5]
• Creating Successful Neighbourhoods publication
• Creating Successful Masterplans publication

• AILA Member Profile Archived 11 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine