Responsible Urban Innovation with Local Government Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only becoming an integral part of urban services, but also impacting and shaping the future of cities and societies. However, the current AI practice has shown that urban innovation without responsibility generates more problems than it solves. Especially, the absence of a deep understanding of the costs, benefits, risks and impacts of deploying government AI systems creates negative e ....Responsible Urban Innovation with Local Government Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only becoming an integral part of urban services, but also impacting and shaping the future of cities and societies. However, the current AI practice has shown that urban innovation without responsibility generates more problems than it solves. Especially, the absence of a deep understanding of the costs, benefits, risks and impacts of deploying government AI systems creates negative externalities and serious concerns in the society. This project will generate new knowledge on the most appropriate approaches for local governments to engage with AI to achieve responsible urban innovation. The project outcomes will include responsible AI adoption and implementation pathways for Australian local governments.Read moreRead less
Enabling social innovation for local climate adaptability. Climate variability and change is likely to be felt most acutely at the local scale in Australia. This is where inter/national and State policies are translated into practices to prepare for, and adapt to, anticipated impacts of heatwaves, bushfires and floods. This project will investigate tensions and potentialities between risk-based assessments by local governance agencies and innovations by local groups and Non-Government Organisati ....Enabling social innovation for local climate adaptability. Climate variability and change is likely to be felt most acutely at the local scale in Australia. This is where inter/national and State policies are translated into practices to prepare for, and adapt to, anticipated impacts of heatwaves, bushfires and floods. This project will investigate tensions and potentialities between risk-based assessments by local governance agencies and innovations by local groups and Non-Government Organisations. The research will utilise an innovative mixed-methods approach to investigate and to analyse the strategies and experiments of adaptation practices. It aims to develop new ways of identifying and implementing practical, local, adaptive responses that are contextually relevant, socially innovative and capacity building.Read moreRead less
Innovative urban traffic congestion solutions: optimising road space using networks of multi-class priority lanes. This project strengthens national approaches to a pervasive Australian problem; growing traffic congestion deteriorating liveability, environmental health and economic performance of the cities. This project improves approaches for traffic priority design to improve the efficiency of several class of vehicles and therefore, reducing traffic congestion.
Governing carbon: Australia's cities and carbon control. Two thirds of Australians live in cities. Developing governance systems to control urban carbon is essential to any effective response to climate change. This project will provide, for the first time, a baseline map and analysis of the actors, roles, relationships, and networks that govern carbon in Australia's cities.
Who owns the sustainable city? Urban redevelopment, sustainability and the politics of property rights in Australia, Brazil and Chile. Around 15 million people are currently displaced due to urban redevelopment. Such redevelopment is often branded ‘sustainable’, and yet the social injustice caused does not fit sustainability principles. Displacement is driven by the power of private property rights over less-recognised ways of occupying land. This connection between redevelopment and how differe ....Who owns the sustainable city? Urban redevelopment, sustainability and the politics of property rights in Australia, Brazil and Chile. Around 15 million people are currently displaced due to urban redevelopment. Such redevelopment is often branded ‘sustainable’, and yet the social injustice caused does not fit sustainability principles. Displacement is driven by the power of private property rights over less-recognised ways of occupying land. This connection between redevelopment and how different kinds of property rights are recognised is rarely studied and yet is central to the way that rapidly growing cities develop. Using a comparative approach of cities in Australia, Brazil and Chile, this research analyses that connection. This offers a more precise understanding of the role of property rights in city development, and contributes to socially sustainable urban policy.Read moreRead less
Australia’s new cities: past, present and future. This project aims to investigate the conceptualisation, creation and promotion of new cities in Australia since the mid-20th century. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of urban planning and architectural history, leading to new understandings of community engagement with planning and architecture and dialogue on decentralisation, housing affordability and metropolitan primacy. Expected outcomes of this project include cont ....Australia’s new cities: past, present and future. This project aims to investigate the conceptualisation, creation and promotion of new cities in Australia since the mid-20th century. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of urban planning and architectural history, leading to new understandings of community engagement with planning and architecture and dialogue on decentralisation, housing affordability and metropolitan primacy. Expected outcomes of this project include contribution to the national conversation regarding political vision for large-scale infrastructure through a book, short film and media engagement on the topic. This project should provide significant benefits to community dialogue on issues of heritage, housing and environment.Read moreRead less
Public Wi-Fi as Urban Infrastructure - the Australian Case. This research positions publicly provided Wi-Fi as a type of urban and civic infrastructure and asks whether there is a sound case for public investment in public Wi-Fi by local governments. Australia lags behind much of the world in providing public wireless internet access, but a surge of investment is closing the gap. This field-based research aims to appraise rationales for public Wi-Fi provision by examining the social, economic an ....Public Wi-Fi as Urban Infrastructure - the Australian Case. This research positions publicly provided Wi-Fi as a type of urban and civic infrastructure and asks whether there is a sound case for public investment in public Wi-Fi by local governments. Australia lags behind much of the world in providing public wireless internet access, but a surge of investment is closing the gap. This field-based research aims to appraise rationales for public Wi-Fi provision by examining the social, economic and civic impacts of network use. This project aims to fill major empirical and knowledge gaps about investment rationales, uses, and impacts of public Wi-Fi networks, and inform development of urban and communications policies.Read moreRead less
Emerging transport technologies: finding new practices in urban governance. This project will explore the rapidly changing political economy of Australia’s urban transport systems as private companies deploy new technologies. Many new and existing policy instruments are available to governments to manage this difficult technological transition. In-depth case studies of emerging policy responses in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney will be set in the context of fast-moving international developments. T ....Emerging transport technologies: finding new practices in urban governance. This project will explore the rapidly changing political economy of Australia’s urban transport systems as private companies deploy new technologies. Many new and existing policy instruments are available to governments to manage this difficult technological transition. In-depth case studies of emerging policy responses in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney will be set in the context of fast-moving international developments. This work will deliver new insights into the design and use of better instruments for policy, planning and governance to meet the needs of businesses and the public and to ensure that the potential benefits of the new technologies are fully realised in Australian cities. Read moreRead less
Animals and urban planning: Indian cities as Zoöpolises. This project aims to examine the everyday realities of selected wild, commensal, and commoditised species living close to humans in six ecologically diverse, rapidly growing, medium-sized cities in India. India’s rapid urbanisation and declining biodiversity have critical global implications, but the complex social dimensions of Indian urban biodiversity are overlooked in current planning. Archival and empirical methods will be utilised, ....Animals and urban planning: Indian cities as Zoöpolises. This project aims to examine the everyday realities of selected wild, commensal, and commoditised species living close to humans in six ecologically diverse, rapidly growing, medium-sized cities in India. India’s rapid urbanisation and declining biodiversity have critical global implications, but the complex social dimensions of Indian urban biodiversity are overlooked in current planning. Archival and empirical methods will be utilised, with outcomes expected to generate new insights into the complex social dimensions of Indian urban biodiversity for global and state urban and biodiversity policies. This will offer an expanded empirical basis for planning that sustains urban biodiversity in cities of the future.Read moreRead less