Temporary and tactical urbanism: mapping assemblages in agile public space. This project aims to use innovative mapping and analytical tools to investigate new, highly dynamic urban design and planning approaches that are transforming Australia’s cities. The project expects to advance knowledge by articulating the complex networks of actors, interests and resources these practices involve. The project’s expected outcomes include new insights into public space utilisation, community open space ne ....Temporary and tactical urbanism: mapping assemblages in agile public space. This project aims to use innovative mapping and analytical tools to investigate new, highly dynamic urban design and planning approaches that are transforming Australia’s cities. The project expects to advance knowledge by articulating the complex networks of actors, interests and resources these practices involve. The project’s expected outcomes include new insights into public space utilisation, community open space needs, and creative urban design and planning approaches. The project’s outcomes have the potential to enhance the agility and innovation of planning and design in Australian cities, broadening civic engagement, and increasing open spaces’ diversity and resilience.Read moreRead less
Inclusive memories: tracing democratic practices in contemporary memorials. This project aims to investigate the significant role of recent public memorials in reflecting and shaping democratic identity, memory, values and engagement in Australia and internationally. The project expects to advance knowledge through an innovative international comparison of the evolving diversity of democratic themes, designs and procurement approaches used for public memorials and public spaces. Expected outcome ....Inclusive memories: tracing democratic practices in contemporary memorials. This project aims to investigate the significant role of recent public memorials in reflecting and shaping democratic identity, memory, values and engagement in Australia and internationally. The project expects to advance knowledge through an innovative international comparison of the evolving diversity of democratic themes, designs and procurement approaches used for public memorials and public spaces. Expected outcomes include practical and scholarly insights into how these processes can improve social engagement and inclusion. The project’s benefits include improving decision-making processes for public art, public space and heritage, and expanding scholarly and public awareness about Australian history, identity and democratic values. Read moreRead less
Designing Global Sydney: The negotiation of public and private interests. This project links planning policy, urban design and planning history. It assesses the contribution of design-led policy to reconciling private ambitions for economic growth with aspirations for quality public outcomes in the planning approval processes for major commercial development in the Sydney Central Business District (CBD). Concentrating on the past decade, it aims to examine the changing economic structure of the ....Designing Global Sydney: The negotiation of public and private interests. This project links planning policy, urban design and planning history. It assesses the contribution of design-led policy to reconciling private ambitions for economic growth with aspirations for quality public outcomes in the planning approval processes for major commercial development in the Sydney Central Business District (CBD). Concentrating on the past decade, it aims to examine the changing economic structure of the CBD, linking the changing form of the city to evolving design policies. It seeks to recover the experiences of participants in the development approval process and communicate instructive stories of the complex intersection between market forces and design regimens.Read moreRead less
Place and parametricism: Provocations for the rethinking of design. This project aims to explore whether quantitative methods of digital and parametric design can adequately encompass place. Quantitative digital and parametric approaches increasingly dominate contemporary architecture, but people assume architectural design should be essentially oriented to questions of place. The project will operate through a set of studio provocations based on the fictional places of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghas ....Place and parametricism: Provocations for the rethinking of design. This project aims to explore whether quantitative methods of digital and parametric design can adequately encompass place. Quantitative digital and parametric approaches increasingly dominate contemporary architecture, but people assume architectural design should be essentially oriented to questions of place. The project will operate through a set of studio provocations based on the fictional places of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels. The project is expected to clarify the nature of place and parametricism, and rethink what design itself might be.Read moreRead less
Hidden housing crisis? Urban planning and informal housing supply. Affordability pressures are increasingly forcing low income renters into substandard or ‘informal’ housing arrangements ranging from share accommodation through to backyard ‘granny flats’ and unauthorised dwelling units. This project aims to uncover how this ‘hidden’ housing is produced within formal systems of urban regulation, and risks or benefits for residents. By exposing the significant but often ignored role of informality ....Hidden housing crisis? Urban planning and informal housing supply. Affordability pressures are increasingly forcing low income renters into substandard or ‘informal’ housing arrangements ranging from share accommodation through to backyard ‘granny flats’ and unauthorised dwelling units. This project aims to uncover how this ‘hidden’ housing is produced within formal systems of urban regulation, and risks or benefits for residents. By exposing the significant but often ignored role of informality within housing systems, the project expects to advance the fields of housing and urban studies; lead international scholarly collaboration; and build research capacity. Project outcomes are intended to enhance local planning practice and improve housing standards and choice, particularly for low income renters.
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Challenging the inflexibility of the flexible digital model. Shared digital Building Information Models that link diverse heterogeneous information are beginning to show promising results in reducing the enormous fiscal and environmental cost of clashes, errors and rework caused by design and communication errors in construction. Model flexibility is a crucial factor in enacting the best design decisions at every stage while maintaining current shared information. But there are, as yet, no examp ....Challenging the inflexibility of the flexible digital model. Shared digital Building Information Models that link diverse heterogeneous information are beginning to show promising results in reducing the enormous fiscal and environmental cost of clashes, errors and rework caused by design and communication errors in construction. Model flexibility is a crucial factor in enacting the best design decisions at every stage while maintaining current shared information. But there are, as yet, no examples of comprehensive flexible building information modelling in Australia. This research builds on an Australian concentration of world class expertise to create new knowledge to overcome the obstacles. It will directly benefit the quality and cost of the Australian built environment.Read moreRead less
Drivers and barriers to sustainability in residential and commercial buildings. In acknowledging that climate change is one of the greatest moral and economic challenges of our time, the federal Government is committed to Australia's internationally agreed target of limiting greenhouse gas emissions. In its efforts to achieve this, the Government is supporting various initiatives including the development of renewable energy technology. In Australia, buildings contribute almost one-quarter of ou ....Drivers and barriers to sustainability in residential and commercial buildings. In acknowledging that climate change is one of the greatest moral and economic challenges of our time, the federal Government is committed to Australia's internationally agreed target of limiting greenhouse gas emissions. In its efforts to achieve this, the Government is supporting various initiatives including the development of renewable energy technology. In Australia, buildings contribute almost one-quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions. This research will identify methods that assist in the nationwide uptake of sustainability practices, including the use of micro-generation technology, to help improve building performance and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Read moreRead less
Creating evidence-based public open space standards for apartment residents. This project aims to examine how to create public open space for apartment residents. It will (1) identify how apartment dwellers use public open space, including which spaces are used and why; and (2) test whether public open space use compensates for reduced apartment/building space. With less private space, apartment residents are assumed to rely on public spaces for physical, social and recreational activities. Yet ....Creating evidence-based public open space standards for apartment residents. This project aims to examine how to create public open space for apartment residents. It will (1) identify how apartment dwellers use public open space, including which spaces are used and why; and (2) test whether public open space use compensates for reduced apartment/building space. With less private space, apartment residents are assumed to rely on public spaces for physical, social and recreational activities. Yet little is known about which spaces they use and why, and what they would prefer. Expected outcomes include tailored, equitable evidence-based recommendations for public open space planning and apartment design guidelines. Benefits include the delivery of sustainable high-density precincts that cater to community needs.Read moreRead less
Rethinking walking infrastructure: AI-assisted footpath network modelling. The project aims to develop new macroscopic and network wide transport modelling and optimisation methodologies specific to walking suitable for large scale footpath network planning applications. The expected outcomes of this project are a novel Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted tool for automated generation of footpath network attributes, and a set of equilibrium and non-equilibrium seeking walking route choice mode ....Rethinking walking infrastructure: AI-assisted footpath network modelling. The project aims to develop new macroscopic and network wide transport modelling and optimisation methodologies specific to walking suitable for large scale footpath network planning applications. The expected outcomes of this project are a novel Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted tool for automated generation of footpath network attributes, and a set of equilibrium and non-equilibrium seeking walking route choice models driven by real-world individual walking trajectory data. This project will deliver a step-change in transport planning for walking infrastructure that will lead to increased active transport and improved urban infrastructure planning, thereby resulting in significant gains in population and environmental health.Read moreRead less
A night shift: planning for night time economies and workers in Australia. We need to talk about the night. If cities are now increasingly recognised as ‘24/7’ places, little attention is paid to their nights and even less so to those workers who keep cities functioning afterhours by supporting a $134bn night-time economy. This project aims to deliver this needed shift to night-time thinking in urban planning and policy. It offers detailed assessments of the role of night-time work in 14 Austral ....A night shift: planning for night time economies and workers in Australia. We need to talk about the night. If cities are now increasingly recognised as ‘24/7’ places, little attention is paid to their nights and even less so to those workers who keep cities functioning afterhours by supporting a $134bn night-time economy. This project aims to deliver this needed shift to night-time thinking in urban planning and policy. It offers detailed assessments of the role of night-time work in 14 Australian capital and regional cities. It investigates conditions, contributions, voices and spaces that characterise night-time work. Partnering directly with local councils, it experiments with transferrable action-oriented and policy-ready methods, seeking to build capacity for ‘night literacy’ in cities and urban research.Read moreRead less