Congratulations to Professor Thomas Astell-Burt who has been named in the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers List, recognising researchers whose papers rank in the top one percent of citations for their field.
Congratulations to Dr Callum Parker who has been awarded a 2026 ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Dr Parker is developing a toolkit to help designers co-design and evaluate context-aware external human–machine interfaces, supporting safer communication between autonomous vehicles and pedestrians.
Congratulations to Dr Soojeong Yoo who has been awarded $55,000 through the 2026 University of Sydney Research Excellence and Inclusion Prize. This award will support building a strong network across the Western Sydney Local Health District and raise the profile of the Health & Immersive Interaction (HII) Lab as a hub for collaborative, impactful health technology research.
Congratulations to Associate Professor Arianna Brambilla and Dr Thomas Parkinson who have been announced as investigators for an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project commencing in 2026, for the project, “Mould exposure in Australian homes: from remediation to prevention”.
Congratulations to Dr Aysu Kuru who as part of the Architecture, Design and Planning Sustainability Team, was recognised at the 2025 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence. The team won the "Better Place to Work" award which commends their outstanding efforts to embed sustainable practices in architecture and design, fostering a healthier workplace and community.
As part of the Flourishing Cities seminar series, our August seminar was held on 18th August 2026 featuring an exciting lineup of talks exploring the intersection of technology, ecology, and urban design. The event kicked off with an introduction and brief updates led by Prof. Thomas Astell-Burt. Following the opening remarks, our researchers Dr Vera Xia delivered a talk on "Smart Greenhouses: What are they and why do they matter to our cities", beautifully bridging technology and green space across multiple scales. Dr. Marius Hoggenmüller shared a portfolio of projects titled "AI Goes Wild: Designing Physical AI for Cities", reporting latest findings from work done in Sydney, Shenzhen and Eindhoven and including ideas on using tech to promote animal safety too. Visiting speaker, Professor Christiane M. Herr (Future Ecologies Group, SUSTech School of Design, Shenzhen) delivered a deeply thought-provoking session: "Towards Future Ecologies: Technology as Mediator Between Natural and Artificial in Future Cities" , reflecting on biodiversity conservation, urban greening, noise pollution, privacy, drones, and robots in Shenzhen.
On 10 August 2026, the Centre for Flourishing Cities (The University of Sydney), in partnership with SPIRIT (UNSW), SingHealth Group and the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Social Prescribing, hosted an intensive half-day workshop.
The event gathered key changemakers and policy shapers to share international expertise, including clinician researchers from four local health districts in Sydney (Sydney, Western Sydney, Northern Sydney, Nepean and Blue Mountains) as well as the Kolling Institute. Co-chaired by Professor Thomas Astell-Burt (Centre for Flourishing Cities / ADP) and Professor Xiaoqi Feng (SPIRIT / UNSW) with support from A/Prof Kheng Hock Lee and Adeline Kwan (both SingHealth / WHO), the workshop brought together a diverse group of leading minds to bridge research, policy, and practice between Australia and Singapore.
A dynamic roundtable featuring the Singapore delegation showcased the country's advanced integration of the arts, urban greenery, and social services into health care, drawing insights from leaders across eldercare, the National Gallery Singapore, and the Esplanade.
This holistic vision was complemented by Australian experts who discussed how digitally enabled primary-care pathways drive health equity. Further presentations underscored the need to translate clinical evidence into inclusive urban planning, with experts championing co-designed, biopsychosocial interventions for cardiometabolic health and chronic pain.
Thanks to all the speakers for an engaging morning of knowledge sharing and partnership building: Prof Thomas Astell-Burt (Centre for Flourishing Cities, University of Sydney), Prof Xiaoqi Feng (SPIRIT, UNSW Sydney), A/Prof Kheng Hock Lee (SingHealth Group), Adeline Kwan (SingHealth Group), Nicodemus Ching (SocialWorkThots SEAsia), Yee Lai Fong (Fei Yue Community Services), Ardi Hardjoe (Thye Hua Kwan), Michael Thaddeus Tan Koon (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts), Jacob Ng (NTUC Health), Tan Xin Yi (National Council of Social Service), Grace Low (Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay), Arvinder Kaur (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth), Boey Li Yin (Lyn) (Greener World Pte Ltd), Jeannette Soh (City Harvest Community Services Association), Dr Hou Minsheng (NUHS Regional Health System Office), Kng Mian Tze (National Gallery Singapore), Prof Glen Maberly (Western Sydney Diabetes, Western Sydney Local Health District), Dr Rajini Jayaballa (Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals, Western Sydney Local Health District), Sarah Driscoll (Western Sydney Diabetes), Dr Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz (Western Sydney Diabetes), Prof Sue Woolfenden (Sydney Local Health District and University of Sydney), A/Prof Liliana Laranjo (Westmead Applied Research Centre), Dr Ted Wu (RPA Diabetes Centre, Sydney Local Health District), Anna Gurnhill (National Heart Foundation of Australia), Dr Faraz Pathan (Nepean), Prof James Elliott (Kolling Institute, University of Sydney and Northern Sydney Local Health District), A/Prof Fereshteh Pourkazemi (Sydney Pain Consortium, University of Sydney), Dr Adeola Bamgboje-Ayodele (Centre for Flourishing Cities, University of Sydney).
The Centre for Flourishing Cities officially launched on Friday 15 May under the leadership of Professor Thomas Astell-Burt, bringing together leaders from research, government, healthcare, industry and community organisations committed to shaping healthier, more sustainable and socially connected urban futures.
The launch highlighted the urgent challenges facing cities globally, including climate change, biodiversity loss, chronic disease, loneliness and widening inequalities, and the need for interdisciplinary approaches to address them.
The launch reinforced the Centre’s commitment to cross-sector and international collaboration, highlighting opportunities to strengthen links between academia, government, healthcare and industry in support of evidence-informed urban futures.
Dr Vera Xia joined her colleague Dr Emrah Baki Ulas to present their research, “What is nocturnal design and why does it matter?” at Raising the Bar Sydney. Their talk questioned the assumption that more light is better in city spaces at night, and how design can help build a better nocturnal city.
Photo credit: Stefanie Zingsheim/ The University of Sydney
A co-design workshop to design nature-based interventions was held in March 2026 at Westmead Hospital. The workshop was led by Dr Bow Yiying Wu and facilitated by Professor Thomas Astell-Burt, Nicole Evangelidis, Dr Raju Kanukula, Dr Lauren Del Rosario, and Dr Yvonne Tran. We talked about the ways we can enable and empower more people to reap the health and social benefits of greenspace. Participants shared personal stories that reminded us why nature and our connection with it matters so deeply across our lives.
Professor Thomas Astell Burt was invited to speak at the Citygreen “Where Shade hits the Pavement” conference. He discussed how strategic urban greening serves as a vital nature prescription for our communities. His talk focused on:
A delegation of several Korean institutions visited the Centre for Flourishing Cities. These included the Korea Forest Service, the National Institute of Forest Science, the Korea National Arboretum (Sejong), and the Korea Forest Conservation Association. Featured speakers from the Centre included Professor Thomas Astell-Burt, Associate Professor Adrienne Keane, Dr Aysu Kuru, Dr Özgür Göçer, and Dr Vera Xia, showing the wide-ranging benefits of restoring nature and biodiversity in our cities, buildings, and communities. Valued contributions were also provided by Professor Andrew Merchant and Associate Professor Tina Bell from Science. We spoke about implementation of the 3-30-300 rule, botanic gardens, the great potential of Building-Integrated Greenery, reductions in temperature offered by green walls, nature therapies and the moments in nature that afford us solitude.
The second workshop of the Facades in the Loop (F-LOOP) project was held at Arup Sydney. It explored how green façades shape sensory experiences, biodiversity, wellbeing, and environmental quality in our cities. Following the systems thinking workshop, CityForest guided our sensory walks through urban green spaces. The project is a collaboration between the University of Sydney Architecture, Design and Planning and UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering, supported by the Ignition Grants 2024/25.
Featured keynotes from advisory group members Professor Alex O’Mara, Professor Greg Vann, Professor Trish Davidson and Associate Professor JR Baker.
City of Sydney, National Heart Foundation, and Western Sydney Local Health District.
