We are a group of urban researchers concerned with the dynamics, experiences and governance of cities and regions. We are especially focused on the intersections between markets and policy intervention in shaping urban structure, housing, transport/ mobility, community and the public realm.
We conduct multidisciplinary, engaged research through the Urban Housing Lab which brings together urban planners, geographers, economists, architects and computer scientists; we focus particularly on housing through our Australian Housing and Research Institute Sydney research centre; and we examine digital technologies and their transformation of cities, including, but not limited to smart cities.
Our research domains include international studies with a focus on Southeast Asia and the Pacific; metropolitan planning; housing studies; regional policy and many other fields of policy and development.
The group’s expertise contributes to the following Labs:
Our researchers also contribute to:
We collaborate and engage with a range of industry and community partners. They include state and local governments, community- based organisations, and the private sector. These include:
Funding source: 2018-19, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)
Researchers: Enquiry led by Professor Nicole Gurran and Professor Robyn Dowling
Funding source: 2018-19, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute
Researchers: Enquiry led by Professor Robyn Dowling with Dr Tooran Alizadeh, Dr Sophia Maalsen, Ms Catherine Gilbert and Professor Peter Phibbs.
Funding source: 2018-19, Australian Federal Governement Smart Cities and Suburbs Program
Researchers: Dr Tooran Alizadeh, Professor Robyn Dowling, Dr Martin Tomitsch, Dr Somwrita Sarkar and Dr Luke Hespanhol
This project develops new algorithms and tools to capture citizens’ voices and better inform local government decisionmaking. It investigates active and passive crowdsourcing channels and their potential for reaching out to citizens and collecting their opinions and attitudes on major urban development and infrastructure projects. A range of online sources will be used to source data, including social media, public comments on relevant online media releases and news articles.
The project will produce a flexible digital platform that will enable local governments to capture and visualise citizens’ voices. Using machine learning, the platform will be able to predict citizens’ responses to urban interventions before their completion. This project is run under the Smart Cities and Suburbs Program, funded by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.
Funding source: 2018-19, Henry Halloran Trust: Blue Sky Project
Researchers: Professor Michael Darcy (UWS), Dr Sophia Maalsen (University of Sydney), Dr Dallas Rogers (University of Sydney), Dr Marilu Melol (University of Sydney), Dr Jenna Condie (UWS), Mr Alistair Sisson, Ms Pratichi Chatterjee (University of Sydney), Ms Laura Wynne (UTS) and Mr Joel Sherwood-Spring
This project will evaluate the resident-led masterplanning process underway for the Waterloo public housing estate. Its central research questions address the HHT priority theme of ‘engagement infrastructure’, with implications for state- and resident-led community engagement. The project’s innovative methodology involves collation and cross-analysis of data that has already been collected, or is being collected, by the investigators. The project will not involve collecting new data from this over-researched community, but rather will involve this community in the analysis. The project investigators include three early career researchers (ECRs) and three PhD students; as such, the project is also one of ECR capacity building.
Funding source: 2017-19, Human Health and Social Impacts Node of the NSW Adaptation Research Hub Climate Change, Housing and Health
Researchers: Professor Nicole Gurran, Associate Professor Tess Lea, Dr Ollie Jay
Project aims
Researchers: Associate Professor Kurt Iveson, Professor John Keane, Dr Madeleine Pill, Dr Adrienne Keane, Professor Helga Leitner, Associate Professor Mark Davidson, Professor Jane Wills, Professor Romand Coles, Professor Leo Penta
In a growing number of cities, citizens are channeling frustration with existing citizen engagement processes into the creation of urban alliances that bring together diverse civil society actors to articulate and pursue common interests. The intention of such alliances is to enable citizens to play a proactive role in the shaping of their cities, as an alternative to the reactive role they are often ascribed in existing governance and planning frameworks. This will be the first international comparative study of these alliances.
Through desk-based mapping and qualitative case studies, the project will examine their global extent, their different forms and activities, their relationship to existing forms of citizen participation in existing structures of urban governance and planning, and their effectiveness as infrastructures for citizen engagement and empowerment. The research will contribute to scholarly understanding of citizen participation in urban governance and planning. It will also make significant practical contributions to the efforts of citizens seeking to build new infrastructures for participating in urban governance, and it will also aid the efforts of those working in planning agencies who are seeking more genuine citizen participation.
Funding source: Australian Coastal Councils Association Inc
Inquiry leader: Professor Nicole Gurran
This inquiry aims to identify appropriate planning responses to the impacts of online platforms on short-term holiday rental accomodation in coastal Australia.
Funding source: 2016-17, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute National Research Program (AHURI), $351,000
Inquiry leader: Professor Nicole Gurran
This inquiry examines efforts to increase affordable housing supply, focusing on government-industry partnerships, planning levers and 'best practice' housing projects. Informed by international and local practice, it identifies principles and policy options for different market contexts and will develop a model for estimating affordability outcomes for various policy scenarios in different market contexts.
Funding source: 2016-17, Office of Environment and Heritage (NSW)
Inquiry leaders: Dr Peter Davies, Associate Professor Linda Corkery (UNSW), Dr David Nipperess (Macquarie University), Dr Paul Osmond (UNSW), Guy Barnett, Dr Adrienne Keane (University of Sydney), Ms Caragh Threlfall (University of Melbourne), Associate Professor Melanie Bishop (Macquarie University), Associate Professor Sara Wilkinson (UTS), Dr Brenda Lin, Associate Professor Grant Hose (Macquarie University) and Associate Professor Adam J. Stow (Macquarie University)
The urban ecology renewal investigation project provided in-depth research into ways to improve biodiversity outcomes for major cities in NSW including Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle.
Funding source: 2015-17, Henry Halloran Trust, Research Incubator
Researchers: Professor Nicole Gurran, Dr Somwrita Sarkar, Dr Jennifer Kent
Housing is a central component of urban infrastructure, yet provision of appropriate and affordable housing near transport and jobs remains a key challenge. Addressing this challenge depends on better understanding the mechanics of the housing market and how policy interventions – like urban planning – might enhance housing outcomes. Building on the big-data capacity of UrbanLab@Sydney, this Incubator constructs a research platform for examining housing market dynamics in Sydney and potential levers for change. Research fostered within the Incubator will connect to wider scholarship on planning, infrastructure, the market and big-data analytics, while distilling key implications for urban policy and practice.
Books
Books
Books
Book chapters
Refereed journal articles
Books
Book chapters
Refereed journal articles