1. Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute
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Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute

Future Cities

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ResearchConvenors

The Future Cities Research Cluster within MSSI is a whole-of-university research group seeking to investigate and generate best-practice, policy-relevant evidence to understand and effectively respond to the challenges facing urban environments.

To do this, cross-faculty research teams work closely with decision-makers and practitioners to identify and seek solutions to the wide range of complex sustainability-related problems associated with current and future cities, both in Australia and globally.

Current activities

  • 10th World Urban Forum

  • Student Spotlight: Alexei Trundle

    Informal Climate Resilience in Pacific Island Cities

  • Seed Funding Projects 2019

    Four projects were successful in securing Future Cities seed funding for 2019.

  • Scoping current challenges and best-practice examples of cities' biodiversity strategies

  • Urban Resilience in Action

    Understanding the translation from urban resilience strategies to practice.

  • Comparative evaluation of community bicycle workshops

  • Exposure to greenery and PM2.5 during active transport modes

  • Understanding suburban transport politics

  • Seed Funding Projects 2018

    Six projects were successful in securing seed funding from the Future Cities Research Cluster in 2019.

  • Stakeholder Engagement in Future Proofing Urban Infrastructure Systems

  • The social and material lives of urban soil

  • Making the City of Melbourne more inclusive for people with disability

  • Prosthetic Habitats: Designing Urban Nests for the Powerful Owl

  • Creating a social research instrument for The Living Pavillion

  • Maximizing communication accessibility in public transport services

Associated programs

Substantial research programs connected to the Future Cities Research Cluster include:

  • Connected Cities Lab

  • Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN)

  • AusMob Australian Mobilities Network

  • Transport, Health and Urban Design Hub

  • Women in Transport Leadership

  • Research Unit in Public Cultures

  • Spatial@Melbourne

  • Thrive Research Hub

  • Urban Environments Research Network

  • UN-Habitat University Partnership

  • Getting to Yes: Overcoming barriers to affordable family friendly housing in the central city

Our Future Cities Research Cluster engages researchers from across the University who bring interdisciplinary expertise to understanding and responding to the challenges facing urban environments. The Convenors’ role is to identify opportunities for building interdisciplinary collaborations, and to engage with research opportunities both within and outside the University.

  • Professor Brendan Gleeson, Director, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute.
  • Professor Michele Acuto, Professor, Global Urban Politics, Melbourne School of Design.
  • A/Professor David Bissell, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, School of Geography.
  • Dr Judy Bush, Lecturer, Urban Planning.
  • Dr Max Holleran, Lecturer in Sociology.
  • Dr Crystal Legacy, Senior Lecturer, Urban Planning, Melbourne School of Design.
  • Dr Derlie Mateo-Babiano, Senior Lecturer, Urban Planning, Melbourne School of Design.
  • Dr Rebecca Nelson, Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Law School.
  • Dr Cathy Oke, Melbourne Enterprise Senior Fellow in Informed Cities; Councillor., City of Melbourne.
  • Professor Nikos Papastergiadis, RUPC Director, School of Culture and Communication.
  • Professor Mark Stevenson, Epidemiologist, and Professor of Urban Transport and Public Health.
  • Professor Alison Young, Francine V. McNiff Professor, Criminology, School of Social and Political Sciences.
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Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute

  • Research & Networks
    • Research Clusters
      • Future Cities
      • Climate Transformations
      • Water Futures Network
    • Research and Engagement
      • The Climate Reality Project
      • Gippsland Smart Specialisation Strategy
      • Australian Bushfire Prevention
      • Seed Funded Projects 2019/20
      • Suburban Futures
      • Sustainable Consumption beyond the Growth Economy
      • Environmental Arts and Humanities Network
      • Urban Resilience in Action
      • Seed Funded Projects 2018/19
      • Collaborative Governance under Austerity: an eight city comparative case study
      • Social Sustainability
      • The Disability Inclusive City
      • Indigenous Land and Culture
      • Implementing the Paris Climate Agreement
      • New Urban Levers to Address Homelessness
      • Australian Coal Transitions: Research and Dialogue on the Future of Coal
      • Seed Funded Projects 2020
    • Research Impact
  • Publications
    • Research Papers
      • Benchmarking Urban Exchanges: Lessons for Melbourne
    • Issues Papers
    • Briefing Papers
    • Reports and Books
      • EU Study Mission Report: Innovation Systems in Action
      • Degrowth in the Suburbs: A Radical Urban Imaginary
        • Degrowth in the Suburbs
      • EU Study Mission: Innovation Systems in Action
      • Feeling the Heat
      • Developing and Implementing an Approach to Regional Innovation and Development in Gippsland
      • Urban Awakenings: Disturbance and Enchantment in the Industrial City
        • Urban Awakenings: Disturbance and Enchantment in the Industrial City
    • Public Lecture Papers
      • MSSI Oration 3: Renewing democracy in a time of environmental crisis
    • MSSI Annual Reports
      • MSSI Annual Report 2018
      • MSSI Annual Report 2019
  • News
    • Australia: Liveability vs Sustainability
    • Black Saturday: Urban sprawl and climate change key dangers
    • Bushfires and water quality
    • Our food supply has problems with equity, not quantity
    • COVID-19 is an opportunity to reset our environmental future
    • Seed Funded Projects 2020
      • Protecting streams in our cities: understanding how ‘general environmental duty’ and ‘state of knowledge’ can help transform stormwater management
      • Psychosocial Approaches to Eco-anxiety Management
      • Making Environments Matter: Dynamic Couplings in Complex Social-Ecological Systems
      • Scaling up Regenerative Agriculture
    • Seed Funded Projects 2020
  • Events
    • Climate Conversations Series
    • Reconfiguring Future Urban Infrastructures Webinar Series
  • About Us
    • Institute staff
      • Liz Foley
      • Ciaran McCormack
      • Dr Janine Felson
      • Professor Sarah Bell
      • Dr Melanie Lowe
    • Honoraries and Associates
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    • Advisory Board
      • Joe Morrison
      • Kane Thornton
      • Sue Cattermole
      • Lucinda Corrigan
      • Karen Cain
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