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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

  • Seed Funded Projects 2020

    Four diverse projects that bring together interdisciplinary teams with a wide range of external partners were successful in securing MSSI seed funding in 2020.

  • 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

  • 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 Michele Acuto, Professor, Global Urban Politics, Melbourne School of Design.
  • Professor Sarah Bell, City of Melbourne Chair in Urban Resilience and Innovation.
  • A/Professor David Bissell, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, School of Geography.
  • Dr Judy Bush, Lecturer, Urban Planning.
  • Dr Max Holleran, Urban Studies Foundation Research Fellow, Lecturer in Sociology.
  • A/Professor Crystal Legacy, Senior Lecturer, Urban Planning, Melbourne School of Design.
  • Dr Derlie Mateo-Babiano, Senior Lecturer, Urban Planning, Melbourne School of Design.
  • A/Professor 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 Graham Sewell, Professor, Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics.
  • 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 and Engagement
      • Future Cities
      • The Climate Reality Project
      • Gippsland Smart Specialisation Strategy
      • Australian Bushfire Prevention
      • Seed Funded Projects 2020
        • Seed Funded Projects 2020
      • Implementing the Paris Climate Agreement
    • Research Impact
  • Publications
    • Research Papers
      • Benchmarking Urban Exchanges: Lessons for Melbourne
    • Issues Papers
      • Urban resilience for local government: Concepts, definitions and qualities
    • Briefing Papers
      • Urban resilience for local government
    • 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
      • Hope and Courage in the Climate Crisis
        • Hope and Courage in the Climate Crisis
    • 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
      • MSSI Annual Report 2020
  • News
    • Australia: Liveability vs Sustainability
    • Black Saturday: Urban sprawl and climate change key dangers
    • Bushfires and water quality
    • Melbourne's real-world impact on climate change
    • Five things we learned from the Biden Climate Summit
    • State leadership on emissions reduction is crucial
    • Strategic Planning for Melbourne's Green Wedges
    • PhD Scholarship: Monitoring & Evaluating Climate Communication & Education
    • Cell based meat and the future of food: policy and politics
    • Protecting Melbourne's Green Wedges while we still can
    • Pursuit: Hope and Courage in the Climate Crisis
    • Life Course Centre Pathways Scholarship
  • Events
    • Reconfiguring future urban infrastructures webinar series
  • About Us
    • Institute staff
      • Ciaran McCormack
      • Dr Janine Felson
      • Professor Sarah Bell
      • Dr Melanie Lowe
      • Kennedy Mbeva
      • Imogen Butler
      • Dr Julia de Bruyn
      • Brendan Kennedy
      • Melissa Kennedy
      • Catriona Croft-Cusworth
    • Honoraries and Associates
    • Executive Committee
    • Advisory Board
      • Joe Morrison
      • Kane Thornton
      • Sue Cattermole
      • Lucinda Corrigan
      • Karen Cain
      • Nicholas Reece
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