About us

Transforming Cities Hub is a transdisciplinary research alliance that uses participatory design to co-create shared visions and solutions that aim to transform at-risk urban and peri-urban environments by bridging and integrating architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, urban planning, social science, engineering, public health, climate science, environmental ecology, political science, and social science disciplines.

We work alongside communities, governments, academia, industry and the development sector to co-design solutions to address landscape revitalisation, sanitation and solid waste system design, flood and drought mitigation, and housing precarity, combined with research to assess the viability, impact and potential for replication and scale-up of these approaches.

Approach

We examine critical questions around the socio-political, environmental, health and economic contexts of at-risk communities, which are often shaped by rapid urbanisation, climate vulnerability and environmental degradation. We question how urban design and planning can play a role in sustainable transformations.

Central to this is our participatory approach, in which community voices are embedded. Partnerships with communities are structured to be meaningful, deep engagements, which form the basis for the long-term viability and sustainability of our research projects.

We explore:

  • Governance and institutional coordination
  • Long-term maintenance and stewardship
  • Urban metabolism and material flows
  • Climate adaptation
  • Ethics, agency, and representation: The role of urban design in creating climate and environmentally resilient futures;
  • Place-based, revitalisation projects that incorporate nature-based or green  infrastructure for water and sanitation;
  • Development of participatory co-design processes and tools to facilitate community engagement in revitalisation projects;
  • Urban design that accommodates differences in the biophysical and socio-cultural contexts of the communities;
  • Pathways for scaling revitalisation design principles through policy, practice and planning.