The faculty and, in particular, City Futures staff, have performed strongly in the latest round of ARC grant announcements, securing four major grants hosted by the faculty and one further grant hosted by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).
Congratulations to Dr Hazel Easthope, Dr Ilan Vizel, Dr Crystal Legacy, Dr Simon Pinnegar, Prof Bill Randolph, Prof Raymond Bunker and Prof Hal Pawson for their successes in the Australian Research Council (ARC) grants announced on November 8.
Name of Grant: Future Fellowships
Researcher/s: Easthope, Dr Hazel
Project Title: City Living: Urban consolidation and the social sustainability of cities
Duration: 4 years
Total Funding: $681,208
Project Summary: This project will investigate the dynamic tensions that arise in cities between individual and communal rights and requirements through a detailed examination of the lived experiences of urban apartment residents and owners. It will provide ground-breaking data on the influence of socio-economic mix on the governance and management of apartment buildings, residents’ perceptions of home and the broader implications for the social sustainability of cities and will further current academic debates on these issues. It will open new opportunities for inter-disciplinary and international collaboration and provide evidence to inform planning and urban development policy nationally and internationally.
Name of Grant: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)
Researcher/s: Vizel, Dr Ilan
Project Title: Urban inequality: The initiation and preservation of spatial privilege in Australia’s elite suburbs.
Duration: 3 years
Total Funding: $392,371
Project Summary: Increased spatial inequality in Australian cities since the 1970s has seen rising wealth in the wealthiest suburbs and increased poverty in the poorest. Investigating the drivers of such polarisation, this project will innovate by focusing on the wealthiest suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. It will measure inequalities in access to services and investigate how affluent communities mobilise their financial means, family and social networks and negotiation skills to draw in investment in infrastructure and services. This project’s results will advance international analytical knowledge of urban dynamics and will inform planning and policy strategies to achieve more equitable distribution of services and infrastructure in metropolitan areas.
Name of Grant: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)
Researcher/s: Legacy, Dr Crystal
Project Title: Planning in a state of panic: Did the economic crisis transform city making practices for the long term?
Duration: 3 years
Total Funding: $392,815
Project Summary: This project will investigate the dynamic tensions between large-scale economic crises and emergent city planning practices through a detailed examination of the local impacts in cities in Australia and Canada. It will provide ground-breaking narratives on the influence of national government economic intervention strategies on the delivery of socially sustainable urban infrastructure at the local level and on the broader implications for ho w cities are to become more socially sustainable into the future. These important findings will inform urban planning and urban resilience theory by creating new theoretical and contextual knowledge about the transformative practices of city making within a crisis.
Name of Grant: Discovery Projects
Researcher/s: Randolph, Prof Bill; Easthope, Dr Hazel; Pinnegar, A/Prof Simon M; Bunker, A/Prof Raymond C
Project Title: Planning in a Market Economy: The case of the Compact City
Duration: 3 years
Total Funding: $270,000
Project Summary: Australian cities face immense pressure to meet projected housing need. ‘Compact city’ polices promoting higher density urban renewal within the urban boundary, largely delivered through the private market, are seen as solutions to this problem. Using innovative conceptual and methodological approaches, this project will determine the nature and extent of recent higher density urban renewal in three Australian cities, explore the motivations of the those involved and their understanding of the policy context, and determine the factors inhibiting housing supply in urban renewal target areas. The research will advance planning theory in the management of contemporary urban change and support more informed planning policy in this area.
Name of Grant: Discovery Project
Researcher/s: Morris, Dr Alan; Pawson, Prof Hal ; Hulse, Prof Kathleen J (led by Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)
Project Title: Long term private renters
Duration: 3 years
Total Funding: $330,000
Project Summary: A new Generation Rent is emerging in Australia. Already one in 12 Australian households, many families among them, find that private renting no longer leads to home ownership but is a long-term or permanent reality, exposing them to such risks as forced moves at short notice. Despite the group's large and growing size, little is known of its characteristics or the consequences for children and adults. The project will probe why people become long-term renters, how far they are able to make a home and exercise some control over their circumstances and the ways in which long-term renting affects their wellbeing. Yielding new analytical insights into the long-term effects of housing insecurity, the study will also inform housing policy.