This two year ARC Linkage project will address the critical issue of socially sustainable renewal in aging suburban areas of Australian cities, with a specific focus on the older middle and western suburbs of Sydney. The project is being conducted in collaboration with for Councils from across the region – Auburn, Bankstown, Fairfield and Penrith – together with the Western Sydney Regional Organisations of Councils (WSROC) and the NSW Department of Housing (DoH).

Focusing on the predominantly private sector suburbs that were developed in the period between the 1940s and the 1960s, and set within the context of new State strategic planning proposals that will promote higher density urban renewal in these areas, the research will explore the process of urban renewal, assess the urban design and social outcomes of urban renewal and residential densification (urban consolidation) in these suburban areas and develop new locally-based approaches to better manage these outcomes.