At a critical moment for housing policy and planning in Australia, UNSW on behalf of AURIN and Australian Research Data Commons has been awarded a two-year, $1 million grant by the office of the NSW Chief Scientist.
This grant will allow for the development of the Housing Analytics Lab (HAL), a hybrid facility designed to support data-driven solutions to housing issues across the country.
The HAL, to be established with the UNSW City Futures Research Centre, will host digital tools such as a map dashboard showing historic and live planning approvals across Australia, and an AI classifier of planning assessments to help researchers, planners and policy-makers understand clusters of current and future housing development activity.
These tools will support evidence-driven policy across housing supply and demand, including insights into land zoned for future housing, housing capacity under various zoning conditions with proximity to a train station, empty properties by LGA and spatial distribution and turnover on rental properties.
“The Housing Analytics Lab comes at an important time for housing policy in Australia, and we’re thrilled to have this chance to develop cutting-edge data and technological capabilities to support researchers and decision-makers. At the same time, HAL represents an exciting step forward for AURIN’s strategy and our focus on collaboration,” said Professor Pascal Perez, Director of AURIN.
This project represents the first instance of AURIN’s new federated model of strategic engagement with universities around Australia, with the HAL a major pillar of the forthcoming AURIN node at UNSW.
“We are incredibly pleased to have the opportunity to develop the Housing Analytics Lab, a critical step not only in supporting policy solutions to Australia’s housing challenges, but also in AURIN’s federated model of engagement with Australian universities. We look forward to building these collaborative relationships with institutions across the country, allowing AURIN to play a key role in informing and supporting decision-makers,” said Dr Chris Pigram, Chair of AURIN’s board.
The HAL will be developed in partnership with the UNSW CFRC, ARDC, Commonwealth Bank, Community Housing Industry Association NSW, FrontierSI, Housing Australia, MIRVAC, PEXA, SGS Economics and Planning, Shelter, and Tenants Union NSW.
“It is tremendous to have the support of AURIN in establishing the Housing Analytics Lab. HAL is being established in conjunction with the AURIN NSW node and will provide a launch pad for digital innovation in housing,” said Professor Chris Pettit, Director of the City Futures Research Centre at UNSW and member of AURIN’s Scientific Advisory Committee.
For further details on the grant and the Housing Analytics Lab, see the UNSW press release.