Densifying the great Australian dream
Owning a home is the great Australian dream. But as Australia’s population continues to grow, understanding how to plan and deliver housing is more important than ever. Urban planning therefore plays a critical role in government and industry decision-making, shaping where and how people live.
Emeritus Professor Peter Newton has spent more than four decades researching these pressures and exploring how cities can transition to more sustainable futures. Peter was recently co-editor of Future Cities Making. This book brings together leading experts to examine Australia’s urban sustainability challenges and the long-term changes needed to address them. The book outlines the drivers of urban sprawl, climate vulnerability and declining green space (among many other national settlement issues) and provides practical approaches to regeneration, density and the design of more resilient suburbs.
Several chapters draw directly on research enabled by the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN). For example, Chapter 7 focuses on how AURIN data and tools have been used to identify prospective locations for increasing housing density in the inner suburbs of major capital cities. This work included the development of the Envision tool to model ways of regenerating ageing suburban infrastructure and was funded by AURIN.
Peter said the research team used AURIN’s data resources to underpin their modelling with the Envision tool, providing evidence to assess where housing density could be increased, while maintaining essential qualities such as areas of green space.
This work aligns closely with AURIN’s organisational priorities, including transitioning to a net-zero future, supporting healthy and thriving communities, and building a secure and resilient nation.
iHub: A next-generation ‘Zoom’ for planners and decision-makers
The book also explores the potential of new digital infrastructure, iHub. iHub is intended to transform how researchers collaborate on urban planning and design projects across Australia, and Peter says AURIN is uniquely positioned to lead it.
The iHub platform is a prototype that demonstrates how high-speed connectivity, shared computing environments and integrated data access can enable experts to work together in real time, regardless of location. Unlike common virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom or Teams, which are not designed for intensive data sharing and interactive modelling, iHub facilitates the exchange of large datasets and analytical workflows between researchers.
The value of such a platform is clear. Traditionally, researchers have needed to travel interstate to meet, share data and iterate on models, which is expensive, time-consuming and can often slow progress and reinforce institutional silos. Peter explained that an iHub-style platform would allow diverse researchers, industry partners and government stakeholders to engage as if they were in the same room, sharing models, testing scenarios and advancing solutions in real time.
“You can achieve a lot of progress through collaborative working sessions with experts and practitioners operating out of their respective offices or urban labs. If you have the right people and a platform with the capacity, the sky’s the limit,” Peter said.
Peter emphasised that while the iHub was a proof of concept, he said,
“a leading organisation ideally needs to establish such a digital platform, and AURIN is in the best position to do this. AURIN has NCRIS funding, connections, and the in-house expertise to initiate and sustain a platform such as this, in collaboration with partner organisations.”
A more connected and innovative future .
With four new AURIN nodes across Australia at the University of Western Australia (Perth), the University of New South Wales (Sydney), URBANiQ at the University of Queensland (Brisbane) and the RMIT Urban Dynamics (RUDY) Node (Melbourne) and deep in-house expertise in data infrastructure and interoperability at AURIN HQ, AURIN has the capabilities to sustain a national collaboration environment and extend it as the nation’s research needs evolve.
AURIN’s contribution to this work demonstrates the powerful role that national research infrastructure plays in shaping Australia’s urban future. By underpinning rigorous research and modelling and enabling more connected, collaborative ways of working, AURIN is equipping planners, researchers and decision-makers with the insight and capability needed to guide development of more sustainable, resilient and liveable cities.
Credit: Peter Newton, Chris Pettit, Stuart Barr, Loren Bruns Jr. (2025) Digital Innovations for City Sustainability Analysis and Decision Making. In Future Cities Making. Mission-oriented Research for Urban Sustainability Transitions in Australia, Springer Nature