SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

UNSW demonstrates expertise through people, centres and institutes and partnership

The City Futures Research Centre is based in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture at UNSW, having developed into a national leader in scholarly applied public interest research on our cities since 2005. The Centre focuses on researching major urban challenges of the city, looking for ways to use the understandings of cities focusing on people, places, policies, and technologies to build more sustainable futures.

The National Institute for Experimental Arts (NIEA) is Australia's leading institute for experimental collaboration in art, science and emerging technologies. NIEA's focus is arts-led thinking to give new perspective on human interactions and experiences, and the way that interacts with technologies and environments.

Curating Cities is a five-year research project that examines how the arts can generate environmentally beneficial behavioural change and influence the development of green infrastructure in urban environments. This looks at the positive impact of public art to eco-sustainable development to cities.

Hal Pawson is Professor Housing Research and Policy and Associate Director at the City Futures Research Centre, UNSW. In this role he has led several major research projects funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and by the Australian Research Council (ARC). Hal's work focuses on advancing understandings of cities and peoples, and how we can use these understandings to build sustainable futures.

Susan's Thompsons extensive resume gives her a strong background in urban planning for sustainable development. She is Head of the City Wellbeing Program in the City Futures Research Centre. City Wellbeing focuses on planning, designing and building environments that support people’s health and well-being as part of every day life.

Christopher Pettit is the Director of the City Futures Research Centre, inaugural professor of Urban Science, and Plus Alliance Fellow at UNSW Sydney. Prof Pettit’s expertise is in the convergence of the fields of city planning and digital technologies including Geographical Information Sciences (GIS). This research will help with future geo-designing of cities and the urban scape.

Jill Bennett is Professor of Experimental Arts and founding Director of NIEA, and formerly Associate Dean Research, UNSW Art & Design, 2006–2016. Her research has focused on the aesthetic value of art and its practical deployment both in exhibitions/galleries, as well as beyond in science, looking at the ways this can shape sustainable development of cities.

Dr Felicity Fenner is the Director of UNSW Galleries. She is a renowned curator of contemporary art, having curated over 30 exhibitions of Australian and international art. Felicity’s research focuses on aspects of place and curatorial place-making, and how these can impact education and understandings of sustainability in urban spaces.

Goodwin established the Porosity Studio at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW, in 1996, which marries a practical, immersive teaching practice with themes and concerns related to Goodwin's research on the relationship between art, architecture and movement. Goodwin's work emphasises the connections between art, architecture and urbanism

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UNSW is committed to making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Explore our commitments and activities to this Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). 

Explore the courses at UNSW that are related to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Explore UNSW's contributions to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, designed to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges, such as ending poverty and hunger, climate change, the reduction of inequalities and more.