2025 Research Symposium
Dr Domenic Trimboli
Curtin University
domenic.trimboli@curtin.edu.au
Sustainable Cemeteries: Designing for Death in 21st Century Australia
This research concerns the directions for cemetery architecture in Australian cities over the course of this century. As pressures mount on immense spatial shortages across several Australian cemeteries, overseas technological developments are inversely creating both, new avenues of memorialisation and environmentally conscious alternatives to current cremation and interment practices. To date, longer-term thinking towards ameliorating the present spatial and environmental problems increasingly facing cemeteries in Australia and the Oceania region appear to have focussed on two resolutions. Firstly, is allowing for cemetery plots to be recycled by limiting their tenure (as occurs in South Australia and Western Australia). Secondly, and largely Australia’s status quo since European colonisation involves finding new sites on the outskirts of already sprawling cities. However, this author’s design-based research takes an alternate approach. It marries emerging technological alternatives to cremation and inhumation, with denser international models of vertical cemetery architecture, such as those found in Japan and Singapore. Drawing on speculative design projects developed for sites in Perth and Melbourne, the author demonstrates two emerging technologies that are likely to radically and positively alter funerary rituals and cemetery architecture this century. Significantly, these projects demonstrate that this altered paradigm, not only allows for existing inner urban sites to be reconfigured, it also presents a golden opportunity to simultaneously address the healing of grief and the healing of our planet.
Dr Alice Vialard
The University of Sydney
How cul-de-sacs have shaped Australian subdivisions
Dead-end streets make up about 21% of intersections in both Australia and the U.S.. Variations can be observed among Australian cities, often due to geographic features such as topography and waterways, which contribute to higher rates. Beyond geographic factors, the spread of cul-de-sacs within subdivisions in the U.S. is largely attributed to Radburn’s planning principles (1929) and FHA guidelines, which strongly emphasized its economic and functional advantages, influenced by the Garden City movement, specifically Hampstead Garden Suburb (1906), where the rationale was primarily for its appeal as countryside-like, reflecting a more value-based decision. The widespread of cul-de-sac in subdivisions in Australia invites reflection on how these British and North American planning models have been adapted to local conditions, raising important questions about the balance between technical priorities, such as transport efficiency and cost, and values like walkability and quality of life.
This study examines model planned subdivisions in major Australian cities to understand how the cul-de-sac has been used not just as an economical tool but also as a feature with broader social and sustainability implications. Planned subdivisions from the 20th century—such as Dacey Garden Suburb (1914), Colonel Light Gardens (1924), Heath’s neighborhood unit (1944), Medina (1953), and Charnwood (1970), are compared and assessed based on factors like subdivision scale, the frequency and pattern of cul-de-sacs, the role of topography versus economic drivers, and their spatial configuration. From isolated clusters of houses to entire subdivision layouts, the study evaluates how cul-de-sacs impact accessibility and mobility, aiming to clarify when and how these designs hinder walkability.
As/Prof Mirko Guaralda
Queensland University of Technology
From Pixels to Participation: A Blueprint for Integrating Generative AI in Community Consultations
Community consultations are essential to contemporary planning, promoting democratic and socially responsible urban environments while reducing conflict. Yet, many engagement processes stop at informing or consulting, with only advanced approaches enabling shared agency. Co-design methods support idea generation and principle-setting but often struggle to visualise outcomes, relying on sketches or schematic plans that overlook urban form’s complexities.
This paper examines the potential of generative artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool to improve engagement and deepen conversations around planning and urban form. Over a year, workshops in Australia and Indonesia employed the ‘Midjourney’ generative AI model to support consultation, visualise community input, and prompt richer discussions. Participants included built environment professionals—planners, architects, urban designers, and landscape architects—as well as residents, academics, merchants, and people with disabilities.
The method integrates generative AI into co-design to scaffold dialogue, enhance inclusion, and deliver real-time visual feedback. By generating realistic images during sessions, participants engaged in more precise discussions around spatial, functional, and aesthetic dimensions often missed in conventional methods. Findings show this approach fosters inclusive, detailed, and impactful engagement, offering new directions for participatory urban design and planning practices.
Simiao Zou
School of Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Engineering, University of Auckland
Morphological agents of change and the built environment: Shaping transit-oriented development (TOD) in New Zealand
This study integrates the theory of building provision structures with the concept of morphological agents to examine how developers shape urban form under transit-oriented development (TOD) in Auckland. The building provision framework, grounded in Harvey’s political economy and circuits of capital, highlights how the built environment is shaped by economic mechanisms. However, it lacks explanatory power regarding the dynamic actions of social agents. B contrast, the morphological agent perspective focuses on how actors such as developers influence urban transformation through decisions shaped by policy, market, and socio-cultural forces.
By combining morphological analysis, fieldwork, and policy document review, this research investigates how developers’ motivations and actions influence the morphological outcomes of TOD across three railway stations in Auckland, New Zealand: New Lynn, Ōrākei, and Drury. Initial findings highlight the significant role of developers in reshaping station precincts, yet also reveal tensions between economic imperatives and planning goals. Spatial fragmentation and project delays often result from policy ambiguity and protracted approval processes. The study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how urban landscapes evolve under complex institutional and market conditions. It offers both theoretical advancement in the study of urban morphology and practical recommendations for planners and policymakers seeking to promote more coherent, sustainable urban development in New Zealand.
Dr Sadia Subrina
Queensland University of Technology
Gender and public space: A photovoice study of women’s experiences in public space
Public space is often perceived as an equitable place for all people to access and use. However, public space in Dhaka, a South-Asian city, is male-dominated, and this trend results in women being excluded from the public realm due to inaccessibility of facilities, verbal/non-verbal harassment, and lack of safety. The inequity in public space in Dhaka impacts women’s physical and mental health and promotes patriarchy, status hierarchy, and hegemonic power dynamics. My research investigates women’s preferences and obstacles in using public space, with the scope for future research to develop design recommendations to enhance women’s engagement in the public spaces of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study employs the participatory method of photovoice to amplify women’s voices, and the collected data is analysed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal insights into women’s preferences for various features in public space, such as natural and man-made features, services and amenities, physical activity features, while barriers highlight the provision of the features or spaces, such as lack of maintenance and prevalence of anti-social behaviour. This study creates the base for designing a gender-friendly public space and enables the creation of a more inclusive built environment in South Asia.
Ruihong Jiao
Queensland University of Technology
Beyond Proximity: Mapping Daily Routines to Enhance Green Space Equity at the Block Scale
Urban green spaces (UGS), as public resources, require equitable access to promote spatial justice. However, most existing studies on green space equity rely on large-scale spatial models that assume physical proximity equates to actual access. This overlooks the block scale, where physical proximity often fails to translate into direct access in residents’ daily activities. To reveal residents’ daily activities, this study introduces the Participatory Mapping of Daily Routines (PMDR), a method for collaboratively mapping daily routines and key activity nodes. It employs two study areas that cover approximately 400 by 800 meters, encompassing multiple street blocks with fine-grained detail. In each area, three groups of five local residents are invited to discuss local landmarks to familiarise themselves with the A2 satellite map, then mark their daily routine paths on it. The resulting maps reveal hidden spatial patterns of UGS, highlighting where UGS align or misalign with actual usage and exposing subtle forms of spatial exclusion that large-scale accessibility models overlook. This provides designers and researchers with resident-informed data to improve the location and connectivity of UGS, including aligning the design of facilities and the functions of UGS with the actual needs of diverse residents.
Prof Paul Sanders
Deakin University
Thematic trends in urban morphology: analysis of keywords from papers presented at ISUF conferences 1994-2024.
This study presents a thematic analysis of all papers submitted and presented at the International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF) conferences between 1994 and 2024. By systematically examining the themes and topics that have emerged over this 30-year period, the aim of this study is to identify dominant research themes, shifts in focus, and emerging areas of interest in urban morphology. Using an inductive thematic analysis, the specific objective of the research is to categorize and synthesize recurring themes in the discourse, tracing the intellectual development of the field over time. The findings of the study will highlight predominant themes that are central to ISUF discussions, while also indicating shifts in methodological approaches. The research provides a historical perspective on the development of urban morphology as a discipline, and by identifying emerging areas of interest, it can inform future research directions. The research will also identify the contribution from the OUMN Network region over this period.