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Research in the Faculty of Built Environment is geared towards designing, delivering and managing the 21st century city.  Our objective is to create a faculty in which research, learning and teaching of the highest standard can flourish contribute to a sustainable and valued global built environment.

We do this by fostering a collegial, constructive, supportive and rigorous research culture which embraces and values the diversity of research and engenders a sense of collective responsibility for the faculty's research performance.

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Welcome from the Associate Dean (Research)

Welcome to the research pages of the Faculty of Built Environment.  As one of the leading faculties in built environment in Australia, our research can be characterised by four major strengths:

  • History and theory of the built environment
  • Designing and planning the city
  • Managing risk in the built environment
  • Sustainable building design and technologies.

These strengths interconnect with our research themes and faculty strategic vision which, in turn, feeds into the university’s overall research strengths in contemporary humanities and creative arts; social policy, government and health;  water environment and sustainability; and ICT robotics and devices. 

The faculty’s research program is characterised by a range of formal and less formal collaborations.  Of the formal structures, the City Futures Research Centre is the faculty’s primary research centre - a University Research Centre dedicated to developing a better understanding of our cities, their people, the policies that manage their growth, the issues they face, and the impacts they make on our environment and economy.

Within the City Futures umbrella are a number of research programs, including two funded entities, both of whom joined the group in early 2010: the Enabling Built Environments and the Healthy Built Environments Programs.

The Enabling Built Environments Program (EBEP) has a focus on the key areas of accessibility and mobility issues in the built environment.  A core role of the unit is the Clearinghouse project, funded by the NSW Department of Human Service – Ageing, Disability and Home Care, to develop a knowledge base and information on home modification for those with mobility impairment.

The Healthy Built Environments Program (HBEP) was established with the help of funding from the NSW Department of Health as a new research initiative dedicated to research on how the design of cities can make them more supportive of healthy ways of living.

In addition to the formal research programs of City Futures, the faculty supports four research clusters; Urban Typologies, People and Place, Sustainable Design and Development, and Emergent Digital Technologies.  These clusters are multi-disciplinary in nature and have been established to support existing research themes within the faculty as well as enabling new research strengths and agendas to be developed.

Our research has a global reach with collaborative partnerships occurring at all levels, from within the university, across the state, country and at an international level. 

We also welcome local and international research students and foster an engaging and stimulating research environment where students can be the best that they can be.  We offer a broad suite of postgraduate research degrees and have a community of over 100 research students representing 21 countries, resulting in a rich cultural and interdisciplinary learning environment.

Research at the Faculty of Built Environment  -  Never Stands Still.

Prof Bill Randolph
Associate Dean (Research)

 

 

 

Page Last Updated: 21 Mar 2012