Housing

Accelerating the transition towards affordable and sustainable housing that meets Australia’s changing needs and lifestyles.

Safe, affordable housing is a basic human right and plays a central part in the sustainability and liveability of Australia’s cities and regions. As urbanisation, rising population, and demographic change re-shape our cities, the impacts of climate change, increasing consumption, and social inequity pose major challenges for housing. Our Housing research seeks to re-frame these challenges with a focus on affordable, sustainable, and ultimately regenerative housing that suits the changing needs of Australians.

As a diverse group of planners, architects, engineers, and social researchers with decades of industry experience, we are advancing new, sustainable models of housing that suit the needs and lifestyles of the 21st century, while accelerating Australia’s transition towards net zero emissions. We acknowledge the complexity of housing systems and their role in supporting or inhibiting sustainability, social justice, and economic stability. As such, we focus on transformative change that spans the entire housing eco-system – including urban planning and development, infrastructure, housing, and social policy.  

To do this, we work with developers and landowners to create leading-edge sustainable housing and thriving neighbourhoods that leave a positive legacy; we support local, state, and federal governments to design and develop effective and well-targeted housing policies and programs; we work with the wider community by sharing knowledge and empowering change; and we up-skill the industry by providing tailored training programs.

Our mission is to inform and develop regenerative urban environments – environments that have a net positive, social, and economic impact.

Our research programs and successes

Our Housing research is grounded in a transdisciplinary systemic approach to leveraging change. Our diverse range of projects encompasses the technical, institutional, and social dimensions of the transition towards sustainable, and ultimately regenerative, housing.

We apply ISF’s excellence in transdisciplinary practice, sustainable transitions, and systems thinking to the context of urban futures and housing, drawing on the diverse technical expertise within our team and across UTS. This allows us to integrate cutting edge technology and ideas with innovative new approaches to housing, prioritising social and environmental wellbeing as foundational principles.