Inclusive Spaces

Credit: Katherine Griffiths

Background

Building knowledge and understanding of how Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Gender Diverse, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and other sexual minority (LGBTQIA+) groups experience and contribute to cities helps planners make urban environments more inclusive, safer and more vibrant for everyone.

Understanding how different people and groups live, work and play in our communities today, and how they would like to in the future, is fundamental to better planning. Listening to the lived experiences of people with a range of backgrounds about how they access employment, education, social experiences, open spaces and capturing this important data can ensure more equitable decision making in city planning.

The project

Funded by the Greater Cities Commission, the Inclusive Cities research project will gather data and provide research insights to inform planning and implementation of infrastructure that supports inclusive places for LGBTQIA+ individuals, families, and communities.

This research will apply to work across the NSW multi-city region, which includes the Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle City, Central Coast City, Western Parkland City, Central River City, Eastern Harbour City and Illawarra-Shoalhaven City, ensuring we capture diverse perceptions and connections of LGBTQIA+ communities to place across the six cities.

Key outcomes

• Filling a knowledge gap and improving understanding where LGBTQIA+ people live, work and play.
• Use qualitative data to help plan and implement infrastructure that supports inclusive places for LGBTQIA+ individuals, families and communities across the multi-city region.
• Case studies of LGBTQIA+ experiences in cities.
• Achieve greater social equity across cities for LGBTQIA+ communities.
• Enhance safety and mobility across the six cities.

Priority research areas

• Inclusive Places linked to Infrastructure

Find out more about our priority research areas.

Program partners

• University of Technology Sydney, Institute for Sustainable Futures
• Western Sydney University
• University of NSW Sydney, Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity
• Maridulu Budyari Gumal SPHERE, and
• Arup.

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Find out more about our research

The complete research strategy, including our priorities, approach, partners and information on our innovation districts, is available below.

Download the Research Strategy (PDF 2MB)

Contact the research team with partnership opportunities and queries at: research@gcc.nsw.gov.au