The University of Sydney approached the City of Canada Bay to be a grant partner and participant, along with Logan City Council in Queensland, in a major research project called The Participatory Local Government: Enabling Community Participation for Logan and Canada Bay.
‘This project, aiming to enhance community participation in the planning and evaluation of major urban projects, is good news for the residents of our City,’ Mayor Angelo Tsirekas said. ‘Social media and online communication has changed the way citizens engage in all aspects of their lives, from shopping and education to how their communities are being planned and developed.’
The project, run by University of Sydney’s Smart Urbanism Lab, will develop new algorithms and tools to capture the diversity of citizens’ voices to better inform local government decision-making. It will produce a flexible digital platform enabling local governments to capture, visualise and analyse conversations on social media to augment existing planning and consultation processes.
The research will focus on two to four particular place and planning projects within the two Council areas. Initially, the research in the City of Canada Bay will examine feedback around the transformation of Parramatta Road. A second initiative will be identified as the project is rolled out.
‘We are a progressive Council that proactively engages with our community on strategic planning, has pioneered deliberative democracy approaches and is engaged in several major infrastructure projects within the local government area. We are looking forward to being a part of this project,’ Mayor Tsirekas said.
“We are excited to be partnering with the City of Canada Bay for this project,” University of Sydney’s Smart Urbanism Lab Director of Urban Design Dr. Tooran Alizadeh said. “Forward thinking, engaged Local Government is vital to ensuring citizens are part of smart urban decision making processes.”
The project commenced will be conducted over a 16 month period. This project is supported by the Australian Government through the Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.