Cities are on the frontline of today’s most pressing global challenges. The way we manage and study cities, and how city leadership is thought of in an interconnected but disrupted world, are critical to our collective futures. This is where the University of Melbourne’s new Melbourne Centre for Cities comes in with an explicit focus on urban governance as its main area of research, action and training, and a distinct purpose to foster and foreground cities research in and from Melbourne with a clear cosmopolitan outlook.
Building on the work of its predecessor, the Connected Cities Lab in operation through 2018 to 2020 specialising in the ways networks, international processes and information influence urban governance, the Centre focuses on the role of cities in major societal challenges, how city leadership can address them, and the information needed to do so in a connected but also disrupted and unequal time.
The Centre takes an explicit international point of view on pressing questions for urban governance. It does so by aiming to work with peers and places around the globe, explicitly connecting cities, urban researchers and key stakeholders in city leadership.
Our Partners
The below map is a live listing of all current collaborations across Melbourne Centre for Cities.
Click any icon for more details on our research partners or view the side menu for a complete listing of Partners organised by categories of: academic institutions, local and national governments, NGOs, business & philanthropy, IGOs, and fieldwork or site engagements.
Centre Management
Sarah Bell
Centre Administration
Marita Doak
Leilani Leon
Centre Fellows
Centre Fellows are a committed, multi-disciplinary, and engaged community forming the Centre’s core team of scholars and practitioners.
Sarah Bell
Enzo Lara - Hamilton
William Ridge
Graduate Researchers
Chethna Ben
Sophie Devine
Hannah Fairlamb
Uly Faoziyah
Anastasia Gramatakos
Samuel Holleran
Kajsa Lundberg
Carolina Mayen Huerta
Hannah McNicol
Merrick Morley
Daniel Pejic
Hristijan Popovski
Emily Ross
Alana Scully
Joanna Stubbs
Visiting Fellows
Visiting Fellows are engaging practitioners and scholars outside of the University of Melbourne who join the Centre community for a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and culture, plus enriching collaborations.
Maya Costa Pinto
Pablo Fuentenebro Alonso
Kris Hartley
Clinton Moore
Andreina Seijas
Advisory Board
The Centre’s advisory board provides strategic input into our direction and focus, and supports the Centre’s Management Team and Director in ensure we address pressing and impactful urban issues locally, domestically and internationally.
| Dr Julie Wells | Vice-President (Strategy and Culture) | University of Melbourne |
| Professor Michael Wesley | Deputy Vice-Chancellor Global, Culture and Engagement | University of Melbourne |
| Professor Mark Hargreaves | Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) | University of Melbourne |
| Alison Leighton | Chief Executive Officer | City of Melbourne |
| Dr Catherine Brown | Chief Executive Officer | Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation |
| Professor Winston Chow | Associate Professor of Urban Climate | Singapore Management University |
| Riyanti Djalante | Assistant Director for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance | Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) |
| Rachel Huxley | Head of Mitigation and Climate and Health | Wellcome Trust |
| Anthony F. Pipa | Senior Fellow in the Centre for Sustainable Development | Brookings Institution |
| Aromar Revi | Director | Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) |
| Malcom Smith | Australasian Cities Leader | ARUP |
| Molly Whelan | Acting CEO | Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) |
| Kelly Grigsby | Chief Executive Officer | Municipal Association of Victoria |
Centre Associates
Centre Associates represent the Centre as champions in their respective academic divisions and are active participants in our community.
| Simon Batterbury, Faculty of Science | Matthew Champion, Faculty of Arts |
| Annisa Beta, Faculty of Arts | Una McIlvenna, Faculty of Arts |
| Amy Hahs, Faculty of Science | Jeff Garmany, Faculty of Arts |
| Peter Rush, Faculty of Law | James Murphy, Faculty of Arts |
| Theresa Jones, Faculty of Science | Kirsten Parris, Faculty of Science |
| Stephen Livesley, Faculty of Science | Catherine Phillips, Faculty of Science |
| Claire Maree, Faculty of Arts | Megan Sharp, Faculty of Arts |
| Ariane Utomo, Faculty of Science | Mark Yaolin Wang, Faculty of Science |
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Achieving Justice For Street Harassment
Developing victim-centred understandings of justice in response to street harassment
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Actionable Research
Should city research be led by cities?
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Cities and International Engagement Survey
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City Diplomacy
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City of Melbourne Chair in Urban Resilience and Innovation
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Communities, kava, court orders: Ways of possessing the Pacific city
Possession is which fraction of customary law?
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Comparative Imaginations
How do cities think of each other?
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Disinformation in the City
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Evidence to Action
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From Garden City to Eco-Citadel: Global Greenbelts
History of municipal greenbelts in the UK, USA, and Australia
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Future of Orbost and District Project
Implementing the Latrobe Valley Authority’s (LVA) Smart Specialisation methodology for developing a roadmap for the future of the Orbost district
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Great Powers and Urbanisation Project
How is geopolitics being shaped in the ‘urban age’?
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Innovate4Cities
What knowledge do cities need to meet their climate action ambitions?
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Innovation Infrastructure: Planning for Growth
The civilisation of human societies is underpinned by innovation
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Linking UN-Habitat and Universities
Harnessing the potential of knowledge partnerships
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Night Shift
Planning and designing night-time economies for night shift workers in Australian Cities
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Philanthropy and the City
What is the role of philanthropic institutions in the future of cities?
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Project Night Justice
Building safer cities for women and gender diverse people
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The Retrofit Lab
The Retrofit Lab is a Research and Innovation Laboratory activating the transition of Melbourne's buildings, infrastructure and landscapes for a healthy, sustainable, and resilient city
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SDGs Cities Challenge
A collaborative project contributing to the implementation of key urban Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets and indicators
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Spatial Justice
Justice in the Streets: Responses to Public Homelessness and Public Dissent
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Tackling a global pandemic in Asian megacities
What policy lessons can be drawn from responses to global health shocks build inclusive and resilient cities?
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Urban Migration
What powers do cities have to govern the inclusion of migrants and refugees?
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Young Mayors
Backing young people who want to take an active role in their local community
At Melbourne Centre for Cities we go beyond traditional text-based research outputs. Through the Connected Cities podcast we bring you urban experts from around the globe offering prompts, provocations, and casual conversations around city life and governance.
Our show notes deliver links to companion publications and references made in each episode, plus transcripts for accessibility.
Climate Talks
Join hosts Professor Jackie Peel, Associate Professor Cathy Oke and Bek Markey Towler as they bring you the information you need to know in the lead up to the annual United Nations Climate Change Conferences – or ‘COPs’.
Climate Talks is produced by Melbourne Climate Futures and Melbourne Centre for Cities at the University of Melbourne. Podcast Producers: Greta Robenstone, Andi Xu, Ben Chandler, Cathy Oke, Jackie Peel and Bek Markey Towler.
Cities After Dark
Cities don't stop as the sun goes down. Join hosts Michele Acuto, Shelby Bassett and Andreina Seijas as they speak to night-time experts on what makes urban spaces tick after dark, their challenges, and the amazing world of the night-time cities.
Coffee with...the Connected Cities Coffee Chats
Let's make academic talk accessible... here you will find a series of Melbourne-style caffeinated conversations we have hosted at the Centre around cities and pressing contemporary challenges for the built environment with international guests.
More podcasts
We deliver education that builds upon Centre research to inform the next generation of city leaders and encourage research-led education.
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City Building | City Fix
Exclusively for Melbourne Centre for Cities staff, the City Building and City Fix series' aim to equip researchers with the skills needed to build a career in research, and address the challenges associated with their work.
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City Diplomacy
An intensive training program for early career city diplomats and those who work on cities’ international affairs. Delivered online over a one-month period.
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City Leadership
A two-week summer intensive designed to tackle the ‘international’ aspects of city governance and planning, with a focus on city leadership, the institutions and trends that underpin it.
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Horizons Program
The Horizons Program is an internationalisation program for early career researchers enrolled at the University of Melbourne. It is designed to expand internationally the horizon of career development imagination for graduate and early career researchers.
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Studio N: Managing Cities at Night
This intensive studio focuses on night-time governance, planning and policy for built environment practitioners and offers a venue gain an interdisciplinary and policy-relevant understanding of urban planning, urban design and architecture at night.
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ECR Sessions
The MC4C is hosting a series of Early Career Researchers’ Sessions, as part of our commitment to support ECR agendas at the Centre. The sessions are programmed, organised, and led collectively by early career Centre affiliates, to reflect the skills, concerns, and experiences of the many young researchers who work at the Centre.