This project aims to disrupt the current political process of the development of Greater Western Sydney (GWS) by enabling democratic participation for marginalised groups. Through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, such as immersive readers, the team aims to allow for a more inclusive bottom-up process for designing sustainable cities, which reduces the current inequality between knowledge-rich government and developers and the knowledge-poor citizens.
The pilot study will involve working closely with one marginalised groups within Liverpool Local Government Area (LGA), Sydney to assess how AI can enhance their knowledge and participation. Future studies will expand the current action-research network to include similar groups from Liverpool LGA and across other LGAs in the nearby Aerotropolis footprint.
The team represents three different UNSW faculties, including: Law and Justice (Associate Professor Amelia Thorpe), Arts Design and Architecture (Dr Marilu Melo and Associate Professor Tony Loughland) and Engineering (Dr David Kellermann). As part of the pilot, Microsoft will be utilised as a partner under their commitment to using AI for good.
