Current Projects
Urban nature in Australia
The loss and modification of biodiversity in urban environments have been highlighted as key global issues, with the state of urban ecology linked fundamentally with the well-being of human populations. In this context, there is a need to understand better both how plants and animals respond to urban form and how urban residents perceive and interact with species in cities. The Hub is exploring two specific questions in the context of Ballarat, Australia:
- How are urban residents’ attitudes towards native and non-native bird species related to their degree of connectedness to nature and pro-environmental behaviours; and
- How do bird species assemblages in Ballarat relate to landscape structure, vegetation composition and plant traits?
Hub members involved: Chris Ives, Franziska Schrodt and Adam Algar
Speculation in the Supply Chain: Finance, Logistics, and the Politics of Provision
This project examines how the entanglement of two fast-growing industries—finance and logistics—is reshaping the contours of urban political economies. Over the past two decades, financial actors have bought up large stocks of the physical infrastructure used to store and deliver goods, including ports, pipelines, warehouses, and electrical grids.
As a result, the supply chains that furnish the necessities of urban life are increasingly under the control of speculative investors. Research by the Hub is investigating the rising influence of financial capital within the logistics industry and its implications for the well-being of communities, workers, and environments.
Hub members involved: Martin Danyluk