Be inspired by some of Melbourne’s brightest minds as they develop ground-breaking ideas that won our Reimagining the City Challenge.
We awarded three groups a total of $180,000 to develop ideas that make city experiences and places more vibrant and inclusive, promoting social connection and creating new reasons to live, work and play in Melbourne.
The winning projects, which will be delivered this year, include MV Arcade, which will enable diverse people to play socially-distanced versions of classic arcade games in our parks and gardens, reimagining how we use open space.
Another project, Micro-Labs, will use big data to help small businesses and community groups design and test flexible layouts depending on the time of day and week.
The final project, Social Spaces, will also use big data alongside community-led design to create and build more inclusive and attractive public spaces.
Danny Smith SAGE Automation
Micro-Labs addresses some of the biggest challenges our cities face today – bridging the digital divide and activating empty streets. We are very excited to work with the City of Melbourne on this new paradigm that reimagines vacant shopfronts and urban streets towards a more equitable and liveable future.’
Sarah Fayad AECOM
‘Our project begins with two central questions: “How has the way we use our neighbourhoods changed during the pandemic,” and “how can public spaces change to make us feel safer and more connected?” Social Spaces will answer these questions through data-driven design, and deliver a tangible solution that makes the space more social and joyful.’
Aliza Levy Inhabit Place
Emerging technology testbeds
The Reimagining the City Challenge is part of our Emerging Technology Testbed program, through which we are working with the community, businesses and industry to trial new technologies in our city.
This includes coordinating activity towards enabling 5G across the municipality. 5G networks are important to prepare Melbourne for future technologies such as telehealth, intelligent transport systems and smart energy systems.
In partnership with industry and community, we continue to develop and iterate on ways of working together that enable the trialling of emerging technology, including protocols for data sharing, security and infrastructure design.
Visit Emerging Technology Testbed for updates on exciting tech projects that address city problems and opportunities, and how to get involved in their development.
