Research Projects

Stemming car dependency & improving transport options in Indian cities 
(2012 - continuing)
Reena Tiwari

(co-researcher with Curtin University Sustainable Policy Institute (CUSP) ) 

This project, led by Peter Newman at CUSP and funded by AUS-AID, aims to strengthen the capacity of government agencies and educational institutions in India to undertake inclusive transport planning for high quality transit, walking and cycling facilities, enable the financing of sustainable urban transport systems and the containment of car use utilising innovative deliberative democracy processes which enable people to collaborate more effectively to solve complex problems, with the outcomes of their deliberations purposefully influencing policy development and decision-making

Lakhnu village community development project, India
(2011- continuing)
Reena Tiwari

A Curtin University School of Built Environment Inter-disciplinary project led by Reena Tiwari with Jake Schapper, John Stephens, Dianne Smith, Priya Metcalfe, Dave Hedgcock

In 2011 thirty undergraduate and post graduate students from Curtin University's Departments of Planning, Construction Management, Architecture and Interior Architecture, and associated staff members, took the importunity to engage and work with an Indian community. The goal of the research unit was to assist in the adaptive transformation of a heritage building as a community education hub that, in turn, will develop and construct sustainable housing typologies and contribute to the broader issues of education, employment and infrastructure development of the village community. The NGO iRead and the Malaviya National Institute of Technology in Jaipur, India also contributed to this project with all students having the opportunity to participate in a research unit with an international focus and to develop skills to work as part of a multidisciplinary and multiethnic team.   

The project continued in 2012 with ten students and a staff member receiving a share of a $21,500 Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations scholarship for  fieldwork.

Multiple papers, articles and conference papers currently arising from the project are focussing on the themes of heritage and social justice; heritage restoration and adaptive re-use of architecture; innovative teaching and learning; processes of community engagement and partnerships, and issues of ethnicity, gender and colour in residential environments. 

To walk or not to walk - project in India
(2012)
Reena Tiwari with John Stephens & Jake Schapper

Reena Tiwari and John Stephens, together with School of Built Environment students, CAI Asia and Samarthyam, designed and conducted a walkability survey on 27 October 2012 at Nehru Place and Jor Bagh in New Delhi, India. Critical issues arising from the survey included motorists' behavior and quality of footpaths. To raise awareness about these issues, students further choreographed a performance in collaboration with local theatre group Sakshi, and performed at the surveyed site.
The project led by Reena Tiwari was an extension on notion of body insertions in urban spaces that she has extensively discussed in her recently published book, Ritual-Body-Space: Performativity in Cities. Body insertions raised curiosity, drew attention and made people aware about their ‘right to walk’ and their right on the pedestrian paths.

India community development project
(2009 - 2010)
Reena Tiwari with Bushra Shamsad

The India Community Development Project is intended to provide a model of education and action, investigating how interdisciplinary teams can assist sustainable development in poor communities, through a practical construction project. The student group, drawn from architecture, planning and related disciplines, will work with local students, organisations and community members. The design and construction project, as practical research, will develop a model of interdisciplinary and intercultural education that reaches beyond the university to interact with a variety of organizations and contribute to the lives of people in need.

For more information, see: Southern Gazette, 4 May 2010

Cities Green or Red: Curtin Strategic Hub (Bentley Technology Precinct) - transport & design in the context of climate change
(2009)
Reena Tiwari

Funded by Department of Planning and Public Transport Authority.
To find design, technology and governance strategies that ensure the development of Bentley Technology Precinct as a sustainable green town that operates not only as a point of destination, but is a place of high physical quality which is attractive to live and work in.

'My Place': the needs of homeless youth and adequacy of service provision in Mandurah
(2009)
Reena Tiwari

Curtin Strategic Grant project to study issue of Youth homelessness in Mandurah covering Shelter and Non-shelter aspects. The various needs of young homeless people in a broader setting of economic vibrancy. The types of accommodation and services available to this group, with a particular focus upon identifying best practice and gaps in service provision. In particular, the research is seeking to identify future directions for housing and other support services that match the particular needs of young homeless people.

Transitioning activity corridors: place making and traffic management
(2009)
Reena Tiwari

Curtin Linkage Project to establish directions for place-making and traffic management matched to the physical and social needs of the community and to develop new planning and traffic engineering standards for arterial roads that are to become 'Activity Corridors'. This is cutting edge research of national and international significance providing the opportunity for Western Australia to lead practice.
Partner: West Australian Planning Commission.