More-Than-Human Urban Design

More-than-human urban design is a collaborative design research initiative bringing together Master’s students from the Melbourne School of Design Digital Fabrication DF_Lab and Spatial Information SI_Lab elective, with researchers from the New Experimental Technologies (NExT) Lab and the ADD+F Research Hub. Lead by A/Prof Rochus Hinkel with Tony Yu and Michael Minghi Park, More-than-human urban design rethinks the built environment as a living, interdependent system. Moving beyond human-centric priorities, it recognises that thriving cities depend on the wellbeing of all species. This approach integrates ecological intelligence, digital fabrication, emerging data, and sensory worlds beyond human perception to create environments that reduce harm and foster coexistence. It values relationships between people, wildlife, and matter, reshaping design as an act of care rather than control. By mediating between technology, architecture, and ecology, eco-centric design creates resilient urban habitats where diverse life can flourish; transforming cities into places that sustain, rather than diminish, the natural world.