Views sought on distributor

Views sought on distributor

Social scientific researcher Dr Crystal Legacy wants to hear from Docklanders with views about the proposed Western Distributor project.

Speaking at the February 22 Docklands Community Forum, Dr Legacy explained that she had been researching “contested” transport projects around the world and that the Western Distributor was her final case study.

She would like to interview Docklands’ community-based groups as well as individuals for her Australian Research Council-funded research project.

Dr Legacy is a senior research fellow at the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT University. She is examining the relationship between transport planning and citizen participation, and how this has changed since the global financial crisis.

She told Docklands News: “This research will produce new insights into the relationship between transport planning and urban politics – that is, how do citizen campaigns, electoral politics and advocacy groups shape transport agendas and the prioritisation of projects?”

“Interviews with community-based and other stakeholder groups (e.g. non-government organisations, the private sector) are used to help develop these new insights. This is social scientific research and so my main data sources are interviews, media analysis, policy documents and observations.”

Dr Legacy pointed out that her project was pure research and people should not expect that what they tell her would have any effect on the political outcome of the project.

“This is pure research, and while it will inform teaching and academic scholarship, there are no direct policy outcomes attached to this research,” she said.

She remarked that she had enjoyed her visit to Docklands.

“I got a sense of the passion and love for the area and a keen interest to preserve the public interest as Docklands continues through its next phase of development,” she said. “I look forward to meeting more of its residents in the weeks and months ahead!”

Dr Legacy can be contacted at [email protected]

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