Scaling solutions to the housing crisis: How Living Labs can help

The real challenge of innovation isn’t always about bright ideas – it’s about building the systems, policies, and communities that make those ideas stick. When problems are organisational, behavioural, and institutional as much as technical, we need platforms that can test solutions in real‑world settings, build trust across sectors, and generate credible evidence under practical conditions.

In a new JMI article, UTRC’s Ehsan, Greg, and Barrie discuss why Living Labs matter – and how they could be the missing link between policy ambition and implementation. Based on the quadruple helix model, Living Labs bring together government, industry, researchers, and communities to work on the same challenge, in the same place, with the shared goal of making change work.

Reform rarely fails because goals are unreasonable; it fails because the delivery pathway is uncertain. That’s the gap our Living Lab program is closing. At UTRC, we’re developing real‑world activation environments that turn policy intent into practical reform – creating pathways for ideas to be tested and scaled.

Interested in learning more or exploring how Living Labs could shape Australia’s housing future? Connect with us.

Dr. Ehsan Noroozinejad
ehsan.noroozinejad@westernsydney.edu.au

Prof. Greg Morrison
g.morrison@westernsydney.edu.au