Accessibility





2024
︎︎︎ Project Website
︎︎︎ Project Report
︎︎︎ DIY Guidebook

Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism &
Civic Data Design Lab
Sarah Williams (Director)
Minwook Kang (Project Manager)
Hannah Shumway 
Sebastian Ives
Maria Gabriela Carucci
Karen Kuo
Clay Anderson
Mercy Olagunjuay

University of New South Wales
Gonzalo Portas
Mariano Ramirez
Rina Bernabei 
Eugenia Cheung
Grace Wong
Eleanor Tang
Christina Chen

Transport for NSW

Overview



Benchmark NSW is an experimental, temporary outdoor seating combined with the Public Life Sensor Kit developed by MIT to understand how women, girls, and gender diverse people use public spaces. Conducted as a collaboration between the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Transport for NSW (TfNSW).



This project was funded by Transport for NSW’s Safer Cities Program, a $30 million initiative aimed at enhancing perceptions of safety in public spaces, particularly for women, girls, and gender diverse people. The seating units were co-designed by women Industrial Design students at UNSW , fabricated from post-consumer recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE). 


At the UNSW Village Green, the Public Life Sensor Kit was tested to monitor how users interacted with the seating and the surrounding environment. This sensor anonymizes data at the source to ensure privacy, enabling the collection of valuable insights into usage patterns, pedestrian traffic, and social interactions.  Further, The DIY Benchmark NSW Guidebook is documented to enable place managers, researchers, and other interested parties to conduct their own public space research and contribute to data-driven urban planning initiatives.


After we deployed the co-designed benches, the data shows that:

  • The number of people staying grew five times after benches were set up, based on the data collected through the Public Life Sensor Kit.
  • The number of women and girls staying on site increased eight times after benches were deployed, based on human observation.
  • The number of people staying at night grew six times after benches were installed at the site, based on the data collected through the Public Life Sensor Kit.
  • The benches facilitated social life. Community feedback highlighted the seating’s approachability and flexibility, with 85% of respondents noting that the seating made social interaction easier.
  • The benches increased comfort. The modular design allowed users to personalise the space, fostering a greater sense of ownership and comfort. In fact, 70% of women respondents said the seating made them more comfortable. 

Completed over five months, Benchmark NSW demonstrated the potential of smart technology and design to better understand how people use urban areas and provide insights into perceptions of safety and inclusivity in public spaces. The success of the project underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and sets a strong foundation for future applications in urban planning.

Credits
Benchmark NSW is a collaboration between the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism, Civic Data Design Lab, and the University of New South Wales. This project has been funded by Transport for NSW through the Safer Cities program.
Awards
︎︎︎ Australian Good Design Awards Gold Winner. 2025.

Publication
︎︎︎ Williams, S., & Kang, M. (2025). Striking a Pose: DIY Computer Vision Sensor Kit to Measure Public Life Using Pose Estimation Enhanced Action Recognition Model. Smart Cities, 8(6), 183. 

Presentation
 ︎︎︎ 19th International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management (CUPUM). June 2025.
︎︎︎ Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) 2025 Intersections Research Conference: AI DESIGN PRACTICES. Sep 2025
︎︎︎ Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) 65th Annual Conference. Oct 2025.

Press
︎︎︎ Interview video from the project launch event. 18 Nov 2024.
︎︎︎ Innovative smart seats aim to improve feelings of safety in public spaces UNSW Media Newsroom. 22 July 2024.
︎︎︎ Innovative smart seats aim to improve safety of public spaces The National Tribune. 23 July 2024.
︎︎︎ This smart seating enhances the inclusivity of public space Wallpaper. 1 August 2024.