Some cities feel built for speed.
Adelaide feels built for thinking.
Not because of anything novel, but because of how clearly its past and present align with the work we’re doing at AI & Society.
Adelaide is different.
(Little history lesson… Let me know if you already knew this!)
It’s the only Australian capital not founded as a penal colony, a free-settler city by design. And that origin still shows. From a planning perspective, the city feels deliberate: the rational grid, the surrounding parklands, the road layout, and the enduring value placed on public institutions.
Public squares, parklands, churches and early civic institutions, libraries, museums, universities and town halls, were embedded from the outset, built on a belief in public life and community learning.
That foundation hasn’t faded.
What struck me most is the quiet respect Adelaide holds for public institutions. Not just as buildings, but as essential parts of society, community and the social realm. Places where people learn together, build trust, debate ideas and participate in public life.
And it’s here that AI x society x place all came together most clearly for me.
Having worked in city development, where place-based innovation is designed intentionally, the connections in Adelaide felt really clear.
🔹 AI as a civic technology
🔹 Urban design as a shaper of trust
🔹 Public institutions as stewards through change
🔹 Place as a key factor in how communities adopt technology
Adelaide reminded me that AI doesn’t sit outside society. It’s shaped by the places we build and the histories we inherit.
AI & Society 