Media & Communications - Projects

Wired high rise

Research and initial findings

The Australian Research Council (ARC) awarded its second-largest social science grant for the year 2000 to the Institute for Social Research (ISR) to carry out a three-year research project, "Wired High Rise", to evaluate the success and effectiveness of "Reach for the Clouds".

The research team is particularly interested in assessing the effects that access to this network of communication and information has on communication patterns and the sense of community among the very diverse group of estate residents.

The first phase of primary research included focus groups and a survey of tenants, both on the Atherton Gardens estate and on a comparable estate in Collingwood. This was designed to give us some baseline social information about the residents in terms of their social networks, their friendships on the estate, trust of other residents and feelings of community, belonging, safety and empowerment. Preliminary results from both focus groups and surveys show that language and cultural differences are major barriers to the development of a sense of community among tenants. People's social networks and support structures are firmly based within linguistic and ethnic enclaves.

By repeating surveys on both estates in two years' time, it is hoped that measuring changes in the community and communication will provide some empirical details as to the usefulness of computer technologies and networks in improving life for both online and offline communities on the estate.

Other primary research has focused on the history of the public housing estate, comparable Australian and international projects and issues around working in a multilingual, multiethnic community. Also, in-depth interviews with the key players in the project have been undertaken to gain their views on the complexities of implementing and managing this kind of public-private partnership.

Wired High Rise will also evaluate the effectiveness of using a volunteer training program to teach and support the residents in the use of the new technologies. More than 60 members of the general public have offered their services as volunteer trainers for the program, including some estate residents who were trained early in the project and who are now training other residents, particularly in community languages.