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Our Organisation

The Urban Future Exchange (the Australian Institute of Urban Studies South Australia Inc) has a proud 55 year history. Founded in 1967 as an initiative of the Australian Planning Institute and the Social Science Research Council, the UFX established itself as an independent non-profit organisation concerned with all aspects of urban affairs.

The UFX had a significant publishing record. Since 1970, the UFX had completed and published over 100 research reports, numerous collections of seminar and conference papers and a quarterly journal, titled Australian Urban Studies.


The UFX now cultivates a diverse membership in order to inform independent advocacy activity and empower professional communities across disciplines. We are a leader in online event delivery and value creation for members.

Our Vision

The Urban Future Exchange (UFX) is a provocative and politically savvy social enterprise, leading progressive discussion in urban studies and related disciplines, in pursuit of an urban future for South Australia that is healthy, confident, equitable and sustainable.

Our Mission

The UFX cultivates a diverse membership in order to inform independent advocacy activity and empower professional communities across disciplines. We do this by bringing people together in a trustworthy, safe, and non-partisan environment.


We provoke mature discussion by discovering and exploring nuances within issues which have otherwise been glossed over or accepted as ‘knowns.’ We challenge ideas and test assumptions. We distinguish between politics and partisanship, and encourage political psychology as being integral to the public decision-making that governs urban futures.

Our Values

  1. Trust, Integrity, and Professionalism

  2. Provoking Creativity and Risk-Taking

  3. Valuing and Respecting Volunteers

  4. Diversity Adds Value

  5. Fearless Intellectualism, and Sophisticated Action

  6. Independence and Transparency

Key Strategies

  1. Scaling our Impact

  2. Setting a Standard

  3. Explicitly Multidisciplinary Approaches

  4. Agency, Autonomy, and Freedom of Expression

  5. Pursuing Professional Creativity and Unexpectedness

  6. Membership Value

  7. Sustainability Exemplar