Curating Cities is a five-year research project that examines how the arts can generate environmentally beneficial behavioural change and influence the development of green infrastructure in urban environments. Drawing on case studies from around the world, Curating Cities assesses the ongoing and potential contribution of public art to eco-sustainable development and the benefits to Sydney and cities in general. The project provides a rubric for public art in relation to the fundamental domains of sustainable planning: energy, water, food and waste.

The Curating Cities Database maps this increasingly important and emerging field of eco-sustainable public art. The database is developed as a resource for researchers, academics, artists, curators, educators, commissioning agencies and sponsors working in the field as well as those interested in promoting sustainability via public art. In addition to descriptive information, the database evaluates the aims and outcomes of each project as well as the external constraints (and subsequent negotiations) that influence the production of public artworks.Curating Cities will unfold through a series of public programs, encompassing exhibitions, labs, workshops and conferences. It commences in 2011 with Curating Cities: Sydney–Copenhagen, Customs House, Sydney and Try This At Home at Object, Sydney.

Curating Cities has been realised with an Australian Research Council ARC funded Linkage project (LP110200247)