Brydon Wang
Building Better Cities through
Trustworthy Technologies
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I am an expert in law and regulation of AI and Construction technology, with a focus on how we design and deploy trustworthy technologies for cities (InfraTech) that are both human-centric and climate-resilient. My research combines doctrinal legal research with creative research methodologies to explore the governance of automation, digital infrastructure, and smart urban systems.
Dually-qualified in law and architecture, I bring over 15 years of experience across legal practice and the built environment. I am published by leading academic presses and, through my creative research strategies, have also become an award-winning artist.
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Research Projects
Selected Projects
The Role of Trustworthiness in Automated Decision-Making Systems and the Law
Dr Brydon Wang's work on regulation of automation and data-focused technologies in the construction industry "discerns targeted scenarios for potential application of software, AI, and algorithms as monitoring and even regulatory entities…. it is grounded in an understanding of the social context of these forms of decision-making technology. This discussion does a deft end-run around dominant scholarly literatures on AI explainability, to instead insist on the involvement in and accountability of persons."
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Professor Frank Pasquale,
Expert on the law of AI, algorithms and machine learning, Brooklyn Law School
Trustworthy urban solutions
to floods and rising sea levels
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Ocean Governance and Floating Cities
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Public trust and the exercise of regulatory authority over inshore and offshore marine environments​
Dr Brydon Wang is internationally recognised for his research on floating structures and the regulation of offshore urban environments. His most significant publication to date is the co-edited volume Large Floating Structures: Technological Advances (Springer, 2015), held in over 160 libraries worldwide. This work has shaped scholarly and policy discourse on how floating cities can respond to climate-induced displacement and sea-level rise. The forthcoming Large Floating Solutions: Design, Construction, Legality of Offshore Structures and Buoyant Urbanism (Spinger, 2025) follows this edited volume and is being launched this year.
Brydon’s research connects legal frameworks, infrastructure policy, and emerging technology to explore how buoyant urbanism can be delivered in a trustworthy, socially responsive manner. His work has been cited in the Routledge Companion to Ecological Design and featured in public-facing platforms such as ABC Radio National’s Future Tense and Californian media company Seeker, reflecting both academic and societal impact. He has contributed to the legal governance of floating cities through publications and policy consultation on offshore zoning, automated infrastructure, and ecological resilience.
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Hyperlinks to his research:
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- Navigating the Legal and Regulatory Frontiers of Urban AI, Autonomous Maritime Robots and Floating Cities
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Buoyant Futures: Our global duty to recognise Floating Cities as 'Territory' in International Law​
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Underpinning the Value of Buoyant Urbanism: Returning Torrens to the Seas
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Emerging Legal Issues around Automation & Datafication of the City
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Dr Brydon Wang’s research focuses on how emerging technologies are reshaping the legal foundations of infrastructure procurement and construction. He examines the role of smart contracts, blockchain, and large language models (LLMs) in transforming contract formation, interpretation, and enforcement. His work on the parol evidence rule in the context of AI-assisted drafting, and on the automation of payment mechanisms under security of payment legislation, reflects a broader concern with legal innovation that reduces vulnerability and enhances trust in the construction industry.
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These concerns are situated within a larger research agenda that interrogates the legal and regulatory implications of the automation and datafication of the city. Brydon’s work explores how AI, digital twins, and algorithmic systems are influencing the design, delivery, and governance of infrastructure. He has contributed to policy-facing publications on regulatory frameworks for the automated city, including work published by the Centre for Digital Built Britain at the University of Cambridge.​
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Hyperlinks to his research:
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Prompts and Large Language Models: A New Tool for Drafting, Reviewing and Interpreting Contracts?
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Automating Cities: Design, Construction, Operation and Future Impact (Springer, 2021)
Brydon was lead editor of the globally held volume examining the integration of data-focused systems into urban design, construction and governance.
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Addressing Financial Fragility in the Construction Industry through the Blockchain and Smart Construction Contracts
explores how smart contracts can automate legal obligations, particularly payment mechanisms, in large infrastructure projects. The piece has been cited in Automation in Construction (Q1) and the International Journal of Construction Management (Q2), demonstrating its cross-disciplinary impact. Additionally, Brydon was a construction contract lawyer with top-tier law firm Allens, and has worked across Australian standard construction contracts and international contracts including FIDIC EPC/ Turnkey contracts and NEC4.
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3D printing and housing: intellectual property and construction law
Bryon was a co-author on this book chapter that has been cited in the revised 7th edition of Property Development (Taylor & Francis) and in Project Leadership and Society (Elsevier), reinforcing the relevance of his work to emerging construction technologies and Industry 4.0.
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Automating Trustworthiness in Digital Twins
Brydon co-authored this peer-reviewed journal article that was cited in the Proceedings of the Design Society (Cambridge University Press).
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The Seductive Smart City and the Benevolent Role of Transparency
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Trustworthy Seams in Urban Seeing:
Regulatory Tension between Visibility & Privacy in Dataveillance practices
Brydon is currently researching visibility regimes and how we can exercise power in more trustworthy ways when choosing how to direct transparency processes to make data subjects or collection practices visible. Read also about Brydon's submissions on a raft of privacy law reforms currently being considered at both Federal and State levels in Australia: the sole-authored submission on the Australian Data Strategy; the co-authored Issues Paper Submission on positioning Australia as a leader in digital economy regulation: Automated Decision-making and AI regulation; and the co-authored submission on the proposed changes to the Queensland Information Privacy and Right to Information Framework.
Brydon’s co-authored article ‘Implementing COVIDSafe: The role of trustworthiness and information privacy law’ was cited in an article analysing AI risks in AI and Ethics (published by Springer) and in an article analysing the trade-off between personal privacy and public safety in Law in Context.
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