futurecitiescatapult ukcapabilitiesreport full.pdf

7/25/2019 FutureCitiesCatapult UKCapabilitiesReport Full.pdf

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FUTURE CITIES:

UK CAPABILITIESFOR URBANINNOVATION


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CONTENTS

1FUTURE CITIES: UK CAPABILITIES REPORT

Executive Summary 2

Chapter 1.The Fut ure Ci ti es Mar ket 6

Chapter 2. UK Business Capabilities 16

Chapter 3. UK Research & Academic Capabilities 30

Chapter 4. UK Civic Capabilities 42

Chapter 5. Londons Capabilities 54

Conclusion 60

Thi s r epo rt was pre par ed by Aru p a nd theFuture Cities Catapult and was conceived andcommissioned by the Future Cities Catapult.

Arup TeamNicola WaltLan Doody

Future Cities Catapult TeamKarl Baker

Scott Cain

Acknowledgments:Thanks to all contributors. At Arup: Cian ODonnchadha, LiYu Tseng, Volker Buscher,Corinne Swain, Eike Sindlinger, Josef Hargrave, Tom Armour. At the Future CitiesCatapult: Lukasz Alwast, Victoria Blackshaw, Serena Connor, Andrea Edmunds,Charlotte Fortin, Paula Hirst, Dan Hill, Nuria Lozano, Peter Madden, Emma Shaw,Helen Troup, Caroline Twigg, Lily Vyas, Alan Waldock, Lucy Warin, John Weston.At UKTI: John Davies and Corin Wilson. At the Department of Business Innovationand Skills (BIS): Ben Hawes, Alan Mayo, Dorota Denning, Liam Macpherson.At The Work Foundation: Damian Walne, Charles Levy. Also to: Andrew Carter(Centre for Cities), John Davies (Nesta), Sandra Jones (Ramidus Consulting),Ralf Martin (Imperial College), Peter Oborn (RIBA), Max Nathan (LSE),Margarethe Theseira (Centre for London), Sarah Tromans (Technology StrategyBoard), Chris White (EPSRC), Sir Alan Wilson (UCL).

Published by the Future Cities Catapult, July 2014.Available online at: www.futurecities.catapult.org.uk


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2 3FUTURE CITIES: UK CAPABILITIES REPORT FUTURE CITIES: UK CAPABILITIES REPORT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Our urban future demandsinnovation. Cities are at thefront-line in responding to globalchallenges of resource scarcity,climate change, unemployment,and ageing populations. Whilethese are big challenges, theyalso present major new businessand innovation opportunities.

Urban innovation is happening andcity development is changing course.Cities are using new technologies,new business and financial modelsand innovative design approachesto provide their citizens with agood quality of life within a thrivingeconomy, and with a reducedenvironmental footprint.

Professionals across industries andsectors are collaborating to createsolutions. Rather than working indisciplinary silos to optimise systemsin isolation, they are considering thecity as a whole to maximise cross-sector synergies and avoid negativeunintended consequences.

This report documents the wide range of UK industry,research and civic capabilities relevant for dr ivinginnovation for the worlds future cities.

Chapter 1. The Future Cities Market

The challenges and opportunities faced by cities inthe 21st century are stimulating new business activity.Demand is signicant: cities across the world continue togrow and the global market for integrated urban solutionsis estimated to be 200 billion by 2030.1 Five businesscapabilities are leading solutions development: spatialdesign, physicalinfrastructure, digitaltechnology,commercialbusiness services, and socialserviceprovision. The best solutions are combining expertisefrom across these ve areas to deliver innovation onthe ground. The broad range of capabilities requiredfor developing these solutions presents a new marketopportunity for many industries.

Chapter 2. UK Business Capabilities

Businesses in the UK are developing innovative productsand services that are highly relevant to the challenges andopportunities faced by the worlds growing cities. UK-based rms are working together in multi-disciplinaryteams to create and export new products and services suchas mobile phone apps, electric bus infrastructure, designfor green urban space, open data standards, low-carbonbuilding design, and new infrastructure nancing models.The UK has strengths across a complementary packageof spatial design, engineering, digital and businessservice industries.

Chapter 3. UK Research andAca dem ic Cap abi li ti es

The UK has world-class universities conducting researchand providing education in a range of disciplines relevantto urban innovation including architecture, civil

engineering, computer science, product design andnance. Research and academic programmes are focusingon how to develop integrated city solutions and trainingurbanists in multidisciplinary ways of thinking andworking. Universities are collaborating with businessesto accelerate innovation and make it relevant to real-worldchallenges. Business-led research and developmentfacilities are drawing on the UKs strong innovationecosystem in the sector.

Chapter 4. U K C ivi c C apab il it ies

Governments, together with civic organisations, are keyplayers in supporting urban innovation. City governmentsare experimenting with new ways of delivering servicesand optimising city systems. They are engaging citizensusing data and technology, creating specialised innovationteams, and using demonstration sites to trial newurban solutions. The UK government and professionalorganisations are setting standards and policies inrelevant elds such as urban design, digital technologyand open data, and are providing tools to give cities andlocal communities greater political autonomy.

Chapter 5. Londons Capabilities

London has a unique combination of skills, businessactivity and research expertise that makes it a highlyproductive place for developing future cities solutions.The citys commercial strengths and world-class researchbase across the creative, nance, architecture, engineering,digital and real estate sectors represents a uniquely richecosystem for supporting urban innovation.

Chapter 6. Conclusion

The UK is well positioned to oer expertise, products andservices to the global future cities market due to severalkey strengths:

Multidisciplinary approach:Businesses are establishingcollaborative cross-disciplinary teams to provideproducts and services for the worlds cities. Engineers,urban designers, data scientists and sociologists arecollaborating in the design of urban masterplans.Software developers, product designers and architectsare creating new apps for urban navigation. Not onlyare rms working together in unexpected collaborations,UK universities, research centres, businesses and thepublic sector are using each others strengths to

accelerate urban innovation.

Project delivery:The UK has capabilities acrossa range of industries required to deliver urban projects,including nancial and business services, engineering,project management and construction services.In particular, the UK has the commercial expertiseto manage large-scale urban projects, from LondonsOlympics to sustainable regeneration in Doha.

Urban planning and reinvention:The UK is oneof the worlds most urbanised countries. The countryhas a well-established land-use planning system andits planning capabilities are used worldwide. With itsrich urban heritage, the UK has developed expertisein transforming browneld sites, retrotting low-carbonsolutions and using existing infrastructure in newcombinations to address contemporary challenges.

Digital creativity:The UKs diverse creative servicescombined with its fast-growing digital sector areproducing innovative digital serv ices for cities.

Together the two sectors cover a range of complementarycapabilities, from product and graphic design, to softwareand media development and advanced manufacturing.

Urban data, visualisation and modelling:Universitiesand a vibrant start-up community of spatial dataanalysts are leading the take-up of newly available opendatasets to create innovative visualisations and modellingtechniques that help to improve the management andplanning of cities.

Human-centred design:Designing for the end useris gaining prominence across diverse industries.Businesses and city councils are using new tools andmethods to engage citizens in the design of placesand public services. Centring the design of citieson people is crucial for making cities attractive andwell-functioning places.

Standards setting:Industry associations andgovernment organisations have developed world-leadingstandards for urban design, open data, low-carbon, publicservice delivery and community governance. Standardssuch as BREEAM for green buildings and the BSIsSmart City standards have encouraged UK businessesto develop new services and products ahead ofcompetition in overseas markets.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


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CHAPTER 1.THE FUTURECITIES MARKET

Despite the strengths of the UK ecosystem andcapabilities for urban innovation, there is further workto do in developing UK capabilities across the business,research and civic areas and the interconnectionsbetween these areas.

This report is intended to provoke conversation andconnect a broad range of people: city government ocials,digital entrepreneurs, architects, nanciers, managers ofutility companies, university researchers, and real-estatedevelopers and engineers, to name a few. The number ofactors involved in urban development is increasing and

varies by local context.

This report provides a snapshot of UK activity relevantto innovation for the worlds cities. For UK businessesoperating in the eld it identies the market opportunityand support mechanisms available for accessing thisglobal market. For city leaders in the UK and abroadit shares examples of what works and oers examplesof UK products and services that oer solutions todemanding challenges. For researchers and universities,it illustrates how research can be applied by businessand city authorities to accelerate adoption of the bestnew thinking.

Report MethodologyThis report describes capabilities relevant to urbaninnovation and categorises them into ve types:spatial, physical , digital, commercialandsocial. In practise these capabilities usually work incombination to deliver innovation. By distinguishingthem into ve types this report provides a frameworkfor identifying the range of industries involved inthe development of urban solutions. The reportalso denes the actors behind these capabilities,including business, research and civic actors, which

together constitute the ecosystem necessary forurban innovation.

The report provides an overview of the UKscapabilities for urban innovation by illustratingexamples of activities led by businesses, universitiesand research institutions, and city governments andother civic organisations. Through case studies thereport highlights the exportable products and servicesthat have emerged from the UKs future citiesinnovation ecosystem.

This overview of the UKs capabilities is illustrativerather than comprehensive. Case studies, interviewsand analysis of existing data have been used tohighlight specic activities, products and services, butthe illustrations are far from exhaustive and do notrepresent the complete range of innovative activitiesin the UK relevant to the needs of the worlds cities.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


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CHAPTER 1.THE FUTURE CI TIES MARKET

Growing demand forurban innovation

Climate change. Industrial waste.Finite resources. Innovation. Prosperity.Democracy. Cities are seen as bothproblems and solutions to thechallenges and opportunities of the21st century.

Due to their density of people, citiesexacerbate risks such as flooding,and intensify challenges such ashousing and infrastructure provision.At the same time, the density of citiescreates benefits and opportunities,attracting talent and finance, enablingefficiencies through shared assets,and allowing closer engagementwith residents for more effectivepolitical decisions.

This urban effect is set to growas the proportion of urban dwellersincreases from 50% to almost 70%of the worlds population2. Theway that cities develop will affecteveryones lives.

Traditional models of urban development paid minimalregard to the scarcity of global resources or toenvironmental issues beyond immediate local impacts.Today, many cities are competing to attract and retainglobally mobile talent and investment. As a result, citygovernments are placing a priority on becoming attractiveplaces to live and work. In Beijing, for example, airpollution has reached such high levels that young talentedprofessionals are avoiding the city, which could aect thecitys economic prospects. In the global context of growingmiddle class aspirations, cities are seeking to provide theirresidents with a good quality of life, thriving economies,

and reduced environmental impacts.

At the same time many cities across the world arestruggling to provide basic services such as clean water,sanitation, education and healthcare. While some ofthe challenges faced by cities are widespread, such astransport and air pollution, there is considerable diversityin the nature and magnitude of challenges across theworld. While London and New York struggle to retrot19th century water and transport infrastructure to meet21st century needs, Luanda and Dhaka are running newelectricity lines and water pipes into areas that have neverbeneted from reliable basic infrastructure before. Acrossthe world, public authorities are demanding better andmore cost-eective ways to deliver services that exploit thepromise of new technologies in a context of strainedbudgets and intensied future risks.

New models of urban development are needed to meetthese objectives. The market for urban innovation islarge and growing. In the case of Beijing, the Chinesegovernment plans to invest 10 billion (100 billion) overthe next three years to improve air quality3. More widely,it is estimated that at least US$40 trillion will need to beinvested in urban infrastructure over the next 20 years4.The market for smart city systems is estimated at over$400 billion by 20205and the UK Technology Strategy

Board estimates the size of the global market forintegrated city solutions could be 200 billion by 20306.These gures all suggest that companies, researchers andinstitutions that can provide the innovations that solvecomplex city problems will enjoy a sizeable and growingmarket for their skills, products and services.

City challenges and opportunities in the 21st century

Challenges Opportunities

Population growth andstressed infrastructure

Cities in both the developed and developing worlds areexpecting rapid growth in population. To support thisgrowth cities have to develop and integrate their builtenvironment, t ransport, communications and other

infrastructure without increasing congestion.

Political autonomy and collaboration

City governments assume greater responsibility for serviceprovision (energy, water, clean air and waste) enablingcloser management. Complex global challenges likeclimate change are being addressed at a city level, wherethere is often political will to test policies and shareinitiatives with other cities.

Resource efficiency and low-carbon growth

With growing pressure on natural resources, many citieshave set challenging targets for becoming more resourceecient and in particular to reduce their carbon footprint.City governments need to decouple economic and physicalgrowth from resource consumption.

Information and communication technology

The decreasing cost of sensors and increasing access tothe internet and digital technologies are providing newways to optimise city systems. The aggregation of dataacross the city is generating insights to improve city lifefunctionally, economically, socially and environmentally.

Resilient systems

Climate change, civic unrest and economic downturnshave generated a new awareness of the importance ofbuilding resilience into city systems. City leaders andbusinesses are concerned with how to adapt existinginfrastructure to w ithstand economic, political,environmental and social uncertainty.

Efficiency and economies of scale

Compact, densely populated cities enable energy-ecienttransportation and utility networks. Cities createopportunities for integration and economies of scaleacross systems, for example, using waste heat fromelectricity production to heat water for homes.

Income inequality

There is a growing income gap in many cities, which canbe an inuence on issues such as mortality and crimerates, education, employment, and potential for short-termsocial upheaval. Cities need to nd ways to reduce incomeinequality and to grow more inclusively.

Prosperity and innovation

Cities attract talent and investment and generate enormouswealth. The concentration of people, business andresearch speeds up the exchange of information and ideas,which drives innovation and creativity. Cities will developspecialisations to compete in todays globalised economy.

Demographic change and diseaseCity governments have to reduce the impact of an ageingpopulation on healthcare and the economy. They needways to mitigate the risk of emerging infectious diseasesthat spread easily where there is high population density.

Civic engagementCities have proven to be centres of social movements.City governments tend to have better access to informationthan central government, allowing them to be moreresponsive to the needs of citizens.

CHAPTER 1: THE FUTURE CITIES MARKET CHAPTER 1: THE FUTURE CITIES MARKET


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An eme rg ing ran ge ofcity solution providers

Governments, researchers, and professionals are adoptingnew ways of thinking and working to create sustainablecity solutions that exploit the benets of new technologies.Spatial designers are shaping buildings and public spacesto be both cost eective and achieve high levels ofenvironmental and social performance. Civil engineersand utility providers are considering multiple infrastructuralsystems simultaneously to improve service delivery andeciency. Digital industries are using new technologies

and datasets to provide fresh views of the city and bridgesilos in city governance. Real estate and nance businessesare developing new mechanisms to fund and design moreintegrated urban developments. Government agencies andsocial service providers are using new technology toengage more closely with citizens needs.

Some of these solution providers are relatively new to thefuture cities market such as management andtechnology consultancies. More traditional builtenvironment sectors have been integral to shaping citiesfor many years. Across sectors, businesses arereorganising to form new urban teams and investing indeveloping new products and services for a growing citiesmarket. New sub-sectors are also emerging, such as cityservice design, open data infrastructure and urban dataanalytics providers.

This diverse range of sectors relevant to the future citiesmarket can be organised according to ve capabilities:spatialdesign-led solution providers, physicalinfrastructure-led solution providers, digitaland data-ledproviders,commercialnance and business serv ice-ledsolution providers and socialand governance-ledproviders. This organisation establishes a framework forunderstanding the dierent capabilities involved in thedevelopment of urban solutions capabilities that in

practise are usually implemented in combination to deliverinnovation on the ground. The dierent role of each typeof capability is illustrated in the planning and delivery ofLondons 2012 Olympic Park.

A city systems approachCities are complicated and messy systems. Urbanproblems are the result of multiple factors withfar-reaching impacts involving complex feedbackloops. Trac congestion, for example, could be theresult of increasing population, decreasing householdsize, expensive public transport, a lack of parking orthe citys layout. In turn, congestion can lead to poorair quality and high noise levels, increased healthrisks, less enjoyable public spaces, reducedproductivity and fewer tourists in the city. Each urbanproblem is part of an intricate system of interactions.

Given the complexity of urban problems, the mosteective approach to resolving them considers a citysmultiple systems simultaneously, rather than focusingon how to x a particular element. A citysystemsapproachis just this; it considers the city as a systemand designs solutions to have maximum positiveimpacts, while minimising negative unintendedconsequences.

Adopting a city systems approach is challenging asit requires a new integrated way of working. Firstly,designers must work beyond single disciplines todevelop a sucient understanding of the urbansystem. Secondly, diverse stakeholders need to beinvolved to implement these designs. The structureof city governments tends to be based on 19th or20th century institutional models, with separatedepartments for distinct city functions such astransport, energy and education. To solve 21st centuryproblems these silos need to be broken down and amore integrated approach to city management andgovernance is required

Five capabilities for urban solution development

Sp

SPATIAL

Using spatial design and planning of buildings, public space and metropolitan areas to address urban challenges in an integrated way.

Ph

PHYSICAL

Infrastructure engineering, design and construction of transport, energy, water and waste systems to drive cross-system eciencies.

Di

DIGITAL

Data analytics, software development and applicationof ICT across city systems to derive new insights on thecitys form and operation.

Co

COMMERCIAL

Finance, governance and business models for enablingmore integrated forms of urban development.

So

SOCIAL

Citizen engagement, information sharing and user-centred design to enable more responsive forms ofurban development that address residents needs.



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Sp

SpSo

LONDONSOLYMPIC PARK:DEMONSTRATINGFUTURE CITIESCAPABILITIES

Sp SPATIALUrban masterplanningAt the heart of the masterplan for the Olympic site isthe Queen Elizabeth Park. The Parks design uses theexisting canal infrastructure and waterways to connectthe park with its surroundings. Over 8,000 houses arebeing developed at the Park over a 20 year time-frameand will be arranged along streets, terraces and squaresinspired by Londons existing urban form. The plan

incorporates an open, exible grid of streets allowingfor strong connections between the new and old city.

Ph PHYSICALLow-carbon district energy networkA low-carbon energy system heats and cools all buildingson the site. Two energy centres drive the system,generating hot and chilled water from gas-red combinedcooling heating and power (CCHP) plants. The energycentres are fuel and technology agnostic, enabling themto switch between gas and biomass for heat generationdepending on fuel taris, and to integrate additionalrenewable technologies in the future.

Di DIGITAL3D modelling and visualisationVisualisations of the Olympic site were created inrealistic detail to help stakeholders make importantdesign decisions. Bespoke software was used to createvirtual and physical models of the site. Visualisation is apowerful medium to help decision makers understanddierent design options. Animations of the park wereused for public consultation and for media publications.

Co COMMERCIALProject and supply chain managementThe Olympic site build was a time-constrained andcomplex project involving multiple suppliers andconsiderable delivery risks. The Olympic DevelopmentAuthoritys supply chain management strategy reducedrisks from potential supplier insolvency. The projectinvolved over 43,000 individual contracts and innovativeprocurement and monitoring processes were used toreduce delays from supplier insolvency. While some

insolvencies did occur, active management and carefulpreparation reduced their impact on timely delivery.

So SOCIALCommunity participationThe Changing Places programme was launched in 2009during the pre-Games period to extend the benets of theOlympic Park regeneration to neighbouring communities.It drew upon the high levels of interest in the Games toinvolve 50 organisations and many volunteers to delivera range of local, small-scale initiatives. Projects drewupon existing networks, such as local schools, universitiesand church groups, to transform vacant or underusedpublic land into places for community benet. Oneproject provided schools with grants to transform unusedareas of their grounds. Another project created a time-bank for people to exchange time as a currency to helpmaintain the Park. Overall 15,000 people helped createimprovements at more than 580 sites.


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The Future Cities Catapult building the UKs urban innovation ecosystemThe Future Cities Catapult has an important role toplay in building UK innovation capacity for futurecities, accelerating the innovation process andenabling the market for product and services to bebought and sold. The Catapult and its innovationcentre in central London will help link business,universities and city governments throughcollaborative projects. The Future Cities Catapulthas identied three immediate areas to focus on:

Prototyping. Spotting, supporting and improvingcity-changing ideas, new urban products andservices.

Proving. Through our Cities Lab, pilot projectsand new platforms for system-wide urbaninnovation via big data.

Scaling. Through helping deploy innovations inmajor urban projects, accessing nance, removingbarriers and creating the wider market-place.

By using these capabilities in real-world urbaninnovation projects, the Future Cities Catapult willhelp UK businesses and researchers meet the needsof the worlds future cities.

Innovation for future cities

Innovation for the worlds future cities involvestechnological innovation including the application of rapidlyadvancing information and communications technology,sensing and data analysis but also innovations in city-making processes involving new ways of delivering,nancing and managing city systems. Innovation inarchitectural design, infrastructure planning, softwareapplications, nance models and citizen engagement are allrelevant to building the worlds future cities.

The environment needs to be conducive to innovation acrossthese activities. This includes having political will andresources, high quality research, relevant skills and relevantcommercial activity. It can be thought of as an ecosystemmade of three components: civic, research andacademic, andbusiness. This follows the triple helixconcept, which considers how the relationship betweenuniversities, industry and government enables innovation.

These three components of the future cities ecosystem allhelp build capabilities in the ve areas essential for urbansolution development. The combination of spatial, physical,digital, commercial and social capabilities work together toproduce integrated solutions for cities.

To understand the UKs capabilities relevant to the worldsfuture cities, the strength of the UKs ecosystem isconsidered. This report i s structured according to thesethree ecosystem components business, research, civic and investigates how spatial design, physicalinfrastructure, digital technology, professional andbusiness service and social service and governanceinnovation is being supported across the ecosystem.


From innovation ecosystemto n ew p rodu cts and ser vice s:developing solutions for future cities

Future cities innovation ecosystem:

The combination of businesses, universities, researchinstitutes and public sector actors enabling innovation

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Future cities capabilities:

Five capabilities and skill sets relevant to developingsolutions for the worlds future cities

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Future cities solutions:

The products and services for cities created bycombining expertise from the capability areas

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CHAPTER 2.UK BUSINESSCAPABILITIES

CHAPTER 1: THE FUTURE CITIES MARKET


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CHAPTER 2.UK BUSINESS CAPABILITIES

Thi s c hap ter loo ks at the inn ovat ionbeing generated by UK b usinesses for

the worl ds fut ure cit ies .It examines,in turn, capabilities for spatial design-led innovation, physicalinfrastructureengineering and construction, digitalsolution development, capabilities incommercialprofessional and business

services and socialand governanceinnovation. Exemplar products andservices are highlighted in case studies toillustrate how UK businesses are taking thelead in developing future cities solutions.As can be seen through these e xamples,a broad range of business sectors cancontribute to urban innovation.

Future Cities capabilities and example products and services

Future Citiescapability

Exampleindustries

Example productsand services

SpSPATIAL Landscape Design

Urban Planning & Design Architecture & Design

Urban Sustainable Masterplanning Urban Water Management Public Realm Design

PhPHYSICAL Engineering

Construction Utilities Provision

Electric Transportation Infrastructure Waste to Energy Infrastructure Smart Water Infrastructure

DiDIGITAL Software

Hardware Information Technology Services

Digital Masterplanning City Data Platform Design City Data Analytics

CoCOMMERCIAL Financial & Business Services

Property & Real Estate Legal Serv ices & Policy Development

Cit y Vision & Metrics Development City Innovation Governance Design Busines s Model Development

SoSOCIAL Service Design

Community Services Serv ice Design Services Urban Design Crowdsourcing Platform

SpSPATIAL

Urban design, planning andarchitectural capabilities

The UK has strengths i n spatial design, architecture andplanning. Architectural services provided by rms in theUK are exported all over the world, generating net exportsof 314 million in 20127. A survey of the worlds top 100architecture rms in 2013 showed 21 of the 100 are basedin the UK, including some of the worlds largest practices

measured by fee income such as Aedas, Foster & Partners,Atkins, BDP and Zaha Hadid Architects8. The US is theonly country that hosts the headquarters of more rms.Many of these names represent pioneering architecturalpractices that have enhanced the UKs reputation foroering world-leading design services. The UK builtenvironment community has led work promoting a newunderstanding of place, bringing together planning,landscape, architecture, conservation and engineering9.With programmes such as The Festival of Neighbourhoodwhich explores the concept of what makes a goodneighbourhood, the spatial design i ndustries are ensuringthey engage with the communities they serve.

As cities build higher and strive for greater resource-eciency, architecture rmsin the UK are developinginnovative designs for clients all over the world. Smalland large rms are working for a growing number ofoverseas clients and large rms are extending their globaloce networks. Architects in the UK are placing moreimportance on the public space around buildings toenhance their building designs. Their design approachesconsider the buildings scale and relationship tosurrounding streets or squares to encourage publicactivity in these spaces.

In the last two decadesurban planningin the UK has

shifted its focus away from regulating the aesthetic designof individual buildings to enabling design at a large urbanscale that addresses a more fundamental agenda. Plannersare adopting a new set of tools to shape design decisionsand create opportunities for good design that tackle higherorder urban issues. The urban design frameworkpioneered by the private sector is enabling higher qualitydevelopment within an adaptable framework. Kings CrossCentral is an example of how such a framework can putthe public sector in the driving seat. Developers areadopting design codes to dene the must have designparameters for their developments and to oer greatercertainty of outcomes. The process of creating these codeshelps to align interests between key stakeholders at anearly stage, including the creative (architect), the market(developer) and the regulator (planner).

There is also a growing regard for the pre-existing citycontext; a sensitivity to place in addition to physicalproblems and protability. Planners increasingly have toexpress their work in a coherent and qualitative mannerthrough reports and drawings to enable greater publiccontribution in the planning process. As the regenerationof urban neighbourhoods in the UK has become a commonmeans of kick-starting economic growth in disadvantagedareas, planners are working in multi-disciplinary teamswith economists, architects and engineers across allphases of a project, from conception and constructionthrough to monitoring the delivery of long-term outcomes.

The natural environment is being recognised as anessential piece of infrastructure for our cities. Landscapedesignersin the UK are developing green infrastructurewithin cities at a range of scales from planting trees,green walls and rooftop gardens, to creating urban farms,parks and wetlands. Alongside individual initiatives, thereis an emphasis on designing city-wide living ecosystems toaddress major challenges such as biodiversity loss, urbanheat island eects, and climate change risks. Landscapedesigners are creating business cases to capture the rangeof benets secured through urban green infrastructure,improving the quality of life and health of residents,creating an attractive place to invest, increasing tourism,reducing crime and producing food.

CHAPTER 2: UK BUSINESS CAPABILIT IES CHAPTER 2: UK BUSINESS CAPABIL IT IES


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Urban planning for biodiversityand climate change adaptation

Image: Andrea Vail

Example products and services

Sustainable masterplanning Urban design Landscape architecture Green building design Urban water management

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London is oneof the largest new urban parks created in Europe for overa century; it is a green space at an XL scale. The parksdevelopment demonstrates UK innovation in integratedspatial planning, urban water management, landscapearchitecture and project delivery.

The design of the parks landscape was led by acombination of architects and urban planners (includingAllies and Morrison, LDA Design, Hargreaves Associates,Tim OHare A ssociates, Hyland Edgar Driver), engineersand ecologists (including AECOM, Arup and Atkins) who

worked together to identify innovative approaches to fosterbiodiversity within the park and to connect the park withLondons wider needs. Some of the initiatives included:

Biodiversity planning: Construction of the OlympicPark venues resulted in a loss of 45 hectares of existingnature conservation sites. A Biodiversity Action Planwas devised to ensure a new 45 hectare area was createdthat would provide a diverse range of new habitats andspecies in the park. The Plan dened the quality of thenew habitat, including re-seeding the park with orathat would have originally inhabited the area andcreating continuous corridors for wildlife movement.The plan incorporated a degree of exibility to allowelements to be varied as the design developed, subjectto stakeholder agreement.

Waterways strategy: Before the Olympic developmenta series of inter-linked waterways owed through thepark site which suered from issues such as poorwater quality, ood risk, a lack of dredging and pooraccessibility. A restoration strategy was devised by ateam of landscape architects, geotechnical, structural,civil, drainage and r iver engineers, planners andecologists to develop integrated solutions, includingood mitigation, recreational uses and contaminatedgroundwater monitoring.

Public realm design: The design of the parklandscape as a green, open space was closely related tothe Olympic Delivery Authoritys objective of creatinga new public realm. The park aims to attract nine millionvisitors a year and to tie in with the surrounding fabricof the city, helping to improve local connections bylinking green spaces and amenities.

CASE STUDY

The decisions behind the development of Londons OlympicPark were related to Londons broader green strategy theAll London Green Grid. This spatial planning frameworkwas adopted by the city administration (Greater LondonAuthority) to promote the design and delivery of greeninfrastructure across London, including the connection ofnatural urban systems such as the Green Belt and the RiverThames. With a political framework in place, the OlympicParks design could focus on the diverse benets of urbangreen infrastructure, including biodiversity, healthy living,ood protection and economic uplift.

The UK provided the range of skills and capabilitiesto design and deliver on the multiple objectives for theOlympic Park. Companies specialising in landscapearchitecture, engineering, ecology and urban designcollaborated to provide capabilities in all areas fromdesigning the vision, masterplanning, assessment,to consultation and collaboration.

Many of the UK companies involved in the design anddevelopment of Londons Olympic Park have since workedon overseas projects, using their innovative approachesto urban biodiversity in the export market. For example,Atkins has designed a large-scale mixed-use masterplanningproject in Jeddah that focuses on creating access to greenopen space to support a strong community on the site 10.Arup has developed a detailed masterplan for Wanzhuangeco-city in China that focuses on the conservation ofagriculture and local farming skills11.

Two million tonnes of contaminated soil have been washed,5 km of riverbanks cleaned up, 6,200 trees, 9,500 shrubs,63,000 bulbs, 250,000 wetlands plants and 766,000grasses and ferns have been planted. There are elds andlawns, wetlands, woodland and wildower meadows.There are 675 bird and bat boxes, kingsher walls andswift hotels, as well as habitats to lure otters, water voles,sand martins, amphibians, reptiles and a host of

invertebrates. http://learninglegacy.independent.gov.uk/



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CoCOMMERCIAL

Project management, financing andreal estate capabilities

Professional and business services supporting urbaninnovation are a key component of the UKs businesscapabilities for addressing the worlds urban challenges.City-scale projects require the management of multiplestakeholders and access to sustained nancing.Innovations by UK nance, legal, and real-estate

development rms have all contributed to developmentand delivery of new solutions for cities in both theUK and abroad.

Across the professional service sector, the UK hassignicant comparative advantages in attracting andretaining rms. Leading nancial, legal, and professionalservices rms have headquarters in the UK , including twoof the big four accountancy rms, the magic circle lawrms, and several leading banks including HSBC andBarclays. Two million people, or approximately 7% of theUKs workforce, are employed in nancial and relatedprofessional services, contributing 174 billion to the UKeconomy in 201222. Together, these professional servicesrms have led various innovations relevant to future cities for example, through creation of new standards forbuildings and urban open data, strategies for city systemintegration, and new funding mechanisms forinfrastructure and building.

Legal servicesin the UK are recognised globally,particularly in the eld of international and commercialarbitrations. UK legal rms are exploring new regulatorylandscapes emerging from big data, open data and cybersecurity technologies. For instance, Bird & Bird advisedUK government on the commercial and contractualaspects of the roll-out of new smart gas and electricity

meters to households and businesses as part of the SmartMetering Implementation Programme.

Capabilities in regulatory and standardsdevelopmenthas seen the UK at the forefront ofdeveloping new standards for green building, smartcities and open data. The BREEAM standard developedby BRE has become a worldwide assessment tool forgreen building. The British Standards Institute (BSI),in collaboration with the UK government, has establishedsmart city standards to accelerate uptake of innovationsby UK cities.

Professional servicerms in the UK are developingsolutions to help the public and private sector overcomecomplex urban challenges and market barriers to uptakeof innovation. Management consultancies are drawingupon their expertise in information technology,infrastructure, transportation, and using real-timedata and sharp analytics to provide strategic adviceon integrated city solutions.

For decades nancial services rmshave workedalongside government in nancing and delivering large-scale infrastructure projects. In addition to Private

Finance Initiatives and partnership models such asLocal Improvement Finance Trusts, nancial servicesrms are also helping governments develop innovativefunding mechanisms.

For example, Manchester and Liverpool have set uprevolving investment funds through the JESSICA23initiative including the 36 million Evergreen24and30 million Chrysalis funds25. Both funds seek to makeinvestments in major urban infrastructure andregeneration projects. Similarly, the 100 million LondonGreen Fund was established to invest in energy-relatedprojects to support the Mayor of Londons lowcarbon agenda.

Whilst tax incremental nancing has been widely usedin the US for major redevelopment, infrastructure, andother community-improvement projects, the UK is nowpiloting such schemes in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

In the context of a strong domestic market, propertyand real-estate developersin the UK are seekingto achieve long-term gains from their urban investments.Kings Cross Central shows how private developers aretying investments to long-term, large scale regenerationprojects and developing their own design standards forurban developments.

Innovative real estate services are emerging to addresschallenges, such as the shortage of aordable housingand retail space in many UK cities. One example is AppearHere, an online marketplace for the short-term rentalof retail space. This new service provides exibility forretailers amidst nancial uncertainty. Since launchingin 2012 it has attracted 1 million in funding from digitaland property investors26.

Financing for Urban Regeneration:The Chr ysa li s F und

Image: Woods Bagot


Browneld Regeneration Revitalisation Strategy Strategic Partnerships Funding & Advisory Major Infrastructure Project Management Revolving Investment Funds

The 30 million Chrysalis Fund was launched in Liverpoolin 2012 with funding from the European InvestmentBank, Homes and Communities Agency and the EuropeanRegional Development Fund through the JESSICAinitiative. It is an example of an innovative nancingmechanism for urban regeneration.

Managed by the Igloo Consortium comprising GVAProperty Consultants, Igloo Regeneration, and Royal Bankof Canada and working in partnership with the LiverpoolCity Regional Local Enterprise Partnership, the Chrysalisfund seeks to make strategic investments that supports

regional economic policies and sustainable development.A variety of nancing options are available, includingsenior and mezzanine debt at sub-market rates which cansupplement existing debt or sit alongside the developersequity to make the project nancially viable.

Projects must generate a return to allow for re-investmentsinto prospective projects that create jobs and unlockeconomic growth in the future. In this way, the revolvingfund delivers more impact over the long-term by investingin projects that are not otherwise nancially attractive toprivate sector investors.

As of 2014, the Chrysalis fund has made threeinvestments, including:

Watson House: a 4.8 million loan towards there-development of vacant Watson House, a Grade IIlisted property situated in the Liverpool City centre.

Tratos UK Expansion: to support Merseysides advancedmanufacturing sector, the Chrysalis fund provided aloan of 3.5 million towards helping Tratos UK, a cablemanufacturer, acquire 100,000 square feet of adjacentpremises as part of the companys expansion plans.It is expected to create 100 new jobs for Knowsley.

Liverpool Exhibition Centre: the Chrysalis fundcommitted an 8 million loan towards the 8,100 squaremetre exhibition centre in Liverpool. Opening insummer 2015, the exhibition centre will host largeconferences and trade exhibitions.

These high-quality investments demonstrate how theprivate sector can work successfully in partnership withcities to deliver economic benets to the regional economy.

A huge amount of hard work and dedication has beenput into the development of Chrysalis from across theMerseyside authorities and the Consortium. Chrysalisis an innovative approach to economic development andit will provide Merseyside with new opportunities andoptions. Cllr Joe Anderson, Liverpool City C ouncilLeader, 2012.

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SoSOCIAL

Public engagement and servicedesign capabilities

Innovations to promote public engagement with urbanmanagement are being developed by UK design-ledbusinesses A range of activities has emerged that focus onengaging citizens to inform the design of services, goodsand places. In the UK, businesses across many industries,from retailers to real-estate developers, have adopted new

tools to gather and use feedback from their customers andusers. Companies and governments are hiring creativedesigners to re-design services and products to bettermeet the needs of end users and to create compellingbrands that centre on the user experience. The UK iswell-positioned to provide these services with strongdigital and creative industries and government support forcitizen-centric design and community driven initiatives.

Community-led designis inuencing the shape ofUK cities and their serv ices. People are coming togetherto re-design spaces and serv ices in their neighbourhood,such as creating community gardens, renovating oldbuildings, or establishing community associations. Socialmedia is lending greater levels of participation andlongevity to these initiatives. Young people, who have oftenbeen less involved in more traditional forms of publicparticipation, are becoming more involved in shaping theircities, from joining in city visioning exercises, preparingneighbourhood plans, commenting on specic designproposals, reporting roadside waste or potholes, or moregenerally commenting on the quality of council services.Governments and businesses are recognising communitydesign as a sensitive way to improve urban areas, using thepeople who have the best knowledge of their local areas toimplement change in an incremental and collectivefashion. Crowd-funding businesses in the UK, such as

SpaceHive, are becoming powerful tools to captureresources and opinion, to inuence the built environment.

Businesses specialising in service designarere-organising public services to centre them aroundpeople and places. Service design is a relatively newdiscipline that considers the experience of the end userto redesign the provision of services and products. Citycouncils and government agencies are using service designto identify overlapping services and cut costs, as well asproviding a better experience to citizens. The DesignCouncil, FutureGov, and Shift are among a growing groupof service designers started in the UK. These companiesaim to make public services more coherent acrossoperational silos and to provide a genuine two-way processbetween citizen and government.

Crowd-sourcing the design ofpublic space and infrastructure

Image: Paul Townsend


Civic crowd-sourcing services Public realm design Crowd-sourcing platform design

By 2016, it is estimated that crowd-funding will raise15 billion annually in the UK27. The recent success of thisnew form of fundraising is now being applied to the publicrealm. A UK start-upSpaceHiveprovides an onlinefunding platform for civic projects. Since launching in2012, SpaceHive has been replicated by communities,businesses and city governments around the world, tofund local public developments. It is an example of theUKs capability for nancial innovation and public action.

SpaceHive enables anyone to pitch for funding from thedigital community for projects that make places better28.

Projects range from building new playgrounds andcleaning up parks, to developing public WiFi networks andcommunity centres. The Liverpool Flyover project, forexample, plans to turn a concrete yover in the centre ofLiverpool into an urban park that would cost less to buildthan the yovers proposed demolition. So far 122 fundershave pledged 17,000 to the project through SpaceHiveand a community has been catalysed to support theproject, including 30,000 followers on social media.

The funders for SpaceHives projects include citizens,businesses and local councils. For citizens the appeal ofSpaceHive is being able to directly invest locally in creativeprojects without having to spend time attending meetingsand navigating opaque municipal planning procedures.The nancial model behind SpaceHive is philanthropic funders do not hold a nancial stake in the project norreceive any monetary return, rather they gain a sense ofownership and feel good as a result of helping the project.

For local authorities and councils, SpaceHive is a sourceof investment and ideas for public spaces. Many Councilsacross the UK have pledged money to SpaceHive projects,which provide a risk-free way for them to add their fundsto make a project happen in the context of UK councilbudget cuts and a loss of capital funding for public spacedevelopment.

Crowd-funding provides governments with a way toengage and test designs with their voters in addition toproviding nance. George Ferguson, the Mayor of Bristol,has embraced crowd-funding as part of wider measuresto attract investment to the city. Londons Mayor BorisJohnson launched his pocket parks campaign, a schemeto create 100 green spaces across the capital, by oering tomatch money crowd-funded online. The UK government isexploring the possibility of oering tax breaks to crowd-funders for civic improvements, which would add 25% tothe value of every pledge29.

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SpaceHive has attracted public funding and privateinvestment from Deloitte and through partnerships withmajor brands such as Experian, the research giant. TheSpaceHive team manages the fundraising portal andchecks the viability of schemes before they are publishedon the website. Publicity, business and legal support isthen provided to projects According to the policy directorat SpaceHive, users enter into a ready-made communityof councils, architects, advisers and funders30.

There are limits to civic crowd-sourcing. The amountsraised are often not enough for large-scale civic projects

the most successful crowd-funded campaigns havegenerated funding around the tens-of-millions mark31.Projects can be broken down into crowd-fundablecomponents plank by plank in the case of Rotterdamspedestrian bridge32. Yet it can be a challenge to maintainfunding in the long-term across multiple phases ofdevelopment. This is being overcome by using crowd-funding to complement more traditional funding models.SpaceHive is acting as a rst step to generate support,which can then act as a catalyst to attract big money(from corporations, foundations, philanthropists andgovernments) for public projects.

Civic crowd-funding businesses similar to SpaceHive havesprung up around the world and city governments arelaunching their own crowd-funding initiatives. Supportingbusinesses are also appearing, like Sidekick Creatives,which helps designers to promote and sell their idea onlineusing video production and social media. A directory ofcrowd-funding sites, CrowdingIn, shows the success ofthis nancial innovation.

The system makes it dicult for ordinary people toinvest in pavements and parks, or increase footfalloutside their business SpaceHive has createdopportunities for citizens to solve their own problemswith market eciency Chris Gourlay, founder of

SpaceHive33.

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Alongside capabilities acrossbusiness sectors for urbaninnovation, the UK has a strongresearch base and world-classhigher education institutions relevantto developing solutions for theworlds cities. This chapter describesresearch and academic programmesthat are providing the skills and

knowledge to address theopportunities and challenges of theworlds future cities.

UK Future Cities Research

The UK is a major centre of world-class academic research with research across a range of disciplines being relevantfor developing future cities solutions. The UKs bestuniversities consistently rank among the worlds leadinginstitutions. In subjects with particular relevance tofuture cities, Cambridge, Imperial and Oxford areranked in the worlds top 50 universities for civil andstructural engineering34. An assessment of Europes top50 architecture schools includes seven UK universities(ve of which are in London)35.

While research relevant to future cities sits within variousacademic disciplines, a number of UK universities havemoved toward establishing explicitly urban-focusedand multi-disciplinary research centres. Cross-facultycollaboration is enabling new combinations of academicthinking to tackle city challenges (see table SelectedSpecialist Urban Research Groups in the UK at the end ofthis chapter). A number of universities including Glasgow,Newcastle, Manchester, UCL, Imperial and LSE havemultiple centres working on cities-related research.

Alongside city-focused research institutes, academic workwithin more established disciplines has a long-standinginterest in issues relevant to future cities. For example,there is extensive UK-based university research orientatedaround particular technology or functional areas such asbuilding physics, water systems and transport systems.

The following map illustrates examples of specic researchprojects currently under way at UK universities. It showsthe breadth and richness of activity across spatial design,infrastructure engineering, digital technology and socialand commercial innovation for future cities. It is evidentthat many of t he research projects combine disciplinesand approaches; for instance, the Retrot 2050 projectinvestigates how innovations in spatial design, technical

engineering and commercial business models cancontribute to accelerating the retrotting of the builtenvironment towards sustainability goals.

Public research funding in the eld is predominantlydistributed through the Engineering and PhysicalSciences Research Council (EPSRC) which alone hasover 100 million of active research grants related tourban research.

CHAPTER 3.UK RESEARCH & ACADEMIC CAPABILITIES

CHAPTER 3: UK RESEARCH & ACADEMIC CAPABILIT IES

Image: Robert Pittman

Universities are not working in isolation but collaboratingwith the private and public sectors to apply research inreal-world contexts and partner up for demonstration andtesting of urban innovations. For example, the IntelCollaborative Research Institute on SustainableConnected Cities brings the technology company togetherwith UCL and Imperial College London to developadaptive urban technologies using methods fromcomputer science, the social sciences, design andarchitecture. Siemens Crystal Urban SustainabilityCentre in London combines research and developmentwith the demonstration of new technologies in public

exhibitions and events.

The UK government is funding research through theresearch councils and leading urban-related researchprogrammes such as the Future of Cities ForesightProgramme, launched by the Department for Business,Innovation and Skills (BIS), and the future proong citiesresearch carried out by the Department for InternationalDevelopment which assessed how cities can respond toenvironmental risks.

UK Future Cities Higher Education

The UKs universities are not only conducting research,but are developing skills for the next generation ofpractitioners that can address the worlds urbanchallenges. UK universities have strong educationprogrammes across all ve areas of future cities activity training spatial designers, infrastructure engineers,computer scientists and digital technologists, business,governance and social innovators.

EPSRC is increasingly using its Centres for DoctoralTraining (CDT) programme to target PhD training inspecic topic areas, and to connect higher education toindustry and other partners. At least 25 CDTs across theUK are relevant to building capabilities for future cities.



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Di DIGITAL

Reading the city through dataSpace Syntax uses urban data,spatial technology and predictiveanalytics to forecast the eects ofplanning and design decisions on themovement and interaction of people.Created at The Bartlett, UniversityCollege London in the 1970s, thisscience-based, human-focusedapproach has led to key discoverieson the relationship between spatiallayout and movement, land use,safety, land value, and carbonemissions. One of the UKs oldestand most successful universityspin-o companies, Space Syntaxhas provided strategic consultancyservices to a wide range of clients,including property investors and

developers, public municipalities,community groups and buildingoperators. Its highly graphic anddata-rich approach has been usedon urban projects worldwide forover 25 years.

The Bartlett,UCL Faculty of the BuiltEnvironmentUniversity College Londonwww.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/graduate/research/spacewww.spacesyntax.com

Co COMMERCIAL

A holistic city methodologyThe Liveable Cities researchprogramme is centred around thedevelopment of a holistic CityAnalysis Methodology (CAM). CAMwill measure how cities operate andperform in terms of their people,environment and governance. Themethodology incorporates fourlenses for urban analysis:environmental, social economic andgovernment. Using the CAM, theLiveable Cities team are developingrealistic and radical engineeringsolutions for achieving the UKscarbon reduction targets and will testthem in three UK cities:Birmingham, Lancaster andSouthampton.

University of Birmingham,Lancaster University, UCL,University of Southamptonwww.liveablecities.org.uk

So SOCIAL

Design to improve peoples livesBased within Londons Royal Collegeof Art, the Helen Hamlyn Centre forDesign develops innovative andempathic designs for industry. It hasthree research labs: Age & Ability,Work & City, and Health & PatientSafety. The Work & City Labinvestigates how designers can makeliving and working in our cities moreinclusive and sustainable; fromdesigning low energy lighting toenhance learning in schools, to usingdigital media to enable new formsof civic engagement, to redesigningthe London black cab for all agesand abilities.

Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design,

Royal College of Artwww.rca.ac.uk/research-innovation/helen-hamlyn-centre/


Five research programmesin the UK illustrate how

the di ff ere nt fut ure ci tie scapabilities are beingdeveloped in academiccontexts.

Sp SPATIAL

Urban form and sustainabilityA consortium of universitiesexamined the claims that morecompact, high density and mixed-useurban forms are environmentallysound, ecient for transport, sociallybenecial and economically viable.Sustainability was measured throughsocio-economic and environmentalindicators. Urban form wasmeasured with respect to physicalconguration, layout, connectivity,density, housing form, mix of uses,green public space and gardens.Findings both support and refute theclaims that high-density, compacturban development is moresustainable than low-density,indicating that the relationship

between urban form andsustainability is complicated.

De Montfort University; Heriot WattUniversity; Oxford BrookesUniversity; Sheeld University;Strathclyde University.www.city-form.org

Ph PHYSICAL

Energy and urban planningA cross-disciplinary research projectat the University of Cambridgespanning the built environment,transport and urban land use. Theimpact of dierent technologies inbuilding, transport, district powersystems on energy use and emissionsare assessed at an urban andnational scale, alongside the impactof urban planning and urban design.The aim is to help practitioners andpolicy makers to reduce energydemand and the environmentalimpact of cities by quantifying theuncertainties for energy use usingstate-of-the-art techniques, in thewider context of socio-economic,physical, and regulatory factors.

University of Cambridgewww.eeci.cam.ac.uk



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EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training relevant to future cities

Institution Name of Centre for Doctoral Training

Cranfield University Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineering for the Water Sector

Durham University Multidisciplinary Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy

University of Exeter Centre for Doctoral Training in Water Informatics: Science and Engineering

Imperial College London Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Civil Engineering

Energy Futures Doctoral Training Centre

University of Cambridge Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies and ApplicationCentre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment

University of Liverpool Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantication and Management of Risk andUncertainty in Complex Systems & Environments

Centre for Doctoral Training in New and Sustainable PV

University of Manchester Centre for Doctoral Training in Power Networks

Newcastle University Centre for Doctoral Training in Cloud Computing for Big Data

University College London Centre for Doctoral Training in Urban Sustainability and Resilience

Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy Demand

University of Leeds Centre for Doctoral Training in Technologies for a Low Carbon Future

Loughborough University Industrial Doctorate Centre for Innovative and Collaborative ConstructionEngineering

Newcastle University Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Civics

University of Nottingham Horizon Doctoral Training Centre for the Digital Society

University of Oxford Centre for Doctoral Training in Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems

University of Reading Centre in Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments

University of Sheffield Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy Storage and its applications

University of Southampton Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Infrastructure Systems

Industry Doctoral Training Centre in Transport and the Environment

University of Strathclyde Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Power Networks and Smart Grids a partnership between the University of Strathclyde and Imperial College London

University of Surrey Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainability for Engineering and Energy Systems

University of Warwick Centre for Doctoral Training in Urban Science and Progress

Selected Specialist Urban Research Groups in the UK36

Institution Group Description

University ofBirmingham

Centre for Urban and RegionalStudies

Spatial and social planning studies including economicdevelopment, regeneration and urban resilience.

www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/gees/departments/curs/

L ive abl e C it ie s C ol labor at ion bet ween Bi rmi ng ham, Lanc ast er,Southampton and UCL creating an integrated,multi-disciplinary city analysis methodology.

www.liveablecities.org.uk/

University ofCambridge

Ma rt in Ce nt re A rch ite ct ur al gr oup wit h su bst ant ial ac tiv it y i n u rba ndesign and urban land use modelling.

www.martincentre.arct.cam.ac.uk/

www.urbanconicts.arct.cam.ac.uk/

Centre for SustainableDevelopment

Engineering group focusing on the social andenvironmental aspects of urban infrastructure andservices including energy and water.

www-csd.eng.cam.ac.uk/

Energy, Transport and UrbanInfrastructure

Research theme within the Department of Engineeringfocusing on energy, transport, information, buildings,water and waste treatment in the context of theurban environment.

www.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/strategic-themes/energy-transport-and-urban-infrastructure

University ofGlasgow

Urban Big Data Centre Focus on methods and technologies to manage, linkand analyse multi-sector urban data, both historic andreal time.

www.urbanbigdatacenter.wordpress.com/8-2/

Urba n St ud ies Res ear ch th eme of th e Sch ool of Soc ia l a nd Pol it ic alSciences focusing on governance, urban economics andneighbourhood wellbeing.

www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/urbanstudies/

Goldsmiths,University ofLondon

Centre for Urban andCommunity Research

Research group within the Department of Sociologyfocusing on community, ecology, governance,and citizenship.

www.gold.ac.uk/cucr/

Heriot WattUniversity

Institute for Housing, Urbanand Real Estate Research

Social policy emphasis with research themes includinghousing design and housing policy, residential andcommercial property markets and social exclusion.

www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/research/ihurer.htm

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ImperialCollegeLondon

Urban Water Group Engineering group with focus on sustainable watermanagement, urban ooding, integrated catchmentmanagement, smart technologies for asset managementand performance measurement.

www.imperial.ac.uk/ewre/research/currentresearch/urbanwater

Urban Energy Systems Engineering group with focus on integrated modellingfor the design and operation of urban energy systems toimprove energy eciency and environmental impact.

www.imperial.ac.uk/urbanenergysystems

Digital City Exchange Collaboration between the Engineering and BusinessSchool focusing on model-based digital innovationin cities.

www.imperial.ac.uk/digital-economy-lab/partnernetworks/dce

Intel Collaborative ResearchInstitute in SustainableConnected Cities

Collaboration between Imperial, UCL and Intel focusingon use of computer science and human centred designtechniques to creating new urban systems and services.

www.cities.io/

KingsCollegeLondon

C it ie s@K ings Ba sed i n t he D epa rt ment of Ge ogr aphy, fo cu se s onaspects of social, economic, political, historical andcultural change in cities.

www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/geography/research/cities

LondonMetropolitanUniversity

Cit ies I nsti tute Based in the Fa culty o f S oc ia l S cien ces a nd Huma nities ,research on urban economic development, housing,transport and culture.

www.citiesinstitute.org/

London Schoolof Economics

LSE Cities Emphasis on how the design of cities impactssociety, culture and the environment and also oncity governance.

www.lse.ac.uk/LSECities/home.aspx

Cities@geography Based in the Department of Geography and Environmentfocusing on urban regeneration, governance andsustainable development; mega-projects.

www.lse.ac.uk/geographyAndEnvironment/research/cities/

University ofLeeds

Centre for Spatial Analysis andPolicy

Group based in geography focusing on applicationsof GIS to urban systems modelling.

www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/research/centre-for-spatial-analysis-and-policy/


University ofManchester

Centre for Urban Policy Studies Research on urban and regional policy. Themes includeevaluation of area-based urban policy initiatives, spatialplanning, spatial analysis and public participation.

www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/research/cups/

Centre for Urban Resilience andEnergy

Research on urban aspects of energy, climate changeand spatial systems from a social science perspective.

www.seed.manchester.ac.uk/research/centres/cure

Global Urban Research Centre Urban development and globalisat ion includingtopics of poverty, inequality, conict, housing andclimate change.

www.seed.manchester.ac.uk/gurc/

NewcastleUniversity

Centre for Earth SystemsEngineering

Engineering group focusing on analysis, design, andmanagement of coupled human, environmental andengineered systems with strong focus on urbaninfrastructure networks.

www.ncl.ac.uk/ceser/

Centre for Urban and RegionalDevelopment Studies

Group based in geography, politics and sociology witha focus on local and regional economic development.

www.ncl.ac.uk/curds/

Global Urban Research Unit Planning/architecture group with focus on urbanplanning, politics and the environment.

www.ncl.ac.uk/guru/

University ofOxford

Programme for the Future ofCities

Based in the Institute for Science, Innovation andSociety with an anthropological focus.

www.futureofcities.ox.ac.uk

Infrastructure TransitionsResearch Consortium

A consortium of nine universities led by Oxfordworking on the development of new decision supporttools for national infrastructure planning. Scope isnational rather than urban but many projects haveurban implications.

www.itrc.org.uk/

University ofSalford

Centre for Sustainable Urbanand Regional Futures

Based in the School of Built Environment, this groupworks in three areas; urban futures, culturalintermediation and urban retrot.

www.salford.ac.uk/built-environment/research/research-centres/sustainable-urban-and-regional-futures

University ofWarwick

Warwick Institute for theScience of Cities

Gathering city-scale data and transforming it intoknowledge, capitalising on emerging developmentsin big data and in interdisciplinary solutions tourban challenges.

www.wisc.warwick.ac.uk/research/

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UniversityCollegeLondon

Development Planning Unit Postgraduate teaching and research unit workingtowards socially just and sustainable development in theglobal south. Research and teaching contributes tobuilding capacity of national governments, localauthorities, NGOs, aid agencies and businesses workingin the global south.

www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/dpu

The Bartlett School of Planning An international centre for learning and research aboutthe form, planning, design and management of cities.

www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/planning

The Bartlett School ofArchitecture

One of the worlds leading architecture schools,encouraging provocative thinking and interdisciplinaryresearch and teaching methods.

www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture

The Bartlett School ofConstruction and ProjectManagement

A teaching and research centre focusing on constructionproject management and the economics of the builtenvironment.

www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/cpm

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CHAPTER 4.UK CIVIC CAPABILITIES

City governments and other civicorganisations are central actorsin driving UK urban innovation.Government activities taking placeat the municipal and national levelare supporting experimental andinnovative approaches to urbanmanagement in the UK helpingdrive demand for new products and

services relevant to the worlds cities.Local authorities are experimentingwith new forms of service delivery,new technologies and workingin partnership with business andresearch centres to connect innovationwith real-world challenge s anddemonstrate new solutions in situ.

Civic organisations are importantcomponents of the UKs ecosystemfor urban innovation with citizensdeveloping fresh ways to manageand plan city systems. Centralgovernment is supporting innovationthrough targeting industrial supportand funding in the sector.

City Governments

City governments in the UK are adopting innovativeapproaches to urban development and attractinginvestment to trial new integrated solutions. With theirbudgets signicantly reduced over the last ve years, UKcity councils have been forced to innovate to deliver costeciencies. There are some common themes acrossUK city councils work relevant to future cities solutions:

Citizen engagement:City administrations areadopting new ways of engaging the public to increaseeciency, build tr ust in local politicians and increasecitizens participation in decision-making. Manycouncils provide webcasts or live streams of theirmeetings and allow residents to lm, tweet or blogduring open council meetings37. They have createdfacilities to allow people who live, work or study in thearea to submit or sign e-petitions on any matter forwhich the council or its partner organisations haveresponsibility38. New techniques have been developedto involve citizens in council budget decisions, gaininginput on trade-os such as increasing revenues fromparking nes or reducing property costs to avoid cutsin services39.

Open data and digital innovation:A growingnumber of IT experts are being recruited by city councilsto support them with the delivery of online servicesand data analytics. For example, the Leeds Data Mill,supported by the Leeds City C ouncil provides an onlineplatform for sharing city data. The Greater ManchesterData Synchronisation project brings together threeManchester local authorities, to improve sharing ofcity data between local governments and other users(see Manchester case study).

Infrastructure nance innovation:Due toconstraints on public nances, city leaders are looking

for new ways to nance urban infrastructure. Forexample, Milton Keynes adopted a scheme called theMilton Keynes Tari to forward-fund 400 millionof new infrastructure, enabling the future developmentof 15,000 dwellings and 500,000 square metres ofcommercial oorspace in the citys designated expansionareas. As negotiated with landowners, an agreedschedule of infrastructure was provided with an initial80 million forward-funding from the Treasury with thecosts defrayed by the payment of a guaranteed xed levyper home built or a per square metre of employment landdeveloped, rather than negotiating individual Section106 agreements. Tari payments vary depending onthe type of development and payment is due when thedevelopment meets a major milestone, allowing for thebulk of payments to come from the developers cash ow,rather than nanced up f ront.

Low-carbon:Cities across the UK have takenresponsibility for reducing carbon emissions, leadinginnovations to improve eciency and reduce energyconsumption in buildings, public services such as streetlighting and through shifting passenger transporttoward lower-carbon modes (see Bristol case study).Some cities have undertaken advanced research into themost cost-eective initiatives for reducing emissionssuch as the Leeds City Region, which collaborated withthe Centre for Low Carbon Futures to identify lowcarbon investments that generate signicant savingsfrom lower energy bills40.

Technology demonstration projects: Localauthorities are initiating experimental projects t hatdemonstrate the use of cutting edge technology forimproved city performance. For instance, Milton KeynesCity Council is a key partner together with the FutureCities Catapult, Neul, ARM, BT and the Open Universityto establish an internet of things demonstrator,providing an open access network for machine-to-machine communication using TV white-space.The project is currently testing new uses for thetechnology including for the citys rubbish collectionand car parking.

Infrastructure analysis:Cities are assessing theircurrent infrastructure portfolios to spot eciencysavings and are looking ahead to detect futureinfrastructure gaps. For example, the Mayor of Londonhas commissioned work to assess the capitals strategicinfrastructure needs up to 2050 i n Londons rst LongTerm Infrastructure Plan41.

Innovation teams and centres:Councils are settingup teams that work across departments to identify anddeliver innovation internally. They are also drivinginnovation within their cities by creating centres andevents that bring together businesses, people and

institutions to help the ow of ideas across sectors andindustries. These forums facilitate localised knowledgespill-overs and create the conditions for innovation.

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CASE STUDY

Bristol:reducing carbon emissions with smart energy

Growing populations, increasing demandsBristol is one of the UKs fastest growing cities: its currentpopulation of 441,300 is expected to rise by 31% by 2028.Smart City Bristol, launched in 2011 and building on theSmart City Bristol Report, is a collaborative programmebetween the public sector, business and community whichaims to meet the citys environmental, social and economicchallenges and opportunities through smart technologiesand digital connectivity. Led by Connecting Bristol, itbrings economic and environmental benets, as wellas behaviour change by ensuring that citizens co-design,trial and test smart technology that is eventually fullyintegrated and complementary to their lives.

One of Smart City Bristols three focus areas is smartenergy. This will help meet the energy needs of its citizensand businesses as well as contribute to Bristols carbonemissions reduction target of 40% by 2020 from a 2005

baseline, and unlock investment in new forms of energygeneration and management.

Engaging citizens to save energy at homeBristol is using various smart techniques to reduce peakand overall energy demand across its building stock.With European funding, 3-E Houses is deploying smartmetering technology in 100 social houses to exploreenergy use reductions, and therefore minimise carbonimpact and lower citizens bills. Real time monitoring andmanagement of energy consumption shows citizens howmuch energy they consume, helps integrate renewableenergies into residential energy provision through smartmetering technology, and enable development of tools todesign and evaluate energy savings plans. The project haspartners in Bulgaria, Germany, Spain and the UK, wherethey include Bristol City Council, Toshiba and KnowleWest Media Centre.

Based on previous studies, standard smart meteringcan have just a small percentage impact on energy use.However, when citizens are engaged in energy usedecisions, much bigger energy reductions are possible:early results from time of use trials suggests peak timereductions of up to 20%. UK partners in 3-E Houses havedeveloped cartoon-like, gamied user interfaces toincrease the sense of ownership and encourage regularsmart meter use, resulting in a 20% reduction in energyconsumption across the three city areas involved. SuchUK expertise can be commercialised and replicated inother global cities.

Reducing energy demand across the cityThe city is also reducing energy demand through atargeted service for public building sta. It comprisesICT-based energy decision support, awareness andmanagement services and is part of the internationalSmart Spaces project with almost 20,000 professionalsand sta users involved in 11 pilots in eight countries.Bristol is deploying this in over 500 public buildingsincluding all council oces and locally managed schools.Bristol City Council will also partner with SystemsLink,a UK provider of local authority energy managementsoftware, to develop a smart system that accuratelyrecords the councils energy use, using daily energy meterreadings to identify where waste is occurring and wheresavings can be made.

Developing renewable alternativesWhere demand reduction is already optimised, the cityis working to integrate renewable energy sources into itsgrid. It is using smart technology developments to do this,for example integrating solar power and battery storage.Like many cities, Bristol faces grid connection challengesfor the large scale roll-out of solar PV and other low-carbon technologies. The So La project enables the cityto overcome the network limitation of a low voltagedistribution network, and provides energy storage

options. Energy can then be provided to citizens at peakrequirement times, saving energy and carbon andincreasing energy security. A pilot in ten schools, one oceand 30 homes, is funded through Ofgems Low CarbonNetwork Fund, and the partners include Bristol CityCouncil, Western Power Distribution, Siemens, theUniversity of Bath and Knowle West Media Centre.

www.bristol.gov.uk/page/environment/council-action-climate-change

Manchester: linking open data across city councils

Image: Greater Manchester Data Syncronisation Programme

Unlocking open dataData collected by local authorities and other cityorganisations is a potentially rich source of information tohelp city planners, managers and citizens make decisionsabout developing and using their city. However, data is oftennot widely available or is not published in accessible andre-usable formats, making it dicult for other parties to use.

UK cities are i ncreasingly realising the value of open datafor transparency, improved public service delivery andcitizen engagement. With the direct economic returnsfrom opening up and re-using public sector data estimatedat 1.8 billion per year i n the UK42, more and more newopen data infrastructure initiatives are launching,including the Greater London Authoritys DataStore andGlasgows Open Data Portal.

Manchester is developing its linked open datainfrastructure through the Greater Manchester DataSynchronisation Programme. Established by three localcouncils Salford, Traord and Manchester City theprogramme is enabling the free ow of public sector databetween councils and more widely among businessesand citizens. The programme is translating data heldin dierent formats across dierent organisations intoa common format held within a central repository forthe Greater Manchester region. The programme iscoordinated by local Manchester innovation lab,FutureEverything, with support from the Future CitiesCatapult and Connected Digital Economy Catapult.

Developing an open data frameworkSince launching in September 2013, the programme hasalready established the key infrastructure for sharing opendata a common region-wide quad store for linked data.Code fellows working within the councils are identifyingand publishing new datasets in an open format, while

building skills and capability for open data within theregion. In parallel, the programme has engaged the localdigital community, including a number of SMEs, promotinguse of the data through new software applications. At aprogramme-organised hackathon, 20 developers used thedata to build new apps and services. One idea conceivedduring this event that a team of developers is now workingtowards commercialising is Light Raider, an obesity-ghting app that uses the newly released council data onstreet lamp locations to inspire and challenge users toexplore running and walking routes.

In the second phase of the programme, the platform willbe rolled out to include a wider set of local authoritieswithin Greater Manchester. In the longer term, theapproach developed for building open data capacity withinManchester and facilitating collaboration among councilsmay oer a translatable model that could be applied acrossthe UK and abroad.

Scaling innovationThis is a relatively low-cost civic initiative with potentiallylarge benets. Compared with the costs of bespoke ITinfrastructure, this 150,000 project is inexpensive withbenets and potential applications as wide-ranging as thedatasets released. Greater Manchester Councils could seecost savings from improved transparency in government,increased eciency of public services and the addedbenet of avoiding procurement costs for

futurecitiescatapult ukcapabilitiesreport full.pdf

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