Engineering Our Future Cities
Mass urbanisation is one of the greatest challenges faced by the world today. More than half of the world’s population now live in cities that cover just 2% of the world’s land surface yet they consume 75% of the world’s natural resources and produce a majority of its waste. Cities are now the major emitters of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and are being built at a phenomenal rate, the trajectory of this development is not sustainable.
Economies of scale from modern technologies are not evident so there is a clear requirement for a new model of sustainability. A step change is required in the planning and development of infrastructure systems and buildings that provide a “joined-up” approach to minimising environmental impact whilst maximising functionality. Meeting this task will require excellence across a range of research areas as diverse as high performance computing, materials, energy and sustainable architecture and urban planning.
Engineering our Future Cities is a cross-faculty strategy that will provide a concerted focus to research across the University of Nottingham. Existing research areas and emerging activity will provide integrated solutions to the emerging needs of the future city and its citizens, maximising the impact of our activity in areas that really matter.