Monthly Archives: January 2018

LSE Cities to develop database for 50 metropolises around the globe

19 January 2018

Metropolis, a world association of major metropolises, has partnered with LSE Cities to develop a system of comparative indicators and collect the corresponding data for a range of major cities and metropolitan areas. The growth of large metropolitan areas like megacities, urban regions and corridors presents new challenges for the management of territories, however, there is a substantial lack of data. The Metropolitan Indicators research project will deliver a database for 50-60 metropolises around the globe. The indicators will refer to six overarching themes: metropolitan governance, economic development, social cohesion, gender equality, sustainability, and quality of life.

 

Julia King to chair public event on gentrification in Istanbul and London

15 January 2018

Julia King, Research Fellow at LSE Cities, will chair “Transforming Cities? Gentrification and Urban Contestation in Istanbul and London” on 7 February at the London School of Economics. The talk will draw on examples from two or Europe’s biggest cities to reflect on the consequences of urban regeneration and gentrification on social justice and public spaces. The panel is organised by Centre for Policy and Research on Turkey (Research Turkey) and LSE SU Turkish Society.

Ricky Burdett to moderate Digital X debate in Madrid

Ricky Burdett, Director of LSE Cities and Urban Age, will moderate a public debate at the Norman Foster Foundation Digital X Workshop in Madrid on 16 January 2018. The workshop will explore the relationships between architecture and an increasingly prevalent digital world. Burdett will be joined by double-amputee Hugh Herr, whose bionic limbs are aimed at eliminating disability, and Kent Larson who directs the City Science group at the MIT Media Lab. Burdett has contributed previously at the Normal Foster Foundation, including on the Cities Panel of the Future is Now Forum alongside Michael Bloomberg and Norman Foster in June 2017.

 

GLA funds extension to London Expanding Density project

10 January 2018

Experiencing Density: Life in London’s New High-Density Housing is a research project exploring how residents experience new high-density residential environments in London, and what factors condition liveability and social sustainability. The project builds on recent  surveys, onsite interviews and focus groups with residents, which revealed a number of key challenges and opportunities associated with new-build high-density developments, and an older report on Density and Urban Neighbourhoods in London. The next phase of the project, funded by the GLA, will compare high-density developments built within the last 10 years with older high-density typologies built in the late 1800s, the 1930s, and the 1970s in blocks generally described as ‘successful’. The findings from the project will feed into the development of the new London Plan and potentially also Supplementary Planning Guidance on density. The research project is jointly organised by LSE Cities and LSE London.

‘Key finance mechanisms are available to deliver sustainable urbanisation’ – new working paper

5 January 2018

A new Global Review of Finance For Sustainable Urban Infrastructure working paper has been released by the Coalition for Urban Transitions. The paper, authored by LSE Cities and PwC, finds that key finance mechanisms required to plug an estimated annual global infrastructure investment deficit of US$1 trillion may already be under national government control. The paper finds that transforming national urban financial systems can enable growth and sustainable development if national policymakers overcome significant investment, regulatory and institutional barriers, including lack of upfront public capital, lack of institutional capacity, institutional inertia, high perceived risk and low perceived returns, and imperfect information.

Richard Sennett recognised in the 2018 New Year’s Honours for design

2 January 2018

Professor Richard Sennett, Chair of the Advisory Board at LSE Cities and Centennial Professor of Sociology at LSE, was appointed OBE for services to design in the 2018 New Year’s Honours. Through his research and extensive writings, Professor Sennett has explored how individuals and groups make social and cultural sense of material facts – about the cities in which they live and about the labour they do. How cities are designed is a key area of research at LSE Cities.

Commenting on the announcement, Professor Sennett generously said, “The real honours should go to the Cities Programme at LSE, where I did the work for which I’ve been recognised.” Professor Sennett also contributed to founding the Urban Age project and was part of  one of three evening Urban Talks [video], which were central to the official Habitat lll programme in 2016 and focused on the design of cities.