Urban Age Electric City Conference

The eleventh Urban Age conference took place in central London on 6-7 December 2012. This year the conference focused on the ‘Electric City’ - a detailed investigation of how the combined forces of technological innovation and the global environmental crisis are affecting urban society.

Organised by LSE Cities at the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society, and supported by the Mayor of London, the two-day event explored a number of themes that connect technology, the environment and cities.

Speakers including David Cameron, Saskia Sassen, Anthony Giddens, Craig Calhoun, Tessa Jowell and Richard Sennett tackled the social dimension of technological change, addressing questions of adaptation and change in individual and collective behaviour. The objective of the Urban Age Electric City conference – and the research leading up to it – is to provide a fresh perspective on how to accelerate the current sociotechnical transition of cities in order to more effectively respond to the urgent environmental and economic challenges.

For an extended overview of the conference, including downloadable videos and presentations, please visit the conference microsite.