Impact case study database

Drawing on the complexity sciences as a cross-disciplinary theoretical base for its research, the CPU-Lab harnesses the potential of computational modelling to explore the impact of disruptive technologies in urban transformation, Smart Cities and Future Cities. The research has direct impact on urban policy makers at the strategic policy formulation stage (ex-ante) and innovative design practitioners, working towards more sustainable and liveable future cities.

A complexity approach to smart and sustainable cities of the future: As founding members of the ESRC-funded Data and Cities as Complex Adaptive Systems (DACAS) strategic network (GBP100,799) with the University of Tokyo, Imperial College London, University of Aberdeen, Wuhan University, University of Sao Paulo and University of Manchester, the Lab has generated agenda-setting impact on researchers and policy makers for sustainable development through promotion of a transdisciplinary approach to urban transformations. DACAS has established enduring connectivity with public bodies and civic leaders including Manchester City Council (MCC), RIBA, Future Cities Catapult (now CPC), Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and government stakeholders in Brazil, China and Japan. As one of the most respected global policy brief publishers on issues of sustainability, collaboration with the United Nations – Institute of Advanced Studies led to the production of the international policy brief ‘Sustainable Smart Cities: Applying Complexity Science to Achieve Urban Sustainability’ co-authored by Sengupta and Hyde. This engages critically with technology provider-led implementation strategies for Smart Cities and identifies practical policy steps for government actors to empower citizen-led, bottom-up sustainability agendas. It is the most viewed and second most downloaded (across three languages) UN policy brief in the series [A].

Informing the development of Manchester’s digital strategy: In the Synchronicity project, the Lab worked collaboratively with MCC and Bronze Labs (a technology SME) to test integration of the use of IoT/urban data for agile local governance and strategic policy formulation. Within Manchester, the Lab reported on the low data availability and integrity via the existing CityVerve legacy city data platform and supplementary data sources. A collaborative approach exploring new use cases involving multiple MCC service teams identified barriers and opportunities for data from connected technologies towards greater agility and responsiveness in local governance. MCC’s Principal Resource and Programmes Officer has attested that CPU-Lab played a direct role in MCC committing to and commissioning the new Manchester Digital Strategy (Creating an Inclusive, Sustainable and Resilient Smart City): ‘Since the end of the project we’re further exploring the idea that decision making can be better informed by better data. The work with Ulysses identified the digital schema that could work and created awareness raising amongst our client base, which were council employees and staff. In September 2019 towards the end of Synchronicity we had a workshop for 40 stakeholders, mostly from the city council. 18 months before no one had wanted to attend, but now people felt that they wanted to be part of it. The ongoing engagement with Lab over the previous 2 years was key to this shift’ [B]. In the most recent annual report published by the council State of the City (2019), CPU research has been acknowledged for its current and projected wider impact on the new Manchester Digital Strategy and attraction of additional IoT funding [C].

Embedding IoT data in smart city mobility planning towards more sustainable journey choices: Located in Manchester, CityVerve was one of three Innovate UK funded Smart City demonstrators. In a R&D space dominated by technology providers, the Lab adopted a people-centric approach to prototyping the ‘Green Travel Planning’ web application to demonstrate the potential use of close to real-time ICT data to enable sustainable travel choices. Focussing on understanding user behaviours, an analysis of existing applications informed the development of an innovative new travel planning application highlighting the environmental implications of travel choices. The innovative digital interface also allowed the collection of data to inform infrastructure and mobility service planning within the city. The findings were published in seven reports and a short film demonstrating functionality [D]. Key insights were disseminated through a series of incremental round tables with MCC, TfGM and technology consortium partners, before being publicly released for the benefit of local authorities and SME’s working with ICT. MCC’s Principal Resource and Programmes Officer has attested that the project ‘makes people think about what a sustainable journey is, taking into account the human complexity involved, and the data gathered can also be used in a very real way to inform planning decisions’ [B].

Integrating Connected Autonomous Vehicles into TfGM's Future Mobility Strategy: Through collaboration with multiple industry and implementation stakeholders as part of the Synergy project, the Lab used computational modelling to shape understandings of the potential of CAV services to augment or replace other motorised public transport services. This has included contributing to GM’s CAV Policies and Strategy in support of GM’s 2038 Net Zero ambition, with implications for the 6 million daily trips undertaken in the city region. The Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) commissioned the report ‘Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: The Opportunity in Greater Manchester’ [E], into which the Lab had direct input, marking a turning point in future mobility strategic planning by identifying use cases for CAV deployment in Greater Manchester. The report has resulted in the policy document ‘A Principles-Based Strategy for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles in Greater Manchester’ produced by the TfGM policy team, on which again the Lab was directly consulted [F]. The Lab are formally acknowledged in both the report and the policy document and continue to be involved as a core partner with TfGM in co-producing and monitoring objectives for GMs CAV policies. TfGM have acknowledged the Lab for ‘support in shaping TfGM’s CAV Agenda in the last two years through your involvement on the Synergy project [you] have helped in making GM’s 2040 Transport Strategy more innovative and have placed Manchester high in the ranks on future mobility’ [G]. Wider reach has been achieved through the agenda-setting ‘Future Mobility Symposium 2020’ at Manchester Met which brought together 60 future mobility service stakeholders (including the Manchester Airport Group, TfGM (co-organiser), Connected Places Catapult, Law Commission, Atkins, Oxfordshire County Council, Highways England, Innovate UK, RIBA and Jacobs) to co-develop a forward-looking agenda and public report [H].

Guiding the sustainability agenda of Manchester’s largest regeneration project: Led by Hyde and Sengupta, CPU-Ai is a cutting-edge research-led Atelier on the two-year MArch Master of Architecture programme informed directly by the Labs research expertise. CPU-Ai employs design science to develop theoretical approaches and computational tools for the design, management, governance and understanding of future cities. Since 2018, ca.60 students in CPU-Ai have engaged with the planners in The Northern Gateway (NG) Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF), a major (150ha) regeneration and development programme aiming to deliver 15,000 new homes in NE Manchester. The 25-year development is on the scale of a new town incorporating transport, green and wider place based social and community infrastructure. The Northern Gateway Strategy and Co-ordination Lead acknowledges the positive impact of working with CPU-Ai on their ongoing sustainability policy in four key areas: 1) Urban design in the form of ‘insight into [impact of] urban design strategies for the Northern Gateway’; 2) Raised awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through ‘the research which mapped out the UN-SDG’s against our strategic ambitions. We now acknowledge that a lot of our work should engage with these goals’; 3) The use of scientific methods for innovation in design noting ‘The CPU complexity and design science design methods for futures helps us change and refine our thinking about the built environment. We are behind the curve of innovation, and we work with you to inform our approaches’; and 4) Changed strategic policy as demonstrated in ‘The SRF – is now moving to a greater level of detail. We have taken some of your student-led research to inform how that is going to come forward, for example, on the green infrastructure, climate resilience, biodiversity, water retention, etc. We have also been influenced by your design options to develop more detailed strategies and plans around transport and movement related to locations and routing of certain options for transport. These have been incorporated into multiple policies such as Sandhills Metrolink options appraisal by TfGM and MCC, Rochdale Road design options by TfGM and ARUP and MCC and Green Infrastructure issues within the City River Park Vision document with Planet. This will impact on 35,000 people in the regeneration area’ [L].

New forms of technology-driven architectural design practice: The cutting-edge CPU-Ai Atelier curriculum combines design acumen with the development of bespoke computational tools to address complex problems through systems thinking. This combination of design skills and systemic thinking has resulted in a highly innovative teaching agenda ( #architectsthatcode). The desirability of CPU-Ai graduates has resulted in high-demand in R&D roles prioritising the development of new approaches for an evolving profession. These include the UK Building Information Modelling (BIM) leader Bryden Wood, who state ‘your graduates have a direct impact on our ways of working in the office and especially in our specialist CT [Creative Technologies] team by bringing in the latest digital workflows. Your graduates learn to code and expand their design approaches beyond traditional software and form based digital design. They are aware of interdisciplinary approaches and requirements for design based on a broad theoretical familiarity. The capacity to grow the CT team at Bryden Wood was partially due to the existing knowledge and skills of CPU-Lab graduates’ [I] and the largest global architecture practice Gensler who state that the CPU-Lab graduate employed there ‘introduced us to new computational tools for the understanding the performance of the building envelope of a project which has just recently gained planning approval. This is a high-profile project with very ambitious energy targets. These targets have been achievable partially due to the use of these new tools that [the CPU-Lab graduate] brought with him’ [J]. The ongoing change in attitudes, processes and practice is reflected nationally in industry and RIBA as attested to by its President Alan Jones, who states ‘at CPU-Lab you are developing new methods with your students based on functionality and evidence by expanding their education into areas of computer science, data analysis and urban simulation. The CPU design science-based approach is playing an important part in the changing trajectory of the profession’ [K].