Future Cities Category
Technology by necessity
Posted on November 28, 2014 Leave a Comment
Notes for today’s talk at the NLA’s conference on “How do we build a smarter London” The London context: – more people (growing population) – more data (sensors everywhere) – more sophisticated computing. Strategic problem: how to handle it all. Space Syntax’s experience: address the problem via “the questions of reality”. The commercial application of Space Syntax […]
The spatial architecture of the SMART city
Posted on October 30, 2014 1 Comment
Download this presentation. Good morning. It is a pleasure and an honour to have been invited to give this presentation today at the Nikkei Smart City Week conference. The subject of my talk is architecture – not only the architecture of buildings but, also, the architecture of public space: the space that we move through […]
A new science for cities
Posted on October 24, 2014 Leave a Comment
A talk given to the Leaders and Chief Executives of the Key Cities, Brighton, 24th October 2014. Download this presentation. We hear a lot about smart cities as the solution to the needs of urban places. But although technology allows us to live remotely and speak to each other from deep forests and mountaintops, humanity as a species […]
Bill Hillier’s Smart London
Posted on October 9, 2014 Leave a Comment
Notes of Bill Hilliers opening talk about the NLA Smarter London exhibition, 8th October 2014. Congratulations to the NLA and CASA for the exhibition. It’s evidence that London is the original smart city – nowhere such a collection of top class practices, imaginative authorities and academic departments developing new ways of doing things, and new […]
Moving cities: from transport to transaction
Posted on September 30, 2014 Leave a Comment
“If the scope of urban policy makers can be widened from a fixation on transport to an appreciation of value-rich urban outcomes, built on the benefits of effective human transaction, then future cities are more likely to be places that meet the expectations of future citizens.” Cities are ultimately vessels for the concentrated production and […]
Forwards to the past! Technology’s greatest triumph
Posted on September 23, 2014 Leave a Comment
Rick There are so many reasons why what you have set out below is interesting. But I think I can take a different position to the one that you are developing. My approach will be that, far from taking the human mind, behaviours, and cultural norms beyond where they have ever been before, the true […]
Integrated Urbanism – Massachusetts & the United Kingdom Partnership Forum
Posted on September 17, 2014 Leave a Comment
Introduction Good afternoon Governor Patrick, visiting delegates and colleagues from the UK. As a recent resident of Massachusetts myself, it is a special pleasure to speak alongside the Governor on the subject of data and cities: and to share some remarks on the common interest in this room: the science of cities. A few words […]
Building a Smart City modelling team
Posted on July 4, 2014 1 Comment
. Cities planning their future are increasingly turning to the production of Integrated Urban Models. These are tools that bring together various datasets on different asoects of urban performance, from the behaviour of people to the flows of energy, water and other utilities. The aim is to better predict the future of cities by better understanding […]
From cities of movement to places of transaction
Posted on June 4, 2014 1 Comment
Summary of Tim Stonor’s talk at the World Cities Summit, Singapore, 3rd June 2014 From cities of movement to places of transaction – a new mobility focus for city leaders, planners and everyday users Key responsibilities for cities 1. Imagining the future of cities and mobility. 2. Designing integrated, people-focused planning to sustain cities. 3. […]
Digital urbanism – a sketch of a structure
Posted on May 8, 2014 Leave a Comment
Digital Urbanism has two key components: 1. Computing That organisations and individuals are involved in the creation, collection, visualisation and analysis of data, leading to the creation, through computing, of modelling tools and predictive analytics. This kind of activity is now central to the operations of public and private organisations. It is no longer peripheral. […]
Centres and Cities
Posted on April 24, 2014 Leave a Comment
I’m sure you’re right about the link between street morphology and attractiveness to business. Centres seem to do one of three things through time. They either: 1. consolidate and grow (London, Paris) 2. move (Jeddah) 3. implode (Sunderland). Oh, and some places: 4. never have a functioning centre (Skelmersdale, UK New Towns) because they were […]
Move, interact, transact – the human dimension of Smart Cities
Posted on March 18, 2014 Leave a Comment
http://youtu.be/U63hMTIQW8I Speaking at the invitation of the organisers of the British Business Summit, Istanbul, Turkey.
UK Spatial Infrastructure Model
Posted on February 13, 2014 Leave a Comment
This is a model of the spatial infrastructure of Great Britain (and will soon include Northern Ireland to become a model of the United Kingdom). It allows us to zoom in and out on cities, towns and villages as well as the connections between them. It also lets us understand the hierarchy of connections at […]
Space Syntax: the push of intent, the pull of need and the resistance of the “pre-digital”
Posted on November 27, 2013 Leave a Comment
I was asked an interesting question yesterday about the barriers to growth and acceptance of Space Syntax and Integrated Urban Models. I believe there are three important components to the answer. First, the growth of Space Syntax Limited‘s business was robust for 19 years, following its startup as a UCL spinoff company in 1989 – until […]
A definition of “Smart” – screens, signs and shop windows
Posted on November 18, 2013 1 Comment
“Smart” is too often, too narrowly defined in terms of the benefits of digital technology. Of course, digital technology can help cities to be smarter. But being smart means much more than that. My own preference is to define “smart” by focusing on three factors: 1. people 2. the information that people receive 3. the […]
Urban data: some risks – unnecessary complexity and shallow artistry
Posted on September 18, 2013 Leave a Comment
As a user of urban data I know the benefits that can be gained from visualising information on city form and city performance. But… and this is the but… these benefits only flow if the visualisation is followed up with analysis of that data – analysis that seeks out patterns, correlations and associations in order to make […]
Integrated Urban Modelling – Space Syntax’s approach
Posted on September 2, 2013 4 Comments
I’ve written before about the benefits of using science-based models in the planning and design process. I’ve raised concerns about the frequent lack of objective analysis in urban and building projects, and the risks this creates in decision-taking. Basing important decisions on gut instinct and experience, then willing on success with little more than hype, […]
Teaching urban design – a sketch for a new approach
Posted on June 18, 2013 2 Comments
Sketch… Space Syntax is keen to play a role in initiatives that embed the Space Syntax approach in everyday urban practice. The watchword is “dissemination”. Our aim is to create a professional landscape that uses Space Syntax as an everyday approach to the planning, designing and general governance of places. Here are some of my thoughts […]
HS2 – urban connectivity is key to maximising economic impact
Posted on January 28, 2013 3 Comments
This morning’s announcement by the UK government about the preferred route of the proposed ‘High Speed 2’ rail line north of Birmingham raises, quite rightly, the issue of economic impact and its geographic spread. Will the line draw commerce north, or make it even easier to pull southwards towards London’s greater critical mass? One way […]
The power of the network 