Ulysses Sengupta (Manchester School of Architecture & Softgrid Limited) collaborated with Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay (University of Oslo) to present a paper comparing the extrapolative methods for future urban possibilities based in Complex Adaptive Systems & Science Fiction. The stand-out keynotes were from John E. Fernandez (Urban Metabolism & Sustainability Transitions), Fulong Wu (Planning for Growth: Urban & Regional Planning in China). For full details please see http://www.ufsc2050.ics.ul.pt/
A new planning tool in development will let governments & people put forward, vote on and see – via virtual simulation – how new ideas, interventions and planning proposals will affect their city.
The new research in SOftgrid Limited (and Manchester School of Architecture) focuses on complex urban situations produced by the rapid rate of urbanization today and the resulting extreme changes to the physical fabric of many cities. This looks more closely at Planning & Complexity research (a new framework for cities and governance beyond the ‘smart cities’ definition). The Complex Systems framework encompasses current theories referring to Smart Cities, Big Data, Computational Modelling and Digital Development and Participation. The Research is about how to design and manage our cities in the future through collaborative platforms based around real time geo-spatial systems. Our research points to open online platforms and gamification and moves beyond the simple idea of sensors updating a data models towards optimisation.
