THE CITY OF THE FUTURE

“City of the Future” is an institutional initiative by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) aimed to fostering education, research, development and innovation in the field of City Sciences. Its goal is to leverage the enormous potential offered by UPM’s research teams to holistically address, through a multidisciplinary approach, the challenges of the City of the Future.

The initiative was born with the aim of dealing with one of the greatest challenges identified in modern societies: the harmonious and sustainable development of cities within the processes of urbanization and urban regeneration. In order to satisfy both the needs of the citizen and those of society together, there is a need to develop complex systems tackled from multidisciplinary focuses in which different areas of knowledge are required.

For a university such as UPM this multidisciplinary focus is essential in order to become the national and international reference public entity on aspects related to R&D&I relative to the analysis of the future of cities.

The “City of the future” has been approved by UPM as a research and teaching priority within the university. It is supported on a multidisciplinary team from different university groups and research centres that are working with a number of key private companies and governments in the Smart City domain.

This initiative is supported by educational program as well. The teaching and formation part is based on an international Master Degree offered by the UPM: Master in City Sciences. UPM is aware of the possibility of contributing to the development of new knowledge which may be later implemented and commercialized in the form of new products and services in the context of the city.

In the described generic framework, this institutional initiative of the UPM on “The City of the Future” has the following grand objectives:

  • To increase the appeal of the UPM as a reference entity around specific R&D activities, innovation and education about the City of the Future in both the national and international context.
  • To create around the campus of the UPM an innovative ecosystem in which new ideas and concepts are developed with the incorporation public and private entities taking advantage of the facilities of the campus for the setting up of technological pilots or demonstrators.
  • Provide an institutional framework to increase the cooperation between research groups, R&D centres and schools and faculties, thus reducing the currently existing fragmentation in the UPM in a context of open innovation oriented by the user.
  • Increase the obtaining of economic resources national and international calls or by means of direct agreements with other entities offering specific services in some of the strategic axes of the proposed initiative.

Senior participants:

  • Javier Uceda, General Chairman
  • Andrés Monzón, Mobility and Transport Network Area Coordinator
  • José María de Lapuerta, Urban Developing and Planning Area Coordinator
  • Óscar García, Energy and Sustainability Area Coordinator
  • Manuel Álvarez-Campana, Smart City Services Area Coordinator

 

initiative website: http://cityofthefuture-upm.com/

De Lapuerta y Campo | Calle Vicente Gaceo, 19, 28029 Madrid, Spain | Phone: +34 917 339 265 | contacto@delapuerta.com