2015 – Future Cities UK/US Knowledge Exchange Mission

Future Cities Mission

At the end of January 2014, a group of 14 delegates from different organisations involved in the future of cities and urban living in the UK visited the US to share experiences, and to learn from the way US cities are approaching the challenges of the future.

Workshops and visits involved meetings with 26 national and city government agencies and departments, 26 universities and research organisations, and more than 35 businesses. These ranged from large consulting firms and infrastructure companies to developers and digital start-ups.
Each region visited – the East Coast, the Mid West and the West Coast – has a different set of challenges and opportunities, and a different history. Everywhere there was a real enthusiasm to share what is happening in US cities and to learn about activities
in the UK.

The key ideas that emerged for successful cities were:

• Open your city data
• Work with your educational establishments
• Cities must be innovators
• Think long-term
• Take a systems view
• Build trust
• Recognise complexity
• If you innovate you must implement

Co-author

Published 2015, 22 pages