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The urban system framework
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal,
16
(2),
126-138
(2023)
Abstract
Cities and their surrounding regions are exceptionally complex systems where human needs and human genius come together to invent the future of civilisation. In the current situation of the worsening climate crisis, cities are also an exceptionally important creative resource in helping us learn to live in an entirely new way — to live ‘net zero’. If we take net zero as our goal, what role can the city play in reaching it and how can we manage its vast complexity toward that end? In this paper the authors present a model of the city-as-a-system, detailing five of its key elements that must be proactively managed in an integrated manner to enable us to think through and manage this process of fundamental change.
Keywords: net zero; cities; climate change; urban; growth; governance; economics; design; master planning
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Langdon Morris leads the innovation consulting practice at InnovationLabs supporting companies, governments and humanitarian organisations worldwide. He has written many books on all facets of innovation management and business strategy which are widely used in practice and as university textbooks. He also leads Net Zero Urban Twin effort at The Modern Data Company.
Farah Naz CEng FCIBSE, WELL and LEED AP, has over 15 years’ experience in the construction sector. She has worked in the UK and other European countries, and in the US. For the past four years she has been based in the UAE with BuroHappold Engineering, where she has been steering the sustainability practice covering the entire AIME region. In her innovating role she mainly targets resource-efficient building-level and city-level urban planning and the implementation of best practices regarding health, liveability, wellbeing, biomimetics and city resilience agendas that will build the foundation of future Middle Eastern smart cities and communities. As a technical professional, Farah also evaluates buildings’ energy performance within projects in the UK and other European countries. Farah was a prime mover in creating the strategy for the first zero-energy building in the UK, which subsequently won the 2015 RIBA Sustainable Buildings Award. In the Middle East her name has become synonymous with implementable sustainability — among others, linked to projects including Museum of the Future, the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, the Bee’ah headquarters in Sharjah, Masdar master planning and the sustainability pavilion for EXPO 2020 in Dubai. Farah holds a BSc in architectural engineering from the North American Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) and a Master’s in sustainable environmental design from the Architectural Association (AA), School of Architecture in London. She is WELL AP and LEED AP certified and registered with the UK Engineering Council as a Chartered Engineer. She is a board member of the Emirates Green Building Council, CIBSE UAE chapter, member of the Tau Alpha Pi Honor Society and of CIBSE UK Resilient Cities Group, and associate member of the American Institute of Architects.
