LSE Cities Shaping Urban Leaders and Cities of the Future T Q’ A P F H F E The London School of Economics “Congratulations to LSE for winning the prestigious Queen’s “LSE Cities is a unique and ground-breaking research centre, and Political Science (LSE) Anniversary Prize for its innovative work on cities of the future. working with mayors and city leaders around the world to create has been awarded the Queen’s I’m proud that London is home to pioneering universities like fairer, greener, liveable and more beautiful cities. I have huge Anniversary Prizes for Higher and LSE, which contribute so much to the development of our great admiration for the influential work that Ricky Burdett and his Further Education 2016-18 for the city and cities around the world, showcasing London at its open colleagues have undertaken. This prize is richly merited.” work of LSE Cities, on ‘Training, and outward looking best.” Richard Rogers, architect, urbanist and founder of Rogers Stirk research and policy formulation Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London Harbour + Partners for cities of the future and a new generation of urban leaders around LSE leads the way in the study of modern cities. It is unrivalled “I have had the pleasure of working with LSE Cities over many the world.’ in the breadth and depth of its expertise, and its students and years, both when I was working at City Hall and now at Arup. The Royal Anniversary Trust researchers play a leading part in the management of cities Their convening power, truly interdisciplinary thinking, and promotes world class excellence worldwide. This is a worthy testament to its work.” pragmatic approach is genuinely unparalleled in the urban in UK universities and colleges Lord Andrew Adonis, Chairman, National Infrastructure transport space.” through oversight and Commission Isabel Dedring, Global Transport Leader, Arup and former management of The Queen’s Deputy Mayor for Transport, London Anniversary Prizes. The Prizes are “The city may be our greatest invention, but even the greatest a biennial award scheme within inventions need the constant innovation, sustained scholarship “Cities and infrastructure are critical to our social and the UK honours system. As such and strong leadership that LSE offers cities in our increasingly environmental well-being. LSE Cities has broken new ground in they are the UK’s most prestigious urban age. LSE’s strategies and commitments to addressing interdisciplinary work which has influenced new generations of form of national recognition open to a UK academic or vocational climate change, sustainable mobility and resilient urban design architects, planners and urban decision-makers across the world. institution and highlight excellence show that, by understanding the global challenges we face, we The work has made a significant difference to all of us committed in a number of key academic areas stand the best chance of overcoming them.” to cities.” which have had impact on society Janette Sadik-Khan, Transportation Principal, Bloomberg Norman Foster, architect, and founder of Foster + Partners and the wider community. Associates and former New York City Transportation Commissioner “A fitting recognition for a programme that combines research The honour is distinctive in being excellence with leadership training. LSE Cities is perfectly placed granted to the whole institution, “I am delighted that LSE and LSE Cities has been awarded the to address the challenges posed by rapid world urbanisation.” irrespective of the area of work Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its contributions to teaching, Professor Ash Amin, Head of Geography, University of being recognised, in this case research and better urban policy. LSE Cities continues to push Cambridge and Foreign Secretary, British Academy research, outreach, and education carried out by LSE Cities a research the boundaries of urban research and has been a beacon of centre at the school. multidisciplinary work on the world’s toughest urban problems.” “LSE has been instrumental in shaping the interdisciplinary Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of approach required by the current generation of urban leaders royalanniversarytrust.org.uk Economics, Harvard University tasked with taking forward urban transformation in India.” LSECities.net Jagan Shah, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs, India INTRODUCTION examines the effects of major shifts in patterns of urbanisation on social cohesion, economic well-being and quality of life, and how the underlying physical attributes of cities – design, density, build- Why cities matter ing typology, infrastructure, and transport – influence the lives of In the short time span of 25 years, cities have grown larger and the people who live and work in them. Its teaching is dedicated more quickly than ever before. Fishing villages have been trans- to training a new generation of urban leaders to guide, design formed into megacities and deserts have become urban play- and implement sustainable change. Its outreach is designed to grounds. The speed and scale of this transformation is unprece- impact on decision-makers and non-specialist audiences who dented. One billion people will be added globally in the next 15 engage in cities in the developed and developing world. years; with more than 50 new residents each hour in developing world cities like Kinshasa, Delhi and Dhaka. At the same time, The diverse initiatives undertaken by LSE Cities over the last 17 many cities of the developed world are adapting to economic years – and during the next years of planned activity – leverage restructuring, ageing populations and new dynamics of migration. the unique platform of the London School of Economics and Political Science in order to shape the public debate on cities Cities occupy less than 1% of global land, but they generate over internationally and influence the way in which decisions are two-thirds of the world’s economic output. They are the stage- made to have impact ‘on the ground’. sets for social opportunity and social inequality. While some cities of the Global North and Global South are pioneering sustainable Cities at the heart of a global university and imaginative solutions, many are not. The need for rigorous, interdisciplinary analysis of the impact of cities on people and The London School of Economics is a world-leading centre their environments and the need to train the next generation of of excellence in the social sciences, with a strong track record urban leaders has never been so urgent. in educating policymakers around the world and a reputation for integrating social research insights into practical and implementable solutions. Its staff and students are drawn from A unique interdisciplinary environment over 170 countries with a worldwide network of over 160,000 Since its activities began in 1999, LSE Cities has devoted itself active alumni, many of whom are located in the world’s hotspots to addressing these challenges. Its core agenda is to focus on the of urbanisation. The LSE recognises that cities occupy a unique social, economic and cultural questions raised by the intense space engaging the core disciplines of sociology, economics, spatial dynamics of the 21st century city. It started as and remains geography, political science, law, health and environmental one of the only major academic centres in the world that focuses studies as well as planning, urban design and architecture. It is on the city as its main unit of analysis, combining a variety of fully committed to supporting LSE Cities in promoting a new disciplines to understand the links between the physical world generation of evidence-based research and teaching in the and the social world. Its attention to the specificity of the ‘city’ urban field. As such LSE Cities mirrors the institution’s founding rather than the generic ‘urban’ recognises the need for objective, principles to understand 19th century urban society and its comparative data-collection and analysis that foregrounds the problems, by applying an interdisciplinary lens to the multi- modern metropolis as a complex, integrated system. layered complexities of the 21st century global city. LSE Cities has a clear mission to carry out interdisciplinary LSE Cities was granted the status of a fully-fledged ‘research research, teaching and outreach with the ambition of transform- centre’ in 2010 – on a par with academic departments and other ing ways in which cities are designed, planned and managed in major interdisciplinary research clusters – in recognition of its more sustainable and equitable ways. Its empirical research transformation over the first ten years of its life. From a relatively small graduate teaching programme focused on a new social Recognising the need to shorten the distance between research scientific problem, it employs over 20 researchers engaged in and practice, LSE Cities has invested heavily in training and a range of externally-funded projects, with a growing suite of executive programmes for urban professionals and policymakers. graduate, executive and training programmes. LSE Cities runs Importantly, these initiatives have been supported by public an established MSc in City Design and Social Science and offers bodies including the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to a new Executive MSc in Cities and short-courses aimed at mid- fund urban leaders from Latin America; and the Indian national career professionals. government, to help educate the next generation of city officials in the country that represents the single biggest contributor to In 2013, the School’s Research Committee commended LSE global urban population growth (India’s cities are expected to Cities’ work as a significant addition to the London School of nearly double from 340 million people in 2008 to 590 million by Economics’ reputation and research profile and independent Urban Age Shaping Cities Conference, 2030). Similar programmes have been arranged with city officials La Biennale di Venezia reviewer Professor Nigel Thrift, then Vice-Chancellor of the from Dubai (UAE), Santiago (Chile) and Barcelona (Spain).