Oct 28 2009
ETH Zurich is stepping up its commitment in Asia: from mid-2010, a novel platform for urban development is to be established in Singapore in the form of the "Future Cities Laboratory".
In conjunction with the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, architects and scientists from ETH Zurich are looking to explore and shape the phenomenon of the city with a holistic approach.
Globally, the pressure on cities and agglomerations is mounting and the climate change is demanding sustainable urban planning more than ever. Consequently, ETH Zurich is founding the "Future Cities Laboratory" together with the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. Representatives of the City State of Singapore and the universities involved showcased their joint initiative at a press conference in Singapore today.
The city as a dynamic system
Together with its academic partners, ETH Zurich is looking to establish the Future Cities Laboratory from mid-2010 as an interdisciplinary research platform centered around three key research areas: firstly, sustainable building technology, new materials and architecture; secondly, the city as an urban system with challenges like public and private transport, sustainable water supply or social developments; and thirdly, spatial planning dimensions, such as the issue of reconciling urban and rural environments. The new approach of the Future Cities Laboratory consists in combining these focal points intelligently and exploring how they interact. The architects, planners and scientists perceive and conceive the city as a dynamic system where people interact and resources like energy, water, space, capital, material or information are in a constant state of flux.
This holistic view of cities is possible because researchers from completely different fields and with various cultural and climatic experiences will work at the "Future Cities Laboratory". The scientists involved in the project hail from ETH Zurich's own "Network City and Landscape" (NSL) and the Departments of Architecture, Environmental Sciences, Mechanical and Process Engineering, Management, Technology and Economics, as well as Civil, Environmental, and Geomatic Engineering.
Singapore as unique pilot plant
"For ETH Zurich, the Future Cities Laboratory is an excellent opportunity to test models and simulations that have been developed for spatial planning or building technology, for instance, in design research studios for tropical Asian cities", explains Gerhard Schmitt, the ETH Zurich Delegate for International Institutional Affairs. The scientists are hoping this unique starting point will yield results that can be transferred to other cities. ETH Zurich has developed profound knowledge and new research methods in the field of sustainable urban development. In addition, it has found academic partners in the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University that will bring their own strengths to the joint research cooperation.
International partners for global issues
The architects and scientists at the "Future Cities Laboratory" are looking to work closely with the urban planning authorities in Singapore. What is more, an intensive collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which is due to move into the CREATE campus currently under construction together with ETH Zurich in 2011, is also in the pipeline. The platform is open to other domestic and foreign partners, especially ETH Lausanne and the Swiss Aquatic Research Institute (Eawag). "We are delighted that we are able to realize a major project with the new research platform in Singapore - the results of which is likely to shape urban planning in Switzerland, Singapore and all over the world", says Ralph Eichler. "Furthermore, it will strengthen the international dimension of our study programmes in architecture".
Source: http://www.ethz.ch/index_EN