We live in a time of unprecedented growth in urban populations (as many as 10,000 people an hour worldwide). Such expansion creates significant challenges in stewarding urban network and infrastructure systems including transportation, food, water, and power to ensure that they are resilient and sustainable.
We have a remarkable opportunity to realize innovative and groundbreaking approaches to advancements in data science, sensing, communication, and infrastructure design to connect people, communities, and the urban infrastructure.
We envision Seattle and the UW to be leaders in defining the next generation of the Smart City in the 21st century, by leveraging technological innovation and human capacity to address holistically the social, economical, and environmental factors that constitute a healthy city. We are building a research coalition to address the complex challenges in urban networks, from infrastructure and transportation to managing climate change, from data science to hazard resilience and disaster response. We imagine Seattle and the UW as critical players in the future of Smart/Wise City research, addressing these critical challenges from multiple perspectives including but not limited to the technology, engineering, and science as well as the humanities, social sciences, and public health.
Current Activities
Urban @UW
The Urban @UW initiative aims to extend our understanding of cities—from people, buildings, infrastructure, and energy to economics, policy, culture, art, and nature—beyond individual topics to dynamically interdependent systems, so that we can holistically design and steward vibrant and welcoming cities in which future generations will thrive.
The MetroLab Network
The University of Washington and city of Seattle have joined a new national network of university-city partnerships that will work on “smart city” solutions as part of a new White House Smart Cities Initiative
The Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans)
With dual themes of safety and sustainability, PacTrans serves as an engine and showcase for transportation research, education, and workforce development in the Pacific Northwest.
NSF Visioning Workshop on Smart and Connected Communities Research and Education at UW
An ongoing discussion of the future of smart and connected communities.
UW Electrical Engineering article »
2+2 MOU
A memorandum of understanding between the Washington State and the Chinese province of Sichuan as well as the University of Washington and Tsinghua University, to catalyze the science, technology and investment needed to grow innovations that will underpin adaptable and resilient urbanization.