Author: Miguel Valdez

  • What is the role of urban robotics in an unpredictable world?

    What is the role of urban robotics in an unpredictable world?

    Rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are making urban robotics an everyday reality. In this blog post we summarise the story of Starship robots in Milton Keynes (MK) to assess their contribution to the complementary mechanisms and institutions that supported the most vulnerable in MK during a challenging point of the Covid19 pandemic. We then […]

  • A curatorial perspective on urban transformation

    A curatorial perspective on urban transformation

    During our research within the Future Urban Environments group we study the processes through which various actors, including planners, architects, policymakers, technology developers, community groups and many others engage in the collective creation and re-creation of cities. Cities are constantly being remade as their fabric becomes receptive to globally circulating ideas, technologies and narratives – for […]

  • Where do you test an innovation? – optimising under constraints

    Where do you test an innovation? – optimising under constraints

    In this blog entry we will discuss the selection of sites for deploying urban innovation (for example, for demonstrators, living-labs or technical trials), sharing some thoughts that arose in response to developments in a real-life project we are supporting. Our work in the project reminded us that site selection is not trivial- context matters for […]

  • Site selection criteria for urban innovation experiments – towards  a guidance note for practitioners

    Site selection criteria for urban innovation experiments – towards a guidance note for practitioners

    Selecting a site for the demonstration of innovative technologies in urban settings is not usually straightforward, even after a specific city has been chosen. A city is not a place but a constellation of places and each place has its own socio-technical dynamics, networks and interactions. Outcomes will be different when the same  urban experiment […]

  • Exploring the design in place of on-street wireless charging for EVs

    Exploring the design in place of on-street wireless charging for EVs

    We are taking part in an 18-month Innovate UK research project exploring the design of, and user interactions with, on-street wireless charging for electric vehicles (EVs). This £3m project, entitled “On-Street Residential Induction Charging”, or OSRIC for short, is about using induction charging plates in roadside parking bays that draw power from lampposts and are available […]

  • Cities of permanent experiments and atmospheres of reception

    Cities of permanent experiments and atmospheres of reception

    We have been thinking quite a bit about the effect that urban experiments may have on cities, particularly when sustainability experiments become business as usual. This was inspired by our recently work on an Innovate UK project, On Street Residential Induction Charging (or OSRIC for short). The project involves the deployment of wireless chargers for […]