Creating a Smart and Sustainable Vision for Reading to 2050

Professor Tim Dixon, School of the Built Environment – University of Reading, speaks exclusively to Built Environment Networking about Smart Cities and Sustainable Development ahead of the Smart Cities Development Conference on the 6th February 2019…

 

We live in an urban world. Today a majority of the world’s population lives in cities, and this is set to grow to nearly 70% by 2050. In the UK we are already heavily urbanised with about 80% of the population living in cities. In England much of the future growth will come from existing smaller and medium sized urban areas like Reading in the south east of the country. So rapid urbanisation, changing demographics and climate change will all impact on the way that people live, work and play in cities. This means we need to plan for the future to try and overcome the current disconnection between short term planning horizons and longer term environmental change to 2050.

 

City Visions

Many cities around the world have therefore developed visions (or shared expectations) about the future. In the UK, for example, a number of cities developed visions within the UK Government Office of Science (GoS) Future of Cities Programme (2013-2016), including Newcastle and Milton Keynes. In Canada, Vancouver aims to be the world’s greenest city by 2020, with tough targets set for greenhouse gas emissions and a desire to create a city which is resilient to climate change (see also the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities Project). In Denmark, Copenhagen’s vision is based on a target to be net zero carbon by 2025, underpinned by a highly successful walking/cycling policy agenda and a strong focus on renewable energy.

These cities are planning to be both ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. This means using innovative technology (such as Internet of Things, smart metering, environmental sensors, and smart traffic management systems) to help create a smart future for people living in cities which is also economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. Creating a smart and sustainable city isn’t easy however. It requires a clear strategic vision, a strong link with climate change strategy, active planning, inclusive participation with key stakeholders, and a sense of political reality. In essence a vision can be thought of a shared perspective of a desirable future, and developing a vision and a strategy is essential if we are to realise smart and sustainable ambitions. It is telling that a recent research project we undertook for RICS found that only 47% of UK cities in the survey had an established definition for a smart city. Moreover, high level planning at city level is not common: only 22% of respondents had a smart city action plan and only 22% had a smart city framework.

 

So What About Reading?

So, thinking about a vision became very important for us when we started talking to Barton Wilmore and Reading UK (the economic development CIC for Reading) back in 2013. Reading’s success, founded on its location close to London and a network of urban areas in South East England, is based on its physical and virtual connectivity nationally and internationally, but this also presents natural resource and pollution challenges, as it seeks to maintain and enhance its position in an increasingly globalised and competitive market place. With an overall population of 318,000 (2011 figure), Reading, as a vibrant economic hub, is set to grow to 362,000 by 2037. Reading is a net importer of labour, which also creates pressures on housing, transport and longer commuting distances. A rich heritage and historic built environment also makes it difficult to re-engineer or retrofit an urban area like Reading, and adapt and mitigate for the growing effects of climate change. Reading also suffers from poor air quality, and, if accompanied by an increasing frequency of extreme weather events, this could affect people’s health and safety, the continuity of business, and the resilience of energy and water supplies.

 

Developing The Vision

So to help us think more strategically about these important issues in Reading, the University of Reading has worked with Barton Willmore and Reading UK CIC to create a smart and sustainable vision for Reading, looking ahead to 2050. From 2013-2017 we ran a series of workshops and outreach events to develop the vision. We engaged with over 21,000 members of the local community through social media and other local events (including ‘Step into Reading’ in town centre); some 350 local business and local government/NGO representatives; and hosted 15 events.

The overall Reading 2050 vision statement that emerged from the series of workshops and participatory engagement was that:

“By 2050, we believe a strong vision will help us to establish Reading as an internationally recognised and economically successful city region. A city where low carbon living is the norm, and the built environment, technology and innovation have combined to create a dynamic, smart and sustainable city with a high quality of life and equal opportunities for all”.

By 2050 Reading will therefore be:

• A cosmopolitan city celebrating and supporting its cultural diversity.
• Retrofitted and developed to create a smart, sustainable, high-quality built environment.
• A leading destination offering a vibrant city of arts, culture, architecture and public realm.
• Supported by a comprehensive sustainable transport system that accommodates walking and cycling, as well as rapid transport and zero emission vehicles.
• A city of equal opportunities for all and reducing poverty and deprivation.
• A dynamic, resilient and confident city attracting new businesses and entrepreneurs operating sector-wide.
• A leader in smart and green technology and sustainable living solutions.
• A city which has rediscovered and embraced its heritage and landscape.
• Generating a large proportion of its own energy from renewables.

Within this vision, three interrelated urban futures were developed as follows which we’ll be discussing in more detail at the Smart Cities Development Conference:

• ‘Green Tech City: A city that builds upon its established technology focus. It celebrates and encourages diversity through business incubation units, ‘Ideas Factories’ and a city centre University campus through which to exhibit and test cutting edge ideas and approaches, no matter what discipline they are emerging from.
• ‘City of Diversity and Culture’: A city that builds on the success of the iconic Reading Festival to deliver arts and culture to people of all ages and ethnicities. Reading would facilitate community interaction and opportunity. The city would integrate, enhance and celebrate our heritage, bringing it to life through modern interpretations and uses of space as well as preservation.
• ‘City of Rivers and Parks’: A city that recognises how water has shaped much of Reading would celebrate its waterways, opening them up to offer recreational spaces such as animated parks, a lido, food production opportunities and city centre waterside living.

 

Lessons Learned & Future Plans

The Reading 2050 vision research was led by University of Reading (School of the Built Environment) in partnership with Barton Willmore (industry) and Reading UK (the economic development company for Reading). It is therefore characterised as ‘academic and business led’. The visioning research, however, also brought together a diverse set of individuals from university/academia (other schools and institutes in the University of Reading); business/industry; government (primarily local); and civil society (NGOs) groups to input into the visioning process. Essentially this can be seen as the quadruple helix model of innovation (below).  Importantly, the vision has become strongly linked with the development of the new Local Plan (which looks ahead to 2036), and is directly referenced within it as an important longer-term framework for Reading. A similar synergy is highlighted in the Corporate Plan where the council describes its endorsement of the vision and its commitment to integrating the 2050 ambitions into its priorities.

In the case of the university there was an altruistic desire to help develop the vision, but also a longer-term ambition that in working with the other project partners the development of the vision could lead to further grant applications and funding for research in the field of smart and sustainable cities. Indeed, this has already led to some success. For example, Thames Valley Berkshire European Regional Development funding (£1.7m) has been secured by industry, Reading Borough Council and the University of Reading to develop smart city projects in Reading and the wider Thames Valley Region (including Bracknell, Wokingham and Newbury), which link with the Reading 2050 vision, and Reading Borough Council was the only urban area in south east England to win Heritage Lottery funding for the Great Place project (using Reading 2050 as a project framework). These successes have led to Reading being highlighted as a ‘challenger’ smart city in the Huawei Smart Cities Index 2017. As the vision develops we hope to establish further funded research projects and a Reading 2050 Futures Commission.

 

The University of Reading will be joining the Smart Cities Development Conference on the 6th January along with numerous others from across the built environment industry including: Siemens, The Crown Estate, Oxford City Council, Future Cities Catapult, First Base, Bristol is Open, Smart London, Landsec, District Technologies, Uber, BT, Transport Systems Catapult, Renewable Energy Association, University of Manchester, Newcastle University & Newcastle Helix, Oxfordshire County Council, Scottish Canals, Electricity North West, Open University, Transport for London (TfL), Queensberry, Argent and more. 

 

To register for tickets click here.