Developing a tool for estimating the impacts of growth management decisions
Leveraging Waterloo’s strengths in AI, machine learning, applied math, urban engineering and planning, the FCI has assembled an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral team of municipal, industrial and academic partners to develop a tool that will help municipalities evaluate and communicate the potential impacts of different growth management scenarios. The tool will provide municipalities with insights into how different development choices align with their environmental, social, and economic goals.
The Healthy High Rises Project
“I like seeing people, different cultures, and hearing different music”: Exploring adolescent perspectives of inclusive and healthy high-rise and dense urban environment designs is a study that explores adolescent perceptions of healthy and inclusive designs in high-rise developments and surrounding areas. The study examines how these perceptions relate to planning concepts such as community context (community assets, community demographics), planning processes (participation, social capital), design and program (public space quality, space use and users), and sustainability (community stability, investment in space).
The Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship
This interdisciplinary project, in collaboration with Harvey Mudd College and the Turkstra Chair in Urban Design, brought together nine third-year engineering students from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. Over nine weeks, participants tackled sustainability challenges, including supporting the City of London, Ontario, in achieving its housing pledge of 47,000 units by 2031. Students engaged in sustainable urban design training, fieldwork, and collaborative problem-solving with guidance from academic and municipal experts. The Future Cities Institute is proud to support this ongoing annual fellowship, fostering innovation, social impact, and global collaboration in engineering design.