Five groundbreaking projects at UBC shaping the future of cities
Developing technologies, for
everyone UBC is also a key partner in a multi-disciplinary initiative to find solutions to challenges affecting millions of Canadians and potentially hundreds of millions of people living in India. In partnership with the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto, the program is called the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability — or IC-IMPACTS. Among its 38 active projects are two initiatives to create environmentally friendly concrete. One involves cement made from industrial waste with a low carbon footprint, while the other incorporates recycled tire fibres to make a more resilient and crack-resistant compound for buildings, roads, dams and bridges.
Better living in the Cascadia
Corridor Big data is a buzzword these days with big implications for cities of the future. And UBC is looking to harvest vast amounts of information — from traffic to utility consumption — to help cities better plan their future. In a joint initiative with University of Washington, boosted by $1 million in funding from Microsoft, the university launched the Cascadia Urban Analytics Cooperative. The initiative aims to assist cities in analyzing data gathered from a variety of sources to address the challenges such as homelessness and air pollution. The cooperative has four main components. Among them is a summer program for students to work on data-intensive projects with benefits for communities. Bringing ecodesign to suburbia Incorporating sustainable design is often considered cutting edge, but a new online course aims to bring the latest concepts in ecodesign to the people — and the suburbs in which they live. Led by UBC ‘distinguished practice’ professor of planning Larry Beasley, the course is free, offered on the online education platform edX. A collaborative initiative with professor emeritus Jonathan Barnett of the University of Pennsylvania, the new program is called Ecodesign for Cities and Suburbs and aims to help people around the world learn about better urban design and planning concepts addressing the challenges of a changing climate and rapidly expanding populations. Key to the course is its consumer-centric focus, recognizing that sustainable, healthy neighbourhoods must also be aesthetically appealing, affordable and meet the needs of residents.
Making cities smarter UBC is helping build more intelligent communities close to home, as well. In New Westminster, B.C, for example, students from UBC Masters of Engineering Leadership (MEL) program in urban systems are helping the municipality use advanced analytics to reduce traffic congestion and promote clean energy transportation. Indeed, the small municipality has big-city problems — like gridlock during rush hour, when commuters return from other parts of Greater Vancouver, contributing to rising air pollution. By leveraging detailed traffic and transport data, thanks to the city’s Intelligent City strategy, researchers are using New Westminster — named one of the world’s Smart21 Communities of 2017 — as a “living lab”, where they can identify problems and try out possible solutions on an unprecedented scale, says Dr. Martino Tran, co-director for MEL in urban systems.
Street level sustainability A team of researchers from UBC’s Geography/Atmospheric Science Program is helping expand our knowledge on how to measure and assess our city’s carbon footprint. Among their many projects is an initiative to design, build and test carbon dioxide sensors for vehicles so that emissions can be measured more precisely at street level. The monitors developed by the UBC’s Micrometerology Lab can be attached to vehicles, and even bikes, tracking their movements and emissions on Vancouver streets. Until now, such measurements have mostly been taken at fixed locations, which only give part of the picture of a city’s CO2 emissions. As cities move toward encouraging electric vehicle and other low-emission technologies for transportation, the new sensors can help governments develop more effective transportation plans and regulations.