The University of Illinois is launching a new center that will envision a smarter and more livable future city, and create the knowledge and technologies to enable today’s cities to move towards that vision. Over half of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas, a number predicted to grow to 60 percent by 2030. Urban areas face unprecedented and growing challenges that endanger both human and ecosystem health, such as: inner-city food deserts, health problems, and poverty; urban sprawl and inefficient transport leading to chronic pollution problems; increased flooding, droughts, sea level rise, and severe storms from climate change; and a lack of knowledge and technologies to address these complex problems involving “systems of systems.”

Cities are recognizing that the increasing stream of data and information (“Big Data”) (Figure 1) and modeling can support rapid advances on these challenges. They are investing in improved technology infrastructure, but lack the culture of open innovation and leading-edge technology that a university can provide. The objective of UrbInSuRe is to partner university researchers with city planners, policy makers, engineers, and others to address these challenges using a transformative technology platform and collaborative process. Specifically, UrbInSuRe will: (1) foster multi-disciplinary interaction and collaboration on urban challenges using data-driven modeling and systems-based methods; (2) provide shared resources (funds, space, staff, and cyber infrastructure) to incentivize and support collaborative urban research, education, and public engagement. (3) support education and training needed for teams of faculty, staff, and students from multiple disciplines, as well as their urban collaborators, to contribute to these activities. And (4) raise the national and international profile of data-driven urban research, education, and engagement to enhance Illinois’ reputation and secure major external funding. This talk will outline the vision for the center, its status, and plans for the future.