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| Urban Age (LSE) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Urban Age |
| Host | London School of Economics |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Directors | Richard Rogers Trust; Lord Rogers |
| Location | London |
| Focus | Urban studies; city planning; architecture |
Urban Age (LSE) is a research programme based at the London School of Economics that examines patterns of urbanisation across global cities through comparative studies, conferences, and publications. It leverages collaborations with institutions such as the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft, the Brookings Institution, and the World Bank to analyze spatial, social, and infrastructural transformations in metropolitan regions. The programme brings together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers from institutions including the University of Oxford, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University College London, Columbia University, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Urban Age focuses on metropolitan-scale research involving case studies of megacities and global city-regions such as New York City, London, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Lagos, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Mexico City, and Tokyo. It integrates perspectives from architectures and planners associated with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Foster + Partners, OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture), and scholars tied to Geoffrey Baker and Jane Jacobs-influenced urban scholarship. The programme emphasizes empirical datasets, mapping, and comparative governance analysis linking to policy debates involving United Nations, UN-Habitat, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, European Union, and development finance institutions like the International Monetary Fund.
Launched in 2005 following initiatives associated with Lord Rogers of Riverside and supported by groups including the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft and the Deutsche Bank, the programme staged multi-city research cycles during the 2000s and 2010s. Early phases documented transitions in post-industrial metropolises such as Detroit, Manchester, Barcelona, and Rotterdam while comparing them to rapidly expanding capitals like Beijing, Delhi, Karachi, and Dhaka. The initiative convened teams from think tanks including the Urban Institute, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Centre for Policy Studies, and universities such as Yale University and Princeton University to build longitudinal datasets and atlases. Over time Urban Age fostered ties with municipal actors from Greater London Authority, City of New York, Municipality of São Paulo, and City of Johannesburg.
The programme prioritises cross-disciplinary methods drawing on urban morphology, transport analysis, housing studies, and governance mapping used by scholars at University of Cambridge, University of Toronto, National University of Singapore, and Tsinghua University. Research themes include urban density and sprawl in contexts like Los Angeles and Seoul, infrastructure and provisioning in places such as Cairo and Manila, and social inclusion in cities like Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. Methods combine spatial analysis with Geographic Information Systems utilised by teams from Esri, network analysis inspired by Stanford University research, household surveys modelled after projects at the Brookings Institution, and qualitative interviews influenced by ethnographies from University of Chicago and Goldsmiths, University of London.
Major outputs include edited volumes, atlases, and policy reports featuring contributions from researchers affiliated with Oxford University Press, Routledge, and the Journal of Urban Affairs. Findings highlight variations in density, transport modal share, and housing affordability across regions exemplified by studies of Singapore, Hong Kong, Munich, Zurich, and Melbourne. Publications argue that governance structures—from metropolitan authorities like the Greater London Authority to federated systems in Brazil—shape outcomes in service provision and land use, echoing debates present in literature from Peter Hall, Saskia Sassen, David Harvey, Edward Glaeser, and Manuel Castells.
Urban Age convenes international conferences and public forums in host cities including London, New York City, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Istanbul, Shanghai, and Mexico City. Events bring together mayors, ministers, chief planners, and leaders from organisations such as the World Health Organization, United Nations Development Programme, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and advocacy groups like Habitat for Humanity. Conferences have featured panels with urbanists connected to Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas, Jan Gehl, and academics from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
The programme collaborates with municipal governments, multilateral agencies, philanthropic foundations like the Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation, and private sector firms including global consultancies such as Arup Group and McKinsey & Company. Its atlases and datasets have informed policy dialogues at forums like the World Urban Forum, negotiations involving UN-Habitat and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and advisory processes connected to national planning bodies in Brazil, India, China, and South Africa.
Critiques of the initiative echo tensions raised by scholars such as David Harvey, Mike Davis, and Ananya Roy about technocratic planning approaches and partnerships with corporate sponsors including banks and consultancies. Commentators from activist networks like Slum Dwellers International and community organisations in cities such as Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro have challenged representations of informal settlements and the policy recommendations promoted at high-profile conferences. Debates have centred on questions posed by critics in venues associated with Critical Urban Studies, Progressive Planning, and debates within journals like Antipode and International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.