OUR VISION
It is the 21st century and cities around the globe are faced with a number of challenges. Within these diverse challenges, however, present some ubiquitous trends.
Rapidly increasing population densities are especially hard-hit in cities, exacerbating problems of mobility, energy and climate change. As infrastructures in cities age, their maintenance costs soar, aggrieving the already uneven distribution of resources so characteristic of urbanized areas.
However, in the often inconsistent urban political realities, solutions are often found through unsustainable means. Hence, the infrastructure, the backbone of the urban fabric, fails to provide a solid manageable foundation for future growing cities.
Our vision is to provide a forum through which to discuss these solutions where we are dedicated to a holistic exploration of urban development issues.
OUR MISSION
We are an organisation of global thinkers and practitioners seeking to create solid partnerships towards sustainable development, as addressed in the UN's New Urban Agenda (NUA).
We generate, voice and disseminate knowledge to the communities around us, local to global, ensuring that the best practices are highlighted to students and researchers alike.
Our team is involved in numerous projects, from urban transit to public spaces to fostering creativity in cities, which in many ways address the aims of the NUA for more engaged and robust communities.
The aim of the Urbanists is to frankly engage with the all-important and often contentious debates surrounding these issues, finding more inclusive and sustainable ways forward.
NEW URBAN AGENDA (NUA)
In October 2016, delegates of the UN's Habitat III gathered in Quito, Ecuador, to adopt a New Urban Agenda. It seeks to address new ways of planning, designing, financing, developing, managing and governing cities. Indeed, while cities occupy only 2 percent of the world's total land, they account for over 60 percent of global consumption and 70 percent of total output, waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
We leverage the wide array of academic and practical resources across Oxford and beyond to support, develop, and promote interdisciplinary, reflexive approaches to the study and practice of urbanization.
In building a participatory, people-centered mode, helping individuals realize their capacities to their fullest potential, Oxford Urbanists are focused on five thematic initiatives: community, housing, energy, transport and digital.
For more information about the New Urban Agenda, click here.
