the

SMART,
HEALTHY,
SUSTAINABLE
CITIES
Buro Happold
2
4
WELCOME
6
BACKGROUND
8
GOVERNANCE
AND GROWTH
12
URBAN
DEVELOPMENT AND
INFRASTRUCTURE
16
ENVIRONMENT
AND NATURAL
RESOURCES
CONTENTS
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
8 6
THE LIVING CITY
3
20 16 12
20
SOCIETY
AND COMMUNITY
24
LOOKING FORWARD
26
OUR TEAM
THE FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE FOR MUNICIPALITIES TODAY
IS HOW TO DELIVER IMPROVED PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY
OF LIFE OFTEN WITH FEWER RESOURCES IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING
AND INCREASINGLY COMPLEX EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
THE LIVING CITY
BURO HAPPOLD AND
Welcome to our new e-journal introducing
Buro Happolds experience and our approach in
the arena of urban regeneration and the seamless
integration of Smart technology.
4
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
The current push for Smart Cities is, no
doubt, a quickly evolving aspect of the
built environment which ofers huge
potential to at least mitigate some of
the impacts that our various societies
have on our planet, both now and in
a future that is ever more focused on
urban living. At the same time, we feel
that the term Smart Cities is restrictive
in describing and tackling the major
challenges that need to be addressed
at a city level, and this position is
reinforced by the focus that is given
to technology as the answer to all ills.
But we acknowledge the label that has
been stuck on this feld and, of course,
we recognise that technology will play
a signifcant role going forward, albeit
as only one part of a broader solution.
We believe that as engineers we are
ideally positioned to provide evidence
based advice and design in this feld.
But we also believe that the real
solutions go beyond pure technology
with issues relating to governance,
sustainable business opportunities,
sense of place, resilience and future-
proofng (to name a few) needing equal
weight and consideration. We broadly
group these issues into the following:
Governance and Growth
Governance and Government
Employment and Growth
Business Development
Urban Development
and Infrastructure
Utilities and Infrastructure
Built Environment and Urban Realm
Mobility and Inclusion
Environment and Natural Resources
Environmental Quality Protection
and Stewardship
Agriculture and Food
Waste and Recycling
Society and Community
Education and Training
Health and Wellbeing
Community

WE CANT SOLVE PROBLEMS BY USING THE SAME KIND
OF THINKING WE USED WHEN WE CREATED THEM.
Albert Einstein
5
These groups form the basis of our
integrated approach; an approach that
seeks to defne and deliver solutions
that create the Living City, and one that
we will discuss in these and subsequent
pages.
At Buro Happold, we consider our
purpose is to enable our clients to
achieve a more sustainable future by
creating solutions that enhance their
business and enrich peoples lives,
harnessing the experience and passion
of our people to make places that
deliver more but use less. We support
this approach by undertaking cutting
edge research, either independently or
linked to top tier universities, to ensure
that the need for design against current
policy and delivery of viable solutions
is underpinned by forward thinking
that is able to anticipate and respond
future change.
We believe that this ambition is
essential in facing up to the huge
challenges confronting the planet as
societies develop, urbanisation spreads,
populations grow, climate change
impacts on the environment and the
reserve of natural resources on which
many economies currently depends
reduces at an alarming rate. We believe
that we can and must all play our part in
helping to reshape a healthier, safer and
more sustainable future for mankind.
Living Cities is an arena which requires
all of the many strengths of Buro
Happold to be deployed and engaged
in an integrated and holistic way in
order to deliver thoughtful, efective
and valuable solutions. Technology
is moving fast the last great idea is
rapidly overtaken by any number of
innovative new ideas clamouring for
recognition. To ensure that we stay
ahead of the curve we are developing
a number of thought leadership white
papers in-house and in conjunction
with leading academic institutions
that aim to guide and lead the way
in this exciting new stage of urban
development.
We will be publishing our progress in
this feld periodically through a series
of e-bulletins and I hope that we have
the opportunity of sharing our urban
development experiences and engage
with you positively on this critical but
exciting journey.
Andrew Comer
Director of Environment
& Infrastructure
URBANIZATION
a defining phenomenon of this century
6
BACKGROUND
THE LIVING CITY
Cities play a dominant role
in todays world. Over half of
our population now live in
cities and this is predicted to
exceed 70% by the second
half of this century.
It can be argued that it is now cities, rather
than nations, that compete. As faster and easier
communication and travel shrink the planet,
these nodes of trade and commerce are the
economic powerhouses; competing across
national borders to attract global businesses,
skilled employees and eager consumers. The
bases of this competition are broad access to
opportunity via education and available jobs,
personal safety and security, efective healthcare,
abundant natural resources, efcient transport
systems, an attractive physical environment and
vibrant communities.
Cities strive to diferentiate themselves,
developing individual brands that emphasise
their economic, cultural, physical, even climatic
advantages. In addition to getting the core
services and infrastructure in place and working
efciently, enhancing the physical aspects of
the city helps make it more attractive more
liveable, and this contributes directly to
economic success.
In this competition some cities are falling
behind and face problems that come with
stagnation and population shrinkage, as
residents and businesses move away to fnd
better opportunities and a more attractive
environment elsewhere. Many more cities
however, are growing rapidly too rapidly for the
infrastructure and services and are struggling
to cope. B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
Community
Business Development
Education and Training
Environmental
quality, protection
and stewardship
Governance
and Government
Built Environment and Urban Realm
Utilities and Infrastructure
Waste and Recycling
Agriculture and Food
Health and Wellbeing
Mobility and Inclusion
Employment and Growth
GOVERNANCE
AND GROWTH
SOCIETY
AND COMMUNITY
7
Meeting the basic human needs for clean water,
adequate waste treatment, energy and food
whilst providing a place that is enjoyable to
live and caters for the populations social needs
is stretching city authorities to breaking point
and this infux of people is continuing. The UN
estimates that there will be 40 million new city
dwellers in Asian cities every year, and that by
2030 there will be over 2 billion new urban
dwellers on the planet.
As the earths human population expands
further there is broad agreement that urban
areas should be more sustainable than less
concentrated rural settlements. However, this
is currently not the case. Over 50% of the our
global population live in cities, yet these cities
account for over 75% of the consumption of the
worlds non-renewable resources, and create
around three quarters of its pollution. We have
not captured the benefts of scale and density
that city-living ofers.
Whilst the problems associated with
urbanisation are generally understood from
civic leaders to citizens, appropriate mitigation
is less well defned. Our Living City approach is
straightforward: we need to create successful
cities for the future. It is the balancing of
social, environmental, economic opportunities
resulting from urbanisation through best-in-
class planning, design and construction whilst
integrating technology to underpin all elements
of the urban domain. It is best described by the
model shown to the left.
Community
Business Development
Education and Training
Environmental
quality, protection
and stewardship
Governance
and Government
Built Environment and Urban Realm
Utilities and Infrastructure
Waste and Recycling
Agriculture and Food
Health and Wellbeing
Mobility and Inclusion
Employment and Growth
URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
AND INFRASTRUCTURE
ENVIRONMENT
AND NATURAL
RESOURCES

LIVING CITIES NEED TO RECOGNISE THE INCREASED CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN PEOPLE AND BUILDINGS,
A SENSE OF POSSIBILITY AND OPENNESS AND THE NEED FOR MULTI-FUNCTION GENERATIVE STRUCTURES
THAT ADAPT, LEARN AND RESPOND TO THE ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY AND GOVERNMENT POLICY.
Steve Lewis Living PlanIT
Find out more
8
Over the past decade,
through our work with
mayors, city planners, architects,
developers, technology
providers and utilities providers,
Buro Happold has been
developing its Living City
approach to sustainable urban
development sustainable
in economic, social and
environmental terms.
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
Jeddah 2030 Plan, Jeddah, KSA
Image: Happold Consulting
9
10
Urban development is a long-term
and complex afair. Success depends
upon a sustained commitment by
stakeholders to a clear course of
action. At its best, it is characterised
by unifed leadership from the top,
defning a clear inspirational vision
for the city, combined with a full
appreciation of its present and
historical context. Focused objectives,
strategies and policies are set, which
cross departmental boundaries and are
clearly communicated across engaged
city stakeholder groups.
The evidence that we have been
collecting, based upon our experience
and projects, strongly suggests that
there are a number of key elements,
which need to be integrated for a
city to develop in a truly Smart way
optimising the design and operation
of infrastructure systems, technologies
and buildings in way that meets the
current and future needs of its citizens.
The key elements include:
1 A clear vision and set of well
defined strategies and objectives
covering all elements
of sustainability.
2 A deep knowledge of urban
development, transport and
infrastructure strategies and
regeneration models.
3 A thorough grasp of how
technology can be integrated
across functions and city
departments to create true
synergies and new insight.
4 A true appreciation of current
and emerging best practice in the
use of Smart systems in different
city services, infrastructure, and
buildings, and the benefits they
can deliver.
5 An understanding of the
perspectives and interests of
multiple stakeholder groups
operating at national, regional,
community and individual levels
together with the creation of
an appropriate and acceptable
governance model.
6 Developing business case and
economic appraisals to quantify
and qualify urbanisation impact
with regard to new development.
Find out more
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
Arriyadh Region Project Information System, Riyadh, KSA
Image: Happold Consulting
OUR BROAD RANGE
OF EXPERTS HAVE A FULL
APPRECIATION OF THE
CITY FROM A VARIETY OF
PERSPECTIVES, WHICH
HAS SUPPORTED THE
DEVELOPMENT OF OUR
LIVING CITY APPROACH
Detroit Works Project, Detroit, MI, USA
Image: Google
GOVERNANCE AND GROWTH
Find out more
11
The national, regional, community,
commercial and individual interests
and rights also need to be taken into
account as the fundamental building
blocks of data governance are defned.
Local culture and customs can also
have a big infuence on what will be
acceptable, necessitating a tailored
approach. Buro Happold is working
with a range of partners to explore
and compare the options around the
ownership and use of data; funding
and return of new (IT) infrastructure;
data safety and security and the
measurement of success and value.
We believe that consulting engineers
are now required, as they once were,
to provide strong leadership within the
construction industry and to act as the
lynch-pin connecting unbiased applied
technology and infrastructure with
exemplar city planning and design.
We recommend:
Clear communication and unifying
vision through the whole life cycle
between decision makers.
Integration of Living City principles
with policy and governance
structure.
Clear holistic understanding of
how data is transferred and
captured between technologies
and systems and how it is used
by decision makers and the social
and security implications of this
including appropriate mitigation
responses.
Buro Happolds broad range of experts
has a full appreciation of the city from
a variety of perspectives which has
supported the development of our
Living City approach. This approach
allows us to identify the fundamental
issues and challenges, assets and
opportunities that will hinder or
support the achievement of the citys
vision, and allows us to work with
city leaders on sustainable strategic
plans, establishing long-term goals
and frameworks, and the guiding the
delivery of well-aligned economically
robust projects.
12
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
Our passionate ambition is always to deliver creative and
innovative yet functional and sustainable masterplans that
meet planning requirements, clients objectives and ultimately
the needs of the people that will use the places created. We
strive to create inspirational but deliverable and fexible plans
that allow for new uses and future market opportunities.
Sackler Crossing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Image: Buro Happold / Robert Greshof
13
14
Our teams operate across the complete
project lifecycle, from assessing the
physical opportunities and constraints
of a site and considering the viability
of diferent development options to
working with planners and developers
to design and build the best solution.
Buro Happold has extensive
global experience of sustainable
masterplanning and development,
ranging from regeneration projects
to new districts and even cities. Our
integrated, multi-disciplinary approach
ensures that all civil engineering and
planning aspects are covered, including
ground conditions and food risk,
energy, utilities and waste infrastructure
and strategies, transport and access,
and assessments of the environmental
impact, and how to minimise it.
Amongst our numerous development
projects a good example of our work
in regeneration is illustrated by the
very large number of projects that we
have been engaged with over the past
decade and more in East London and
Tun Razak Exchange in Kuala Lumpur.
London is one of the worlds great cities
but has sufered from multiple layers
of deprivation and social, economic
and environmental stress for the past
century and more. Of particular interest
are those regeneration projects which
extend along the Greenwich Meridian
from Greenwich Peninsula itself the
O2 Arena and Emirates Air Line (Thames
Cable Car), through Tower Hamlets and
Newham Opportunity Area Planning
Framework and Meridian Water
masterplan taking in Stratford City and
the London Olympic Park and Legacy.
Our involvement in this part of London
has been broad and deep as can be
seen in our project portfolio.
Our work has helped the delivery
of a truly remarkable regeneration
programme that has transformed one
of the most deprived areas of the city.
We have had the beneft of working
with the private and public sector
as well as other key stakeholders
over nearly two decades and this has
enabled us to clearly show the benefts
of our understanding of the complex
urban issues and our integrated, future-
proofed approach to planning
and design.
On the other side of the globe, we are
working with our Malaysian client,
helping them to develop and deliver the
initial elements of their Governments
vision to create a modern, sustainable
society. We are engaged as strategic
engineers to help plan and design an
exciting new commercial centre in the
heart of Kuala Lumpur, the exciting new
Tun Razak Exchange. We are providing
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
Tun Razak Exchange, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Image: Machado and Silvetti Associates
Find out more
15
services that cover sustainability and
infrastructure engineering and urban
masterplanning. A key aspiration for
the client is for the development to
be future-proofed and Buro Happold
has explored the integration of a
metropolitan ICT network with an
urban operating system that links basic
development functions to improve its
adaptive resilience.
In a majority of past and current urban
development programmes, IT systems
have been developed to operate in
functional silos, with their own specifc
hardware and software, often by
companies with deep knowledge of
that particular feld. Each Smart system
has its own dedicated control systems
and networks of sensors. If a single
shared control system was available
instead of multiple systems, then
not only could much duplication be
removed with huge cost savings but
a far richer picture could be provided
of what is happening, enabling more
informed decision-making and rapid
deployment of measures to avoid
emerging problem situations. There
are a number of problems associated
with the integration of individual
functionally-focused systems, including
the lack of common interfaces and
operating systems, and the ability
to cope with interpreting the vast
amount of data that could be coming
in every second. However, technology
businesses are alive to the potential and
a number are attempting to develop
integrated City or Urban Operating
Systems that aim to take advantage of
the enhanced intelligent, machine-2-
machine connectivity. It is clear that
open IT architecture with standard
interface protocols and the ability
to plug n play new applications and
hardware would make it much easier
to link systems as well as opening the
market up to new entrants with valuable
fresh thinking and we are supporting
this approach. Indeed, we are pushing
at the boundaries in this feld and we
will shortly be publishing a journal
paper relating to the development of
Urban Operating Systems and their
deployment.
The introduction of ICT technology
to support urban development is
incredibly important and underpins our
Living City approach. We acknowledge
however, that there are very few
working examples of city wide Smart
approaches. Advances in ICT though are
still providing a signifcant contribution
to city efciency particularly in
transportation, including trafc
management, building and campus
management systems and the provision
of utilities.
URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Find out more
View of East London from Up at The O2, Greenwich, UK
Image: Buro Happold
THE INTRODUCTION
OF ICT TECHNOLOGY
TO SUPPORT URBAN
DEVELOPMENT IS
INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT
AND UNDERPINS OUR
LIVING CITY APPROACH
16
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
17
Natural resources are being depleted at an alarming and
increasing rate. Oil has played a big role in determining economic
progress of many countries. The advent of peak oil, which some
predict as imminent, will push fuel costs and other carbon
based products to much higher levels, increasing transport
costs, damaging existing logistics chains and economic models
and preventing developing countries from achieving levels of
prosperity and opportunity comparable to the developed world.
Wadi Hanifah, Riyadh, KSA
Image: ADA
18
At the same time, the exploitation
of those remaining oil stocks will
mean that carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases are pumped into
the atmosphere at unprecedented
levels. The growing acceptance of the
damage to the Earths atmosphere that
these and other emissions are causing
has been underscored by the resulting
impacts upon the worlds climactic
conditions and increasing volatility of
weather patterns causing droughts,
foods, unseasonal temperature
changes and great ranges of wind
speeds. Some authorities are already
stating that an aim to manage global
average temperature rise to less than
two degrees Celsius is already a lost
cause and the consequences are
likely to impact dramatically on global
societies.
It is incumbent on all of us working
in the built environment to stop this
downward spiral of resource depletion
and waste production and then to
fgure out how we can begin to repair
some of the damage wreaked on
our precious environment. A starting
point is to identify approaches to
urban development which reduce
resource inputs and reduce waste
outputs designing buildings and
neighbourhoods that for instance
require less energy and water than
currently the norm and re-use or
recycle by-products of heat and dirty
water rather than allowing them to
escape and add to urban pollution
and waste. Smart technology is now a
key component of a designers toolkit
in their ability to provide efcient
buildings. Our building teams have
been working in this space for some
time integrating cutting edge design
with building management systems.
An example of this is the Palestra
building in London.
Remediation whether it being ground
or water related is also another area
that requires particular focus to
maximise land value and act as a
catalyst for future growth. The Aga
Khan award winning Wadi Hanifah is
an excellent example of this where
remediation of Riyadhs main Wadi
provided the opportunity for food
control and improving its water
quality within the confnes of a newly
constructed water side public realm.
In general the optimisation
of generation processes and
distribution networks can start
SMART TECHNOLOGY
IS NOW A KEY
COMPONENT OF A
DESIGNERS TOOLKIT
IN THEIR ABILITY TO
PROVIDE EFFICIENT
BUILDINGS
Palestra, London, UK
Image: Christian Richters
Find out more
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
19
to improve efciencies of energy
production from primary sources
and reduce transmission losses.
And further improvements will fow
from introduction of renewable
energy sources and recycled water,
introduction of closed-loop systems
and integrated systems engineering,
as well as demand and supply side
matching. An example of realising
these improvements is by taking a
fresh look at the linkage between
mobility and carbon emissions. We
feel that this is a real challenge to
overcome in the future. Our InnoZ
project aims to capture renewable
energy sources into a Smart grid
used to serve vehicles in Berlin. This
research project has only just started
but optimises our environmental
and sustainable approach we refer
to as MEAN LEAN GREEN. This is
designed to establish a cost efective
and logical process to improve the
sustainability of development and
to begin to achieve meaningful
reductions in carbon and water
footprints.
Of course, to be fully efective, this
approach also requires support and
strengthening in key areas. Whether it
is compliance with good development
policy or self-regulation to achieve
corporate governance targets, there
is the need to monitor actual outputs
and encourage ongoing improvements
to facilities in use as well as to
educate and train and help to adjust
behaviours to improve use of facilities.
Importantly, at each point in this type
of integrated approach, there is the
opportunity to introduce technologies
to play key enabling roles in sensing,
monitoring, data storage, control
and management, in analysis, self
learning through machine-2-machine
interfaces, and so on.
ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
InnoZ, Berlin, Germany
Image: Jens Koch
Find out more
20 20
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
21 21
The planet is facing its biggest of several challenges
from urbanisation, a phenomenon which over the
past ffty years has seen an increasing number of the
worlds population move from rural areas into cities.
Orange County Great Park, Irvine, CA, USA
Image: Ken Smith Landscape Architect
22
The High Line, New York, NY, USA
Find out more
The predicted scale of continued
urban drift is startling with already
50% of seven billion human beings
living in cities, that fgure is set to rise
by about a further two to two and a
half billion urban dwellers over the
next 25 years. Set in context, we will
need to build ten cities the size of
London each and every year over that
period of time simply to accommodate
this migratory trend and the increasing
population levels.
The reasons behind this mass
movement are manifold but the
primary driver is undoubtedly
economic opportunity. There are,
however, other factors at play,
including access to better education
and health facilities, greater communal
safety and individual self-expression,
improved accessibility and mobility,
and so on. Whilst these perceived
benefts seek to improve personal
situations, the realities are not always
so helpful and can place great stress
on individuals, communities and the
wider society. In many cities, this is
revealed by the growing gap between
the wealthy and the poor, by the
growth of ghettos and shanty towns,
by marginalisation of individuals
and groups, and the increase in
many urban areas of crime, disease,
lower educational attainment, and
mortality rates.
One aspiration must be to broaden
the base of those people with
access to a lifestyle that provides a
common level of decency; to provide
access to education, training and
jobs, to improve the quality of the
environment and thus health and
well-being, and to live in conditions
of reasonable safety and security.
And we shouldnt forget the rural
communities currently still half the
worlds population is to be found
outside of cities and need support.
Projects such as the High Line in New
York and Orange County Great Park in
Irvine, California highlight our ongoing
contribution to improving both the
urban and rural environment through
high quality public realm.
How do we capture the benefts of
urban living, where scale and density
will make it easier to develop smart,
technology-based progress, and share
with more isolated communities? In
the feld of education, free software
in open-source format and free,
online tutorials is enabling broader
areas of society to access improved
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
23
SOCIETY AND COMMUNITY
Find out more
quality of teaching aids and achieve
higher standards. A focus in some
cities on design to improve mobility
is achieving signifcant and necessary
improvements to lifestyles and thereby
health. The growth in access to data
and improved communications will
also provide the opportunity not
only for citizens to interact with one
and another with more efciency
and to the greater beneft of all but
also to establish greater transparency
between them and those that
manage communities, town or cities
on their behalf. PlanIT Valley is one
such urban development focussed
on bridging the link between hi-tech
and urban living. Buro Happold is a
platinum development partner to the
project providing multi-disciplinary
engineering design advice as well as
business and economic planning.

THE MAJOR URBAN CHALLENGES OF
THE 21ST CENTURY INCLUDE THE RAPID
GROWTH OF MANY CITIES AND THE
DECLINE OF OTHERS... EVIDENCE FROM
AROUND THE WORLD SUGGEST THAT
CONTEMPORARY URBAN PLANNING
HAS LARGELY FAILED TO ADDRESS
THESE CHALLENGES.
Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary-General of the United Nations
PlanIT Valley, Porto, Portugal
Image: Buro Happold
Urbanisation presents something of a dichotomy
the city form represents the most sustainable
model for a large human population to exist on
the planet and yet these very same cities, where
50% of the worlds population lives (and set to rise
dramatically), account for three-quarters of the
global carbon footprint.
With climate change threatening
many cities through rising sea levels,
increasingly volatile weather patterns
and diminishing water resources, the
governments of both developed and
developing countries face the demand
for greater resilience, improved
social conditions, better economic
prospects and healthier and more
environmentally sound city form.
The need therefore to ensure that
the infrastructure and buildings that
create cities are highly sustainable,
energy efcient and low impact in
terms of depletion of resources is
placing a great emphasis on provision
of accurate, accountable and objective
professional advice relating to
commercial viability, engineering and
applied technologies.
We believe that there is a need to
create layers of smartness and that
a future city model should aspire
to; one embracing not just resource
efciency but promotion of good
health, economic stability, a sense of
shared community and with an ability
to adapt to future challenges. In short,
we need a more sophisticated and
universal language.
The projects that we undertake under
the Living City approach are wide and
varied. As we have highlighted, they
range from a complete city solution
covering infrastructure, transport,
governance, business, economic
and land use planning and digital
masterplanning to individual projects
whether building, campus, district or
public realm. A common thread across
all however is an acute understanding
of how professional services are
interrelated and the opportunity of
bringing them together to work more
efciently through the application
of technology. This is typifed in the
work that we undertook for the ADA in
Riyadh with a custom built technology
application to support their desire for
better integration between agencies.
In addition the opportunity to quantify
the revenue resource from the
infrastructure developed for cities is
an important consideration. This starts
to adjust the economics of investment
choices and has the potential to deliver
even greater values to promoters and
investors in infrastructure, opening
up prospects of a major step change
in city performance. A great example
of this is the High Line project in
New York where this one project
has transformed a blighted area of
the city and been the catalyst for
approximately $2bn worth of private
investment, adding thousands of new
residential units, thousands of new
jobs, 1,000 new hotel rooms, and new
restaurants, galleries and shops.
LOOKING FORWARD
THE LIVING CITY
24
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
25

URBANISATION IS HAPPENING AT AN UNPRECEDENTED RATE AND
WILL AFFECT US ALL NO MATTER WHERE WE LIVE. AS A BUSINESS
BURO HAPPOLD IS COMMITTED TO HELPING CITIES DEVELOP THROUGH
SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES.
Andrew Comer
Buro Happold
Some of these future proofed solutions
are exciting and hint of new ways of
approaching urban development. But,
a number of challenges need to be
considered and addressed if genuine
progress is to be made. Some of these
may be summarised as follows:
What types of governance models
are appropriate for Smart Cities
and how do you measure their
success?
Who funds the investment required
to provide the backbone of
infrastructure necessary to enable
Smart Cities to be created and how
does the funder derive acceptable
returns on that investment?
What guarantees are there of
security of the network and safety
in use?
How do we drive out the most
from Smart grids by linking and
developing an integrated systems
type approach?
Who owns the data accumulated
via the Smart grids and networks?
How do systems adapt to the
vagaries of human behaviour and
still deliver the promise of very
high efficiencies?
Through viewing these challenges
as opportunities and through the
collaboration with our academic,
technology and project partners we
hope to provide you with periodic
updates of our progress via our Living
City e-bulletin and through our
published white papers.
We hope that the introduction to our
Living City approach is of interest.
We welcome indeed, encourage
your thoughts on the topics raised
in this document and we are keen to
publish and debate some of these in
future editions of our e-journal (any
contributions can be forwarded via
the email address below). I do look
forward to sharing our experiences and
working with you in the future.
Andrew Comer
Director of Environment & Infrastructure
living.city@burohappold.com
26
B
u
r
o

H
a
p
p
o
l
d

T
h
e

L
i
v
i
n
g

C
i
t
y
Andrew Comer BSc (Hons) CEng FICE FIHT
Director Environment and Infrastructure
Andrew is a member the UK Government Innovation and Growth Taskforce
for Infrastructure and leads Buro Happolds Urban Development sector.
Padraic Kelly BA BAI MSc FICE FIStructE FRSA
Managing Director Happold Consulting
Padraic is Managing Director of Happold Consulting and has played leading
roles in large scale planning and infrastructure, transport and environment
projects. He lectures on planning at Harvard University and has co-founded
The Working Group on Sustainable Cities there.
Greg Otto BSCE BArch MEng
Director Buildings
Greg leads the Buildings team in our LA ofce and has been focused on
collaborative working between the architect and engineer and the potential
for innovation. His current research is directed toward computer modelling
and analysis, and manufacturing methods that bring the architect, engineer
and fabricator into a more collaborative and innovative environment.
Robert Moyser MBA MEng CEng MICE
Project Director Environment and Infrastructure
Robert leads the city wide masterplanning workstream within Buro Happold.
A key advocate of integrating technology to support urban regeneration he
has led a number of Living City projects on behalf of Buro Happold.
OUR TEAM
THE LIVING CITY
27
Andy Keelin BEng MIMechE CEng MCIBSE Low Carbon Consultant
Director Buildings
Andy leads the buildings services team in London. His work covers all
sectors and is a leading voice in the practice with regard to the design and
implementation of building management systems (BMS).
Paul Rogers BSc (Hons) CEng MIStructE
Managing Director Buildings
Paul leads the practice in Central Europe and he understands the value of
applying a breadth of knowledge and innovation to a challenge in order to
fnd its most ideal solution. He is currently leading the InnoZ eMobility project
in Berlin.
Dr Jim Coleman MA MSc PhD
Head of Economics - Happold Consulting
Jim is a highly experienced economist: specialising in local and regional
economic development, urban regeneration, labour market analysis,
business & sector competitiveness, inward investment, knowledge transfer &
innovation, poverty alleviation and urban governance.
Paul Gof Dip (MS) CTS MIET MBCS
Head of ICT Environment and Infrastructure
Paul leads our ICT team within Buro Happold. He specialises in voice and
data networks for outside plant and the integration of technology with
infrastructure to facilitate Smart City developments.
Colin McKinnon BA MPhil
Innovation Director
Colin leads our innovation and R+D department and co-ordinates our links
and research papers with academic institutions such as Harvard.
Contact:
Andrew Comer
Director of Environment & Infrastructure

Tel: +44 (0)20 7927 9700
Email: andrew.comer@burohappold.com
Buildings Environment and Infrastructure Consulting
www.burohappold.com
Abu Dhabi
Bath
Beijing
Berlin
Birmingham
Boston
Cairo
Chicago
Copenhagen
Dubai
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Hong Kong
Jeddah
Kuwait
Leeds
London
Los Angeles
Manchester
Milan
Moscow
Mumbai
Munich
New York
Riyadh
San Francisco
Warsaw
Front cover image
The High Line, New York, NY, USA