UNIVERCITIES

About the Project

The aim of UniverCities is to create vibrant, multi-disciplinary groupings of built environment practitioners, developers, universities and other learning providers, research centres, local authorities, regional agencies and local organisations. Through their shared interest in a particular town or city, UniverCities will harness combined energy and expertise to produce new insights into place. Our UniverCities programme is already bringing research academics into contact with business interests, city councils and communities, and vice versa, enhancing the capacity of all those involved with minimal time investment.

Following the successful launch of The Founder Congress for UniverCities in 2008, and after agreeing our UniverCities Charter, The Academy of Urbanism and the Sheffield Urban Think Tank secured support for two pilot projects to scope the potential of the UniverCities concept through funding from SEEDA (South East England Developnment Agency) and Integreat Yorkshire respectively.

During 2009, the SEEDA funded South East pilot took off with Brighton & Hove, Medway and Portsmouth as our pilot UniverCities. This initial year of funding will be drawing to a close early 2010, with the Academy looking to take the concept forward from this project to inspire shared learning from other places through the publication of the UniverCities Starter Pack, created for the Academy by the Urban Renaissance Institute at Greenwich University.

A copy of the Starter Pack - currently in beta form - is available to download from the top of this webpage