Center for Sustainable Cities - Research
Articles
The following are selected articles published by the community of experts and professionals from the Center for Sustainable Cities, IE school of Architecture and Design and IE University at large. As the Center aims to tackle and address the key challenges around sustainable cites; the below articles address three areas of action and intertwined environments: the natural, the social, the built and the digital.
IE University designs the world’s first indicator to optimize the impact of logistics on cities
Designed by IE School of Architecture and Design’s Center for Sustainable Cities in collaboration with Prologis, the tool analyzes urban management challenges and proposes sustainable solutions.
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The Impact of Logistics in Cities
By Manuel Pérez Romero.
Early in the morning, before dawn, a group of vans is waiting in a warehouse in the outskirts of Madrid. They are waiting to load their trunks with the packages for delivery that arrived at the warehouse the night before. Meanwhile, inside somebody is distributing the according to delivery areas for the drivers. Once the vans are filled with the goods to deliver, the race starts.
A study about the Spanish consumers’ attitude and knowledge to face climate change
A study commissioned by ENGIE Spain and carried out by GAD3, in collaboration with the Center for Sustainable Cities , shows that more than 90% of Spaniards say they are willing to change their habits in order to combat climate change. IE University's Center has prepared a White Paper interpreting this data.
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The Replacement of Asphalt
by Manuel Pérez Romero
The City Prosperity Index, CPI, evaluates urban prosperity according to five parameters.
A Tale of Two Urban Systems
by Cem Kayatekin
Finance and equity within urban infrastructures—is this an irreparable tension or a constructive partnership? How do we refine our urban systems and models? How do we mobilize data in meaningful ways?
Las ciudades post-Covid-19 que se rediseñan
by Cristina Mateo
¿Qué medidas estamos viendo a este respecto en distintas ciudades, ahora que estamos planteando el regreso a una nueva normalidad? ¿Cómo varían las propuestas alrededor del planeta?
The Most Outstanding Sustainable Constructions of the Last Decade
by Martha Thorne
From a vertical forest rising in a busy metropolis to a power plant that doubles as a ski slope, Dean Martha Thorne selects some of the most influential buildings.
New Spaces for New Life Habits
with Martha Thorne and Paul Priestman
Our habits have evolved, generating new needs in relation to the environments where we live our lives.
Are the Tech Giants Taking Over As Our City Leaders?
by Cristina Mateo
Our cities are increasingly being used as laboratories for countless innovations.
IE Center for Sustainable Cities assists RENAZCA in a unique place-making project for a key area of Madrid
by IE School of Architecture & Design
RENAZCA, formed by companies that own buildings in the superblock area of Madrid known as AZCA, has selected a design team to lead the transformation and reactivation of this central, but deteriorated, part of the city.
A New Urban Configuration After the Current Health Crisis
by Carlo Ratti and Martha Thorne
In this conversation, Carlo Ratti , Director of the MIT Senseable City Lab, and Dean Martha Thorne, discuss how this new configuration is being generated as a result of the current health crisis.
Towards More Efficient Buildings
by Fernando de Roda
There is a major source of hidden value in construction, related to energy and therefore not visible, which is being wasted: green equity.
Monthly Editorial Pick
Maybe it's Time... by Camilo Restrepo
by Camilo Restrepo
Maybe this as a unique opportunity to place architecture as a discipline that cares for others, irrespective of the idea of growth.
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‘Living Architecture’ Key to Post-Pandemic Cities
by Ingrid Woodrow
Lessons can be learned from the Covid-19 pandemic to design people-friendly buildings and cities that embrace the natural environment and make us more resilient to future pandemics.
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This is how coronavirus could reshape our cities forever
by Sophie Davies
With city dwellers forced to stay home during lockdowns, some architects are rethinking urban infrastructure to promote a more local lifestyle and help people adapt to a post-pandemic world.
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The Post-Pandemic Urban Future Is Already Here
by Ian Klaus
The coronavirus crisis stands to dramatically reshape cities around the world. But the biggest revolutions in urban space may have begun before the pandemic.
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8 Ways COVID-19 Will Change Architecture
by Nathan Bahadursingh
The way we design, build and inhabit cities may never be the same.
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Crisis – a great opportunity for a sweeping review of cities
“No other generation of architects has had such an opportunity as the current generation.” Coming from architect Sérgio Magalhães, who chairs the UIA2021RIO Executive Committee, this statement is not exactly upbeat.
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Ideas for Designing – Cities of the Future
by Martha Thorne
When Covid-19 pandemic took over the world like wild-fire, it made us realize that the world is even more connected then we could have imagined and that we are less prepared for an uncertain future than perhaps we thought we were.
Read moreBY 2050, THE WORLD WILL HAVE 9.7 BILLION INHABITANTS OF WHOM 70% WILL LIVE IN URBAN AREAS, HUMANS NEED TO BE AT THE HEART OF EVERY STRATEGY, CITIES NEED TO ADAPT TO THE NEEDS OF HUMANS
A new city after the crisis
By Cristina Mateo
The COVID-19 pandemic has suspended the social interaction that forms the essence of our cities. Now more than ever, we are looking towards the future of urban planning.
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Raj Rewal and the importance of sustainability
By Raj Rewal
During the Hay Festival 2019 celebrated in our Segovia Campus, visiting speaker Raj Rewal spoke with Architectural Record about how using natural materials and sustainable design, has given his work a timeless appeal.
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Lessons learned from times of crisis
By Manuel Pérez Romero
As urban models have evolved, the guiding objective has been to reduce the risk of disasters—such as fires, floods, earthquakes and epidemics—taking hold. These prevention strategies have been shaping our cities over the course of history.
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Those third spaces that people need
by Cristina Mateo
The cities of the planet are diverse and distinct, occupy a scarce 3% of the earth’s surface, but consume between 60% and 80% of energy, in addition to emitting 75% of carbon emissions.
Read moreDecember 08, 2019
The price we pay for inefficient buildings
by Fernando de Roda
CO₂ concentration measured by the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii, at 3 400 m altitude and in one of the cleanest, driest and most intact environments on the planet, reached a record level of 415.64 ppm on May 15.
Read moreDecember 11, 2019
We need to harness the green equity in our buildings
by Fernando de Roda
This urgently needed measure can help us combat climate change, writes Fernando de Roda
Read MoreDecember 23, 2019
Architecture Has Limits to Achieve Urban Equity. What Should We Do?
by Cem Kayatekin
Accessibility and mobility. When perceived through the architectural lens, these terms often evoke a range capped by two extremes.
Read moreSeptember 26, 2019
CITIES OF THE FUTURE: CHALLENGES OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
by Martha Thorne
Growth pressure is having an impact on the functioning of cities, on their governance, and on quality of life.
Read moreJune 2, 2017
MORE HUMAN CITIES
by Carmen Panadero
With cities growing at a relentless and ever-increasing pace, urban development models are more important than ever.
Read moreJune 28, 2019
How to Achieve a Resilient City? First, Let It Shape Itself
by Cem Kayatekin
The city is both the object and the jungle. Yet, when we speak of urban resilience, we often forget about the jungle, and focus on the object.
Read moreJuly 9, 2019
Towards "Happy Airports"
by Cristina Mateo
Airport terminals have long been viewed as indistinguishable and anonymous places of transit. But now, at the height of globalization, airport terminals are fighting to differentiate themselves and become veritable meeting points that offer an attractive value proposition to passengers.
Read moreApril 17, 2019
There is so much to learn from India
by Martha Thorne
The Challenge for countries like India and Japan, with ancient living traditions, has been the confrontation with modernization and technology.
Read moreMarch 15, 2019
