About Us
Credit: Dimitrios Vlachopoulos
Background
The percentage of the world’s population living in urban areas is steadily rising. Data published by the United Nations in 2008 indicate that by 2015, over three-quarters of the population living in developed countries, and close to a half of the population living in developing countries, will be located within urban areas. In both cases, about 10% of the urban population will be living in “mega-cities” of 10 million people or more.
Global urbanization is creating an array of contemporary, and interconnected, physical, environmental and societal challenges related to the planning and design of transportation systems, water and sewer systems, power and telecommunications networks, and buildings of all sorts. The complexity and enormity of today’s urbanization challenges require a new approach to urban planning, engineering and design, that combines, and extends, current research and practice in the fields of architecture and engineering.
The goal of this IGERT is to integrate architectural and engineering PhD education in a new interdisciplinary program that aims to fundamentally transform design and planning approaches to contemporary urban expansion. IGERT Trainees will make use of emerging science and technology research at the interface of architecture and engineering to develop new paradigms that enable urban areas to adapt to changing requirements, absorb disturbance and effectively reorganize and recover, and reduce their impact on the natural environment.
IGERT participants include students and faculty from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, School of International and Public Affairs, School of Public Health and the Earth Institute at Columbia University.