Activating Innovation in the Built Environment
Reflections on how we can address the wicked problems facing cities through innovation and inclusion.
On Monday 6th November 2023, I joined Future of London for the City Makers' Forum event on 'Activating Innovation in the Built Environment'. These events aim to bring together a diverse group of current and future place leaders to discuss and develop a holistic understanding of urban challenges.
In this article, I share some key takeaways from the event.
We often refer to the challenges today's cities and places are facing as 'wicked problems' - complex, interconnected challenges which can sometimes seem impossible to solve, making the job of urban planners, designers, policy-makers et al. quite difficult. From climate change and social/environmental inequalities, to funding constraints, rising costs of living and public health... the list goes on. On top of that, digitalisation and emerging technologies are set to completely transform the way we live, work and play in cities.
We're now at a point where we need to radically re-think how we plan, design and build cities and places - and we can't afford to get it wrong. For me, this means adopting more innovative and inclusive approaches to urban development and placemaking.
At the Future of London event, we heard from a brilliant line-up of speakers about how we can harness data and technology, together with open, cross-disciplinary and collaborative ecosystems, to design and deliver people-centred solutions to the wicked problems cities and places are facing.
Here are my top three takeaways:
1️⃣ Sometimes innovation happens on the frontline, not in boardrooms.
We don’t always need to come up with a new flashy idea or product. Sometimes the answer (or parts of it) might already exist, it might be simpler, or it lies with the communities we’re working to serve. We just need to be willing to challenge the accepted and expand our thinking to find the right solution(s). A key part of this is directly engaging and co-designing solutions with the people who deal with the realities of the challenges we're addressing.
2️⃣ Diversity of thought is key.
Bringing together diverse thinkers can only enrich the innovation process. It's important to engage and collaborate with people from different cultural/ethnic backgrounds, of different ages, and with varied lived experiences, or professional/educational experiences.
Sometimes, the problems we're tackling may have been poorly defined, resulting in no improvements or unintended outcomes. Embracing diversity of thought will encourage us to keep asking the right questions and challenging any biases.
3️⃣ We need to break down silos.
I know, I know… we hear/say this all the time, but it really is important. We need to continue fostering better collaboration between the public and private sectors, third sectors, and innovators. This could entail:
creating a portfolio of solutions that address multiple problems, rather than focusing on an individual solution;
driving systems change for genuine and sustained impact; and
creating open innovation ecosystems where people can fail safely and share learnings to unlock further innovation.
As one of the speakers rightly pointed out, innovation is messy. It's not a straightforward, linear process; it's an inherently iterative process that never really stops. In the context of cities, it becomes increasingly difficult as the challenges we face as a society continue to evolve. However, the more we collaborate, ask the difficult questions, and challenge the norms, the closer we can get to building a more inclusive and sustainable world.