About Us
What are our Global Research Priorities?
Our Global Research Priorities (GRPs) unite researchers to tackle pressing global issues.
They create challenge-focused communities, bringing together and supporting researchers from many different disciplines. From energy to health to sustainability, our ten GRPs address some of the planet's biggest challenges.
We have close partnerships with third parties, such as policy makers, charities and industry. We provide seed funding for projects, and facilitate networking opportunities and other research-related events through the year.
What are our areas of research?
Our research is split into five key themes:
Economic sustainability
How can financial solutions help us achieve sustainability and wellbeing? This theme explores the ways that the analysis of urban economic activity can support the development of inclusive cities.
Environmental sustainability
How can we restructure our built environment and infrastructure to combat climate change? How can we live in a more sustainable way? How can we improve the situation of the urban poor?
Social and cultural sustainability
How important are placemaking, liveability and holistic approaches to the development of cities? How does the human side of the city provide the education and employment opportunities to drive the urban economy?
Each of our three sustainability themes are underpinned by two cross-cutting research areas:
Risk and resilience
This explores how we plan for, detect and respond to threats. For example, natural disasters, disease outbreak, terrorist threats or cyber-attack.
Urban data and knowledge
How can we learn from resources found in our urban environment using data collected from mobile devices and sensors? What can they teach us?
Why sustainable cities?
For the first time in history more than 50% of the world’s population lives in cities. This is expected to rise to 70% by 2050.
It is crucial that globally we are able to meet these increasing demands, in a way that ensures they can continue to thrive in the future.
The University of Warwick supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our Sustainable Cities GRP supports research addressing the targets of SDG 11 - to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Who is involved?
We are a network of over 100 researchers. We have a wide range of expertise including, economics, modern languages and life sciences. Looking for a contact in a particular research area? Contact our administrator for more information.