Science and the Future of Cities: Report from the UCL-Nature Sustainability Expert Panel

Urban policy and urban science are at a critical juncture. Many policymakers and scientists gathered for a once-in-twenty-years opportunity of the Habitat III summit that launched the UN’s New Urban in Quito in October 2016 reiterated how this momentous occasion was flawed by poor science-policy interfaces. Urban research remains “disparate, marginalized and ill-prepared to interact effectively with global policy” whilst at the city level evidence-based policymaking is “dysfunctional in many parts of the world”. Nature Sustainability, the new interdisciplinary journal of Nature Research, the City Leadership Lab at University College London (along with the University of Melbourne, Yale University and the University of Cape Town) have established a ground-breaking international Expert Panel on the urban science-policy interface for global sustainability. Gathering 30 internationally-recognized scholars on urban research, and seeking to understand the role of science in the future of cities and urban politics, the panel is investigating challenges, opportunities and practical policy pathways to facilitate a more effective, accessible and sustainable science-policy interface in and for cities. Engaging with a set of panel Experts, this event will present the initial report from the panel, focus on gathering lessons learned on science and the future of cities, with a specific view at how to redress these science-policy interaction limits in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.