At the start of the 2019 academic year, the Urban Flows Observatory were invited to get involved on a project with the School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. Always keen to find ways to share our work with a new and eager audience, we readily accepted.
The effects of the recent and still ongoing pandemic have been manifested in several ways across the UK. Deserted streets on a Monday morning does not only signify the sudden stop of most (if not all) activities, but is also a measure of how quickly and effectively local and national authorities managed to spread the message. Road traffic is a fine proxy for economic activity and, while for a direct look onto economic activities we may need to wait for data on monetary transactions, for the traffic, we can enjoy real time coverage. The Urban Flows Observatory, in collaboration with Sheffield City Council, tracks the traffic evolution in the city of Sheffield through a network of 600+ sensors.
With the built environment contributing around 40% of the UK’ total carbon footprint, the construction industry has an undeniable key role to play in the UK’s journey towards sustainability. We need data on building projects (both newly built and retrofit) so that we can evaluate the circular economic potential of existing buildings and benchmark their circularity potential.
Air pollution in large cities has become one of the hottest topics in environmental issues. According to a recent report, it caused 6.4 million deaths worldwide in 2015. Furthermore, poor air quality causes premature mortality, hospital admissions, allergic reactions, lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma. It is reported that air pollution has strong links with dementia, causing 850,000 people [...]
The Blue Dot Festival is the biggest science and music [...]
The likelihood of extreme climate change The IPCC uses four [...]
For the past year, a very talented group of students [...]
This year Urban Flows are collaborating with Sheffield Technology Parks [...]
Back in 2014 I spent a couple of terms lecturing [...]
A secondary school in Sheffield has set up its own [...]