For the first time in human history, more people are living in cities than in the countryside. According to the UN, 6.5 billion people or two thirds of the global population will live in urban areas in 2050.
This worldwide urbanization is creating huge challenges for cities: The air must be breathable, the water in the taps must be drinkable, the traffic needs to flow, homes need to be heated or cooled, wastewater needs treating and removing, the streets must be lit, and extreme rainfall needs to be handled.
Cities need new and smarter solutions to handle the increasing pressure on resources, and under the heading Smart City a number of cities worldwide are already trying to identify solutions to these challenges.
At DTU, we are contributing to sustainable urban development. Green energy and energy-efficient solutions are two of our fortes, and our researchers are, for example, working closely together with authorities and companies as part of the EnergyLab Nordhavn project, where we are experimenting with combining heat and power, energy-efficient buildings, and electrical transport in a single intelligent system.