Commitment reaffirmed by built environment organizations to address worldwide unrest
In a significant move, the UK Built Environment Advisory Group (UKBEAG) has renewed its commitment to collaborating on sustainable urbanisation. The group, consisting of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStrutE), and Landscape Institute (LI), aims to play an essential role in achieving sustainable urbanisation as the world's population is predicted to live primarily in cities by 2050.
The concern over the lack of critical built environment capacity and expertise is becoming increasingly apparent as more people move to towns and cities globally. In Uganda, for instance, there were just five architects and 50 engineers per every one million people in 2018, compared to more than 600 of each for every one million in the UK. Urbanisation in Uganda is happening at a rate of 6%, which is more than six times the rate of the UK.
Will Arnold, Head of Climate Action at IStrutE, emphasises the need for huge collaboration, systems thinking, and ambition to create urban centres that are beneficial for all living things. He also highlights the need for mutual benefit between built environment professionals across the world.
The renewed pledge by RIBA demonstrates great ambition to lead by example. The UKBEAG aims to make their joint expertise accessible to governments, humanitarian agencies, and development partners involved in sustainable urbanisation. They plan to achieve this by advocating for best practices such as setting explicit sector-specific targets for carbon reduction, fostering public-private partnerships, and integrating advanced technologies like vertical farming into urban planning.
One of the key best practices highlighted includes setting clear, building-specific carbon reduction roadmaps linked to national pathways to avoid fragmented climate efforts in construction and real estate sectors. Another example is leveraging public-private partnerships (PPPs) to finance large-scale sustainable infrastructure projects, as seen in Bristol’s City Leap initiative aiming to mobilise £1 billion investment.
However, challenges remain. These include bridging social services with rapid urban growth, ensuring equitable distribution of resources, and translating research into practical policy. The collaboration between UKBEAG partners will benefit all parties involved, reflecting lessons from cities worldwide, such as Lisbon’s youth engagement in climate policy.
The opportunities to head towards a regenerative built environment are huge, according to Will Arnold. The UKBEAG has committed to collaborate for at least another five years to address built environment issues in cities. RIBA has pledged to share knowledge, technical expertise, and influence to support sustainable urbanisation.
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