LSE Cities is a research centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science.[1]
The purpose of the centre is to increase knowledge and understanding of how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focusing on how the physical form and design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment;[2] and educate and train new generations of researchers and executives through its postgraduate[3] and executive programmes.[4] The 13-year old Urban Age project[5] is the centre's major outreach component. This international investigation of how the physical and social are interconnected in cities has held conferences in 13 cities across four continents, including Delhi,[6] Rio de Janeiro, London, Hong Kong, Istanbul, São Paulo, Mumbai, Mexico City, Johannesburg, Berlin, Shanghai and New York City. In 2010 the conference, which investigated the economic health of cities post-recession,[7] was co-hosted with Brookings Institution in Chicago. In 2016, the conference was hosted as part of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice[8] and the forthcoming conference is expected to take place in Addis Ababa in November 2018.[9] Urban Age is jointly organised with Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft.[10]
The centre's main research activities are divided into three research units:[11]
Ricky Burdett is the director of LSE Cities.[12] Philipp Rode acts as the executive director.[13][14]