Urban Living Pilot – Leeds: Transformational Routemapping for Urban Environments (TRUE)

Duration: 08/16 - 01/18

In a context of prolonged financial austerity and resource shortfalls, cities in the UK continue to struggle with the pressures of social exclusion, housing shortages, environmental degradation and other issues. Urban Living Pilot – Leeds: Transformational Routemapping for Urban Environments (TRUE) seeks to address these problems by strengthening local capacity to respond to this complexity through collaboration, social enterprise and institutional development.

Through the mobilisation of a multi-sector consortium, the project will support a variety of partners from different sectors in Leeds to identify the key challenges confronting their city. Working with a range of knowledge and expertise, the project will apply a socio-technical systems approach to a selection of priority ‘breakthrough projects’, addressing multiple challenges through a holistic and multidisciplinary approach.

The tool, which will be available through an open digital platform and disseminated through activities including trainings and a national conference, will provide urban policy makers and communities with an innovative framework to guide the design of integrated city-wide solutions.

Paul Chatterton (Principal Investigator, Professor of Urban Futures)
Mark Birkin (Professor of Spatial Analysis and Policy)
Fiona Fylan (Health Psychologist)
Nancy Madter (Research and Teaching Assistant)
Phil Purnell (Professor)
Janet Watson (Leadership Chair for Languages)

Mobilisation of academic, public, private and civil society actors into a multi-stakeholder consortium, Transformational Routemapping for Urban Environments (TRUE).

Development of a holistic diagnostic tool, drawing on a range of indicators, to assess complex urban development projects.

Knowledge exchange and capacity development through an online digital platform, training guidance and a national launch event in London.

TRUE Tool