Building Capacity for the Future City in Developing Countries (PEAK)

Duration: 10/17 – 12/21

In response to the increasingly complex development challenges posed by today’s cities, Building Capacity for the Future City in Developing Countries (PEAK) seeks to foster a new approach to urban policy making and research through the creation of an international consortium of cities.

Building on a collaboration between researchers in China, Colombia, India, South Africa and the UK, the project will create five regional centres that in turn will engage with a network of city observatories and urban labs. By bringing together a multidisciplinary team of experts in science, sociology and the humanities, spanning mathematic, medicine and engineering to anthropology, migration and law, the research will synthesise a range of specialist knowledge on key urban development challenges.

Among other outcomes, the project will support a new generation of urban scholars, global in focus and engaging across different fields, and produce a variety of innovative publications, knowledge exchange activities and other outputs. Most importantly, it will create and strengthen the capacities of cities themselves to absorb emerging urban research and integrate this learning into their decision making.

Project website

Project Twitter

Michael Keith (Principal Investigator, Director)
Tim Schwanen (Associate Professor)
Kazem Rahimi (Director)
Peter Grindrod (Director)
Neave O’Clery (Research Fellow)
Yi Samuel Chen (Research Fellow)
Changchun Feng (Professor)
Guangzhong Cao (Professor)
Zhenjie Wang (Assistant Professor)
Tao Liu (Assistant Professor)
Pengjun Zhao (Professor)
Sue Parnell (Professor)
Edgar Pieterse (Director)
Aromar Revi (Director)
Shriya Anand (Senior Consultant)
Krishnachandran Balakrishnan
Amir Bazaz (Lead Practice)
Gautam Bhan (Lead)
Sudeshna Mitra (Senior Consultant)
Neha Sami (Senior Consultant)
a href=”http://www.eafit.edu.co/docentes-investigadores/Paginas/juan-duque.aspx” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Juan Carlos Duque Duque (Professor)
Alejandro Echeverri (Director)
Carlos Miguel Cadena Gaitán (Academic Coordinator)

• Creation of a new generation of urban researchers through fellowships, international events and an online course.
• Research publications in a range of key fields including public health, governance and innovation.
• Strengthened city capacities through the establishment of urban living labs, city observatory networks and a web-based platform.