Co-Designing Infrastructures: engineering with local communities in London, UK

Community resilience and infrastructure resilience are ever more important as cities prepare for and respond to multiple, intersecting shocks and stresses. Water infrastructures are central to challenges of urban resilience, and floods, droughts and poor water quality represent significant risks to cities. Engaging local communities in infrastructure resilience provides a pathway to reducing risks and improving recovery from disasters. This presentation describes the ‘Bottom-Up Infrastructure’ research program undertaken at University College London 2014-2020. Bottom-Up Infrastructure explored how community and infrastructure resilience can be better integrated through co-design. The work originated in the UCL Engineering Exchange, and was supported by UK research council funding. The presentation will describe co-design projects to address the water-energy-food nexus, air quality and water pollution in London. Learning across case-studies from within the same city, the presentation will reflect upon the success and limitations of engaging urban communities in infrastructure design and planning.