Ucl Urban Laboratory

UCL Urban Laboratory is a crossdisciplinary centre for critical and creative urban thinking, teaching, research and practice, based at University College London. Established in 2005 as a university wide initiative bringing together the best urban teaching and research at UCL, our activities build on the full spectrum of work across the arts and sciences: from civil engineering to film studies, from urban history to the latest developments in architectural design, from anthropology to fine art. At UCL Urban Laboratory we encourage activities that are critical, creative, independent and interdisciplinary. We aim to share the knowledge our work produces widely, with diverse audiences. We experiment with new methods of urban research across disciplinary boundaries, practices and professions, providing a laboratory for cross- and interdisciplinary invention, because difficult urban challenges demand new modes of collaboration. Urban research at UCL draws on a rich heritage of pioneering ideas evidenced in the work of experimental thinkers, communicators and practitioners who have taught and studied at UCL, including Patrick Abercrombie, Reyner Banham, Peter Cook, Ruth Glass, Peter Hall, Derek Jarman, Otto Königsberger, Eduardo Paolozzi and Walter Segal. Through our activities we play a leading role in urban debate and the design and planning of contemporary cities, underpinning our interventions with rigorous analysis, historical insight, and particular attention to the social, cultural and political dimensions of urban life. Based in London, we engage with this city, and the communities that inhabit it. Drawing on extensive networks across the globe, we also attach great importance to the internationalisation of urban debate, focusing on cities across Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.