Urban Living Lab Provides Real-Life Test Environment in Sydney

Urban Living Lab in Sydney Science Park, Australia (Celestino)

Do you wish to live in a location that has only the best to offer to its residents? While many of us do our part to make the world a much better place, some of us are able to think of great innovative concepts to be able to achieve it. The live example is the Urban Living Lab, a joint initiative of CSIRO and the property developer Celestino. This lab aims to provide a test environment to try out various new urban concepts like greening, water systems, effects of technology etc. on the environment within a real life like setting.

Hot this summer? Urban Living Lab working to design cooler homes of the future https://t.co/jpVJP5Unf7 pic.twitter.com/D3DOLCQLtb

— CSIRO (@CSIROnews) February 1, 2017

This Urban Living Lab is to be established as a part of the Sydney Science Park situated in the heart of the western part of the Australian city. It will allow the scientists, industrialists, government and the communities to collaborate and test ideas that can address the social, economic, environmental, and technological problems of the today’s world. Some of these include the effects of the increased urban greening, smart water systems, and energy efficient systems that are going to be a need of the hour in the near future.

Urban Living Lab: Investigating implications of urban greening on local temperatures and ecology

Paul Bertsch, Acting Director of CSIRO Land and Water, explains, “There are major issues facing cities in the 21st century. Issues such as population pressure, climate change and resource scarcity are big problems that researchers, industry, and government need to work together to address. The Urban Living Lab provides the perfect environment for the collaboration and innovation that are necessary to build vibrant and sustainable cities.”

The CEO of Celestino, John Vassallo expressed his excitement to be a part of this $5 billion project set over 280 hectares in West Sydney. It is projected to create at least 12,000 skilled jobs based on knowledge and learning. These will enable catering to over 10,000 students. All the more, the Sydney Science Park will also serve as a residence to over 10,000 people.

Urban Living Lab: Smart water systems development for target-oriented and efficient watering

Mr. Vassallo said, “We could see people creating new ways to harness solar energy in the workplace and developing novel ideas to store heat and keep homes cool. New sustainable transport solutions will also be encouraged as well as inventions that conserve water and energy and drive down utility bills. The possibilities are endless. He went on to say that, “Just like you test new medical technologies in a lab, you need to test new urban-living technologies in a real urban environment. Sydney Science Park is the perfect testing ground for these inventions of tomorrow.”

The establishment of the Urban Living Lab will not only enable practicing scientific rigor and create and refine products and services in a real-life setting but, at the same time, also help young innovators to easily avail the advice of the scientific experts. More importantly, they will be able to easily come across venture capitalists for their funding requirements.

The Assistant Minister for Science Craig Laundy applauded the initiative saying, “The Urban Living Lab initiative offers a new way for researchers, industry, community and government to co-innovate and provide a place to address a range of challenges facing the urban sector. It’s great to see CSIRO engaging in this public-private collaboration which will not only tackle important issues for our cities but also provide a boost to the local economy with jobs and opportunities for STEM students.”

Urban Living Lab: Investigating benefits of digital disruptions and information technology

Thus the Urban Living Lab sure looks to be a great design that can help plan our living spaces in a way such that their sustainability can be effectively tried and tested in scenarios such as population increase and climate changes.