UC-URBAN LAB

The University Community Urban Lab for Interactive Learning and Innovative Societal Solutions (UC-URBANLAB) is a collaborative research platform for Urban Planning and Design researchers and students of Alexandria University, Grant funded by Science and Technology Development Fund STDF. The urban lab project aim to strengthen role of university in society through creating mechanisms for academia/society co-production of knowledge, to develop innovative solutions for urban challenges. This entails a transformed and more open knowledge system, which means the introduction of processes that bring in the societal agenda to the academic community. This aim will be achieved through the role of the urban lab as a catalyst for engagement and interaction among stakeholders and partners. The lab includes a physical space and a cyber space where both facilitate the co-design and co-production of knowledge (enforcing links between education, research and business). The urban lab acts as the central platform that facilitates the interaction between teaching, research and local community. As presented by the following diagram, the three main streams: (1) curricula development/capacity building, (2) research hub, and (3) project-based initiatives, are supported by the urban lab facilities that include data production/management and a collaborative platform (physical and web-based).