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Urban Futures

Transforming urban challenges into opportunities

Geo-information technologies provide essential tools for understanding and managing the complex socio-spatial dynamics of urban development. By leveraging GIS, remote sensing, digital planning tools, AI, and Digital Twin models, we support stakeholders in designing targeted interventions that promote long-term urban sustainability, climate adaptation, and improved quality of life. Our commitment to responsible geo-ethical frameworks ensures that these technologies respect local communities, protect privacy, and follow the ‘Do-No-Harm’ Principle.

Urban areas face complex and dynamic challenges related to demographic movements, climate change, energy transitions, transportation, organizational governance, and inequality. The future of cities is marked by uncertainties and risks that are more extreme than those of the recent past. The challenge lies in making urban planning frameworks adaptable to these dynamic conditions, involving multiple stakeholders effectively, and integrating emerging technologies to enhance resilience and adaptability. At ITC, we develop solutions to challenges in small or large urban areas worldwide using our institutional strengthening approach to make a long-lasting impact that helps cities develop sustainably.

The growing threat

Rapid urbanization is reshaping the global landscape, making cities pivotal hubs for innovation, economic growth, and sustainable development. By 2050, cities are expected to house 70% of the world's population, including 3 billion people living in extreme poverty. Urban areas are at the forefront of addressing global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, and social inequalities. 

Our approach to Urban Challenges

At ITC, we adopt a transdisciplinary approach in research and education to solve complex urban challenges. We focus on developing Urban Futures Solutions guided by key questions: How can urban planning frameworks be more adaptable? How do interactions between various stakeholders contribute to urban strategies? How can cities integrate emerging technologies to enhance resilience and adaptability? By applying geo-information technologies like remote sensing, hazard and vulnerability mapping, participatory planning approaches, modelling, and social science-based methods, we formulate targeted and contextualized solutions.

Urban resilience
The dynamic nature of cities and the increasing climate impacts make urban futures more uncertain. We not only quantify these uncertainties but also display them in a way that is meaningful to multiple actors. We make climate information accessible to urban actors, combining climate scenarios with scenarios of urban development, land use, and socio-economic trends. Geo-information technologies help urban planners identify risk-prone areas and implement adaptive measures like green infrastructure and climate-resilient zoning policies.
Sustainable and Inclusive Mobility, Accessibility, and Energy Neutrality
Integrating active transport, public transit, energy transition, and urban planning to achieve energy-neutral development and improve accessibility. Digital tools optimize transport networks, monitor emissions, and design inclusive public spaces that support multi-modal travel.
Urban Equity and Health
Ensuring equitable access to housing, infrastructure, services, and health. Geo-information technologies map inequalities, enabling targeted interventions to improve housing, infrastructure, healthcare access, and urban green spaces, promoting urban equity and social inclusion.
Responsible Digital Innovation for Urban Planning
Leveraging geospatial data and digital technologies for real-time data collection, analysis, and interactive planning. Tools like Planning Support Systems, Digital Twins and indoor mapping with laser scanning facilitate collaborative planning and dynamic simulations of urban growth and resource allocation.
Urban Resource Nexus and Land Management
Balancing resource security in terms of land, water, and energy within urban settings. Geo-spatial analysis helps cities monitor land use changes, manage water and energy resources efficiently, and improve infrastructure planning, supporting long-term urban sustainability.
Professor Monika Kuffer Expert in Urban Futures at University of Twente

"With our expertise in Urban Futures, we address the social, environmental, economic, and land tenure challenges in urban areas. Utilizing geospatial technologies, we empower planners and policymakers to visualize and analyze critical urban dynamics. Our people-centric and digitally-informed strategies foster the transition towards safe, healthy, liveable, resilient, and just urban environments. By leveraging spatial data, we support stakeholders in designing targeted interventions that promote long-term sustainability, climate adaptation, and improved quality of life, with a focus on including marginalized groups at the heart of solutions."

Professor Monika Kuffer Expert in Urban Futures at University of Twente

Making real impact

At ITC, it is our mission to create real-world impact, primarily in the global south. We advance the area of Urban Futures through innovative research and practical solutions and are committed to Sustainable Development Goals such as SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and SDG 9. Below are some example projects that we are proud to work on. You can also check our Major Project Database for more urban futures projects at ITC. 

IDEAtlas

The primary objective of IDEAtlas, an ESA funded project, is to develop, implement, validate and showcase advanced AI-based methods to automatically map and characterize the spatial extent of slums from Earth Observation (EO) data. This will support national and local governments as well as the civil society to monitor SDG progress.

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INECIS

Studies on the contribution of urban kampungs to city economies are scarce. INECIS aims to fill this gap by analyzing the relationship between informal economies in kampungs and formal creative industry strategies in Indonesia. The project involves partners from Indonesia and the Netherlands, focusing on integrating informal economic activities into formal strategies and assessing their impact on urban development. The goal is to rethink government-led strategies and their effects on socio-economic characteristics, land, and tenure security in urban kampungs, involving diverse stakeholders in the process.

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BReUCom

Climate change in India increases natural hazards and sea level rise, affecting marginalized urban settlements. The BReUCom project addresses these challenges by developing and piloting Professional Development Programs (PDPs) for urban resilience. It produces open educational resources, new courses, and PDP modules, implemented by a consortium of international partners.

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DIVE INTO OUR MASTER'S PROGRAMMES

View all programmes

  • Geo-information Science and Earth Observation

    Contribute to solving some of the world's most pressing challenges by mastering the acquisition, analysis, and processing of geo-information data.
    5 SpecialisationsMaster of Science2 yearsFull-time100% English3 Joint programmes

    Disaster Resilience

    Focus on disaster risk reduction, preparedness, response, and resilience - especially in the context of climate change.
    MSc2 Joint programmes

    Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI)

    Harnessing the power of technology to automate the analysis and interpretation of large and complex spatial datasets like satellite images, UAV data, and local sensor data.
    MSc3 Joint programmes

    Resources Security

    Gain knowledge and skills in quantitative remote sensing to map, model, monitor and manage water, earth and natural resources through an interdisciplinary approach.
    MSc2 Joint programmes

    Spatial Data Science

    The Spatial Data Science specialisation is designed for students who would like a bit more flexibility can create their own learning pathway to achieve their career goals with the help of an adviser.
    MSc

    Urban and Land Futures

    Learn to tackle social, environmental, economic, and land tenure challenges in urban and regional areas.
    MSc2 Joint programmes

  • Spatial Engineering

    Natural disasters, poverty, food shortage, epidemics, climate change: learn to tackle society’s greatest and complex challenges using spatial data and technical and socio-economic knowledge.
    Master of Science2 yearsFull-time100% English
Broaden your knowledge with Geoversity
Learn more
In addition to our master's programmes, ITC offers a range of short courses - also through our Geoversity platform. Whether you want to gain new skills or deepen your expertise, you'll learn from leading experts, work on hands-on projects, and acquire the tools needed to understand Urban Futures better. Discover the course that fits your goals and start making an impact today.

ITC's expertise in Urban Futures

  • Active in a worldwide network of professionals and researchers on the topic of Urban Futures

  • Renowned professors and extensive scientific publications about urban challenges

  • Over 70 years of expertise in capacity building as part of the University of Twente

Meet some of our experts

Are you interested in collaborating with ITC on Urban Futures? Whether you’re looking to study, partner on a research project, access local expertise, join a course, or simply brainstorm ideas, we’re here to connect with you. Feel free to reach out—your ideas and questions are always welcome! Please contact Monika Kuffer or any other expert we have at ITC on urban challenges.

Picture of prof.dr. M. Kuffer (Monika)
prof.dr. M. Kuffer (Monika) Associate Professor
+31534874301
 m.kuffer@utwente.nl
Building: Langezijds 1301
Personal page
Picture of dr. M.N. Koeva (Mila)
dr. M.N. Koeva (Mila) Associate Professor
+31534874410
 m.n.koeva@utwente.nl
Building: Langezijds 1301
Personal page
Picture of prof.mr.dr.ir. J.A. Zevenbergen (Jaap)
prof.mr.dr.ir. J.A. Zevenbergen (Jaap) Full Professor
+31534874351
 j.a.zevenbergen@utwente.nl
Building: Langezijds 1437
Personal page
Picture of prof.dr. K. Pfeffer (Karin)
prof.dr. K. Pfeffer (Karin) Full Professor
+31534897422
Building: Langezijds 1418
Personal page
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