Urban Development Initiative

What is UDI?

UDI stands for Urban Development Initiative. It is an organization that aims to provide answers to the complex urban challenges of the 21st century. In the unique innovation climate of Brainport Eindhoven, we work together on solutions to social challenges in the areas of health, mobility, energy, food, housing and safety. Founders of UDI are Eindhoven City Council, Helmond City Council, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Brainport Development and the Fraunhofer Research Institute.
 

Accelerating urban solutions

In our 21st urban century more than 50 percent of the global population lives in cities and predictions are that by 2050 it will be more than 70 percent. Therefore, all fundamental challenges our facing modern society now and in the coming decades are related: the quality, sustainability and resilience of our environment, society and economy to adapt to climate change, for example, social inclusiveness and economic transitions are by definition urban challenges.

This is also why the UN explicitly sets its sustainable development goals in the context of our cities. These challenges require systemic transitions of the way we live, work and recreate in our cities and thus fundamental innovations in the way we build and plan our cities are critical. Developing, designing, testing, optimizing and being able to scale up successful innovations as much as possible needed the UDI beliefs that it is important to bring research, development, policy and demand together through an innovation ecosystem in which knowledge institutions, industry, government and citizens work in co-creation together on these shared challenges.