The "Urban Infrastructures: Analysis and Modeling for Their Optimal Management and Operation" workshop was supported by the National Science Foundation and organized by the New York Institute of Technology College of Engineering and Computing Sciences, in collaboration with City College of New York of the City University of New York, and Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (HFT Stuttgart), Germany.  It was held on November 30^th and December 1^st, 2017, at New York Institute of Technology's Manhattan Campus in New York City.

The workshop offered a platform for multidisciplinary partnerships among researchers at the forefront of scientific research in sustainability in the United States and international partners. It was convened to explore scientific challenges of mutual interest, while addressing fundamental research questions of global significance in the fields of sustainability, engineering, social and natural sciences, and cyber, physical, and information systems.

The overarching goal of the workshop was to stimulate research on the optimization of interrelated urban infrastructure systems and processes for the resilient and sustainable provision of food, energy, and water (FEW). It also aimed to identify technical, socio-economic, and policy obstacles for this optimization. Over 50 participants from academia, national laboratories, government agencies, urban planning and development, and international partners met at NYIT to explore scientific, technical, socio-economic, and policy synergies in critical infrastructure systems and processes for sustainable urban development.  Specific objectives of the workshop included the following:  1) build a research agenda that supports active engagement and joint approaches to resilient urban interdependent critical infrastructure systems and processes; 2) explore solutions for innovative urban infrastructure synergies for sustainable, green, and livable cities and the optimal provision of FEW goods and services; and 3) form a global research and education community, with links to local stakeholders, and share actionable agendas for change.

The identified issues from the workshop are organized below based on different thematic concerns.

Data, Modeling, and Analytical Tools: There is a need to continue developing broad, interdisciplinary frameworks that provide a common language to describe resource system attributes and to test the contexts and scales where particular theories and models provide useful insights. Common challenges identified by researchers engaged in different projects include the following:

• What are the existing protocols for integrating models from the various sectors in cities (energy, water, transport, food), as well as these systems' models, data, and results across disciplines without having to reinvent or remake them?
• What are the best techniques for deploying sensors efficiently and securely and the best practices for integrating IoT sensor networks? data with existing spatially extensive datasets and remote sensing while addressing security and privacy?
• What are the best tools and methods for disaggregating monolithic models using web services?
• How do we deal with uncertainty, data formatting, and calibration when modeling urban systems (e.g. energy systems, buildings? energy models)?
• How can business models be derived, for example, from efficiency and renewable innovations?

Stakeholders / Decision Making Processes: The discussion focused on how to use optimization as a tool to generate adequate information to support the (design) decision-making process of the complex FEW systems under consideration. The importance of integrating "soft" infrastructure (people, institutions, culture, etc.) into these discussions of models that promote sustainable urban infrastructure was also highlighted.  The group also recognized the importance to first define the indicators that decision-makers really want and need for more efficient stakeholder engagement. 

Dissemination: The discussion focused on how to scale up from the granular to regional approach of modeling with respect to human behavior and decision-making. A key question is where and how long a model would apply, in particular under different contextual and socioeconomic conditions. Given the plethora of models available for practitioners (outside of academia), two significant issues are (a) how do we effectively convey limitations of models and (b) provide decision support (for models) so that researchers know when and what models to use?  Participants also asked about the need to agree on the best practices to create incentives for data sharing with the academic community.

Research Gaps: The identified research gaps include: 

• How can we include social aspects into engineering curricular programs, to help address the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
• How can we enhance the security and trustworthiness of urban data obtained from both physical and crowd/human sensors?
• How can we make data available and understandable across disciplines in order to minimize losses across disciplines?
• How can detailed, granular modeling be combined with high level decision support models, and how do we validate these models?
• How do we ensure equity for a region, a city to a global scale, in the policy and decision-making process?

Potential Collaborations:

A follow up meeting was held on June 15, 2018 to establish a Research Coordination Network in the Urban infrastructures: Food, Energy, and Water for Sustainable and Resilient Cities.

Last Modified: 11/02/2018
Modified by: Ziqian Dong