Government Announces Candiates For Future Cities Funding

The government has named the thirty city and borough councils from across the UK that will compete for the £24 million ‘future cities’ prize.

The candidates will receive £50,000 from the government’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board, to complete feasibility studies to show how they could integrate their transport, communications and other infrastructure to improve the local economy, quality of life and impact to the environment.

Cities that have completed the feasibility studies will be allowed to submit a proposal for a large scale demonstrator project, which will show the additional value that can be created integrating a city’s systems.

Government Future Cities

“We planned originally to fund twenty feasibility studies but because of the number of high quality initial proposals received from councils across the whole country we decided to increase the funding available so that thirty studies could be carried out,” said Iain Gray, chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board. “The results will be made public and we look forward to seeing some exciting future city demonstrator proposals.”

The candidate councils are Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton & Hove, Bristol, Cambridge, Camden, Cardiff, Coventry, Derby, Dundee, Enfield, Glasgow, Ipswich, Leeds (working with Bradford), Leicester, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Salford, Sheffield, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swindon and Warrington.

The government first invited bids last month and feasibility reports and proposals for a large scale demonstrator must be submitted by 14 November, with the winner of the £24 million prize announced in January 2013.

What do you know about Green IT? Find out with our quiz!

Steve McCaskill

Steve McCaskill is editor of TechWeekEurope and ChannelBiz. He joined as a reporter in 2011 and covers all areas of IT, with a particular interest in telecommunications, mobile and networking, along with sports technology.

Recent Posts

Is the Digital Transformation of Businesses Complete?

Digital transformation is an ongoing journey, requiring continuous adaptation, strong leadership, and skilled talent to…

20 hours ago

Craig Wright Faces Contempt Claim Over Bitcoin Lawsuit

Australian computer scientist faces contempt-of-court claim after suing Jack Dorsey's Block and Bitcoin Core developers…

21 hours ago

OpenAI Adds ChatGPT Search Features

OpenAI's ChatGPT gets search features, putting it in direct competition with Microsoft and Google, amidst…

21 hours ago

Google Maps Steers Into Local Information With AI Chat

New Google Maps allows users to ask for detailed information on local spots, adds AI-summarised…

22 hours ago

Huawei Sees Sales Surge, But Profits Fall

US-sanctioned Huawei sees sales surge in first three quarters of 2024 on domestic smartphone popularity,…

22 hours ago

Apple Posts China Sales Decline, Ramping Pressure On AI Strategy

Apple posts slight decline in China sales for fourth quarter, as Tim Cook negotiates to…

23 hours ago