Visions for the Future of the City 12:30 - 4:30pm, Saturday 22 October 2011 Newcastle University

What should Newcastle upon Tyne look like in 2050?

Newcastle upon Tyne has changed beyond all recognition over the last 40 years and is still changing fast. In 2010 Forum for the Future ranked Newcastle as the most sustainable of the UK’s twenty largest cities for the second year running (see Sustainable Cities Index). Is this an accolade we should attempt to retain? What can we do to ensure that Newcastle is better in 2050 than it is today? A group of engineers will each present their answer to this question to a public audience and will then discuss and adapt their ideas.

The event will use the Crowd Wise process designed by new economics foundation to seek a consensus: Beginning with the open question above, participants (engineers and audience) will be invited to work together to create and refine possible answers. This is a collaborative process, where answers can be merged, split or refined by anyone, in order to create the most interesting, wide ranging and appealing range of possibilities. Then, instead of voting for their favourite, each participant will be asked to rate each answer from best to worst. Votes will then be counted to establish which option has the broadest support.

Special Guest: Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central.

Come along, join in the discussions and play your part in this fascinating experiment!