China Future City Lab (CFC)

The MIT China Future City Lab (CFC) is a research and entrepreneurship program that focuses on the challenges of urban development in China.

The China Future City Lab addresses challenges and issues related to urbanization in China; we mobilize the vision, research expertise, experience, talent, creativity, and other resources of MIT to identify innovative concepts and develop novel tools, technologies, and solutions that are applicable to the obstacles and opportunities in China’s growing cities. The China Future City Lab is hosted at the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

In November 2017, MIT launched a unique new urban research and innovation program: China Future City Lab (CFC Lab). CFC Lab looks to advance city life in China through an ambitious range of research and entrepreneurship education projects. CFC Lab is housed in the Department of Urban Studies of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning, and is affiliated with the Department’s Center for Real Estate. It has also established strong collaborations with the Media Lab, Senseable City Lab, and Sloan School of Management at MIT. The China Future City Lab consists of three foundational pillars. First, the Lab supports a wide range of basic research projects, investigating aspects of urban and environmental economics and policy, with a special focus on China and also international comparative studies. Second, the Lab houses a program known as the MIT-Tsinghua Future City Innovation Connector (FCIC), which supports startup teams applying ideas to China’s urban challenges. The FCIC also aims to identify innovative concepts and technologies that could be implemented in China. As a third element of its activities, the China Future City Lab is engaging with Chinese cities that will serve as “living labs” or testing sites where MIT researchers will have a unique opportunity to test and deploy their urban-focused innovations.

The CFC Lab has three core research themes:
(1) New city development: mechanisms, efficiency, and sustainability
(2) Urban networks: vibrancy and innovation
(3) Green cities: urban growth and the environment

The core research advances new knowledge of Chinese urbanization and identifies the demand for innovation. It explores how rapid and profound changes are driven by technological advancements such as pervasive sensing, the growth and availability of continuous data streams, advanced analytics, social networks, and distributed intelligence. The Future City Innovation Connector (FCIC), jointly launched by CFC Lab and Tsinghua University, embraces these exciting new opportunities. FCIC supports innovative projects addressing the rapid growth of Chinese cities. It draws upon the work of MIT researchers and labs to identify innovative concepts and technologies. FCIC is the first program of its kind that explicitly aims to apply the newest developments in urban research and technology to the immense urbanization occurring in China, which should be powered by technological innovation and new business ventures.

In 2019, the Lab will continue to enrich its research program and develop deeper engagement with Consortium members to build FCIC's ecosystem of city innovation work. The Lab will also establish partnerships with Chinese municipal governments to implement city living lab projects.