Urban Innovation | NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Urban Innovation

Increased urbanization calls for increased livability

With more than half of the world’s population now residing in urban areas and that figure expected to rise to more than 70% by the middle of the century, NYU Tandon is helping envision the cities of the future.


blue sports car driving towards a city with license plate that reads "Tandon"

Navigating the world

walk sign

In partnership with Toyota subsidiary Woven Planet Holdings, Tandon researchers have compiled a dataset of more than 200,000 outdoor images over the course of a year aiming to help visually impaired pedestrians and autonomous vehicles alike better navigate complex urban settings. 


(Traffic) lights, camera ... action

At C2SMART, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, a team co-led by Professor Kaan Ozbay (CUE and Director of C2SMART) and Senior Research Associate Dr. Jingqin Gao (CUE, C2SMART) developed an AI tool for COVID monitoring that offers a solution for urban congestion.


NYU Tandon professors team up to explore complex urban systems

Skyline of New York City as seen from the Empire State Building

In 2022, Kurt Becker, the Vice Dean for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NYU Tandon; Juan Pablo Bello, the outgoing director of the school’s Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP); and Maurizio Porfiri, an NYU Tandon Institute Professor and incoming director of CUSP, approached the journal with the idea of devoting an issue to complex urban systems.


New director of CUSP thrives on complexity

Maurizio Porfiri in his office with bookshelves in background

Institute Professor Maurizio Porfiri to lead the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP)