Welcome to
Digital task force
for planning
An Innovation-Led Not-for-Profit Social Enterprise
The Digital Task Force for Planning
An innovation-led not-for-profit Social Enterprise aiming to unlock the full potential of Spatial Planning in the Digital Era
The Digital Task Force for Planning is registered as a not-for-profit Social Enterprise in October 2022 with its Co-Founders Dr Wei Yang as its CEO and Professor Michael Batty as its Chair of the Board.
We are currently standing at a threshold, defined to an extent by the pandemic. This is a tipping point focused on how the planning profession and planning in society can best embrace a future increasingly based on the digital revolution.
The Task Force promotes the digital integration and advancement in Spatial Planning to tackle the grand challenges in the 21st Century. It seeks to apply and develop cutting edge digital research and technology into mainstream Spatial Planning practice and education thus leading to transformative changes needed in the sector for public benefit.
The Task Force will focus on the Development part of R&D – as a convenor, facilitator and enabler of digitalisation in mainstream planning practice & education to support the establishment of an integrated ecosystem for spatial planning innovation.
OUR MISSIONS
Promoting an integrated digitally enabled approach to Spatial Planning.
Examining how the planning profession and its education can embrace the digital revolution in a more thorough and proactive way.
OUR GOALS
Empowering planners with new skills to tackle the grand challenges of our times for public interest.
Our Journey
The Digital Task Force for Planning was formed in February 2021 as an independent expert panel to raise awareness, expertise and skills to empower planning profession in the digital era.
The panel was co-chaired by Professor Michael Batty, Chairman of the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) in the Bartlett School at University College London (UCL) and Dr Wei Yang, the Royal Town Planning Institute President for 2021. The panel was formed by a group of influential thought leaders across a broad spectrum relating to planning and digital technology.
Our Work in 2021
During 2021, the Task Force carried out a comprehensive cross-sector consultation programme, involving local and national government departments, agencies dealing with the natural and built environment, digital technology, public health, and higher education. Using a whole systems approach, the study is set against the UK government’s commitment to science and technology and cutting-edge research.
Different from previous reviews of the planning system which were focused on the legislative and policy aspects of planning, this review took an entirely open approach that links many grand challenges together. The study is beyond professional, political, and departmental boundaries. The purpose of this report is to present a collective vision on how planning needs to respond to the digital future.
A big question was asked: “What should be done now to make our world a better place for our future generations through achieving a universal common good”. The Task Force regarded a new digitally enabled systems approach to spatial planning as one of the keys to unlocking the move to multiple goals.
The Task Force report, A Digital Future for Planning – Spatial Planning Reimagined (Batty & Yang, 2022) was published in February 2022.