The University of Minnesota has received a $12 million dollar award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to bring together scientists, industry leaders, and policy partners committed to building better cities of the future. The project is led by Anu Ramaswami, director of Consortium member Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy, professor at the Humphrey School and in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering. The grant has two other co-directors: Patricia Culligan at Columbia University and Armistead Russell at Georgia Institute of Technology. Since estimates indicate more than three billion more people will live in cities in 2050, the grant-funded network will focus on ways to reimagine infrastructure to create high-density cities that are highly functional, promote the health of residents and the environment, and are livable. “We have to think in new ways about a city’s physical infrastructure to develop sustainable solutions,” says Prof. Ramaswami.