Investing In Our Water Infrastructure.

Cities worldwide need to adjust to new water challenges. For many areas, local water sources are being exhausted. Cities like Cape Town, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, London, Miami and Mexico City are at risk of running dry. Citizens in places like Flint, Michigan are threatened by decrepit drinking water infrastructure.

FACTS & FIGURES.

90% of all natural disasters are water-related. (UNISDR)

Water Scarcity already affects 40% of the global population. (WHO)

Globally, 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused. (UNESCO)

A call for new solutions.

With mounting pressure for cities to provide drinking water to their inhabitants, there is an increased need to work towards collective solutions. What new products and services might help reduce the strain on our aquifers? Can technology, design and entrepreneurship help make the global drinking water supply safer, more abundant and accessible?

Designing for more resilient cities.

While climate change puts pressure on our potable water supplies, it also contributes to rising sea levels, storms and coastal flooding. An increasing occurence of extreme weather events puts cities and their inhabitants at risk globally and calls for new ideas to make our urban habitats more resilient. How can cities more effectively cope with regular flooding and employ novel approaches to resilience?

A/D/O Water Futures

To gain insights into these pressing issues and to enable a critical debate A/D/O, the home of URBAN-X, is conducting a yearlong research program that aims to inspire designers to take action in reimagining our drinking water culture and design alternative realities.

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Apply Now.

To foster solutions that help address some of these pressing issues around our water infrastructure, our goal is to find, fund and support high potential startups that have the potential to positively impact 100 cities within 5 years.  Submit your application today.

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