Michael Donaldson

The majority of the homes that will exist in most cities in 2050 have already been built. Rehabilitating them —improving energy performance, accessibility, structural safety, and housing quality— is one of the most pressing and complex challenges of urban housing policy. At the same time, ageing housing stock is both a social challenge and a climate opportunity, especially when inefficient or inaccessible buildings are occupied by lower-income or elderly households with limited capacity to invest in improvements. The session will address how cities can scale renovation and retrofit through coordinated action between governments, building owners, residents, finance institutions, and the construction sector, ensuring that upgrades improve affordability, quality of life, and neighbourhood resilience.

Urban digital platforms are increasingly being used to navigate the complexity of urban environments, helping cities better understand how they function and evolve. By enabling data-driven decision-making and scenario exploration, these tools support more effective and forward-looking planning. This session explores the role of simulations within these platforms—what they can currently offer, from predictive insights to scenario testing, and what possibilities they open for the future of urban digital systems, while also examining how governments are adopting these tools in practice and the challenges involved in developing, financing, and translating them into meaningful outcomes for urban planning.