From Denver, USA to Chennai, India
The Sustainable Urban Infrastructure research-teaching framework being developed in Denver will be evaluated for use in our sister city, Chennai, India.
Objectives
The international component of IGERT research will study the development of sustainable urban infrastructure systems in Chennai, India, comparing this with our parallel study in Denver, Colorado. This work will provide, for the first time, an integrated, data-driven comparison of infrastructure sustainability across developed and developing world boundaries, sparking global knowledge-sharing for sustainable development. Simultaneously, US PhD students will gain international experiences essential for a global perspective.
Example Projects
Examples of specific international student projects are: studying the penetration of air conditioning and resulting infrastructure demands in the buildings and transport sectors in Chennai and Denver; comparing willingness to pay for carbon-mitigating infrastructures in both cities; evaluating alternative policies to manage motorized transport; perceptions about waste and recycling; perceived links (if any) between human health benefits and environmental sustainability, etc. At the end of the 5 year study period, we expect to be able to compare water consumption, energy use, GHG emissions, toxics/waste generation, and human well-being metrics in Chennai, India and Denver, USA, and, begin unraveling the underlying social, economic and cultural drivers impacting the development of more sustainable infrastructures in both cities.
Collaborating International Partners
The UC Denver team will collaborate primarily with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) to co-develop a Sustainable Urban Infrastructure teaching-research program focused on the City of Chennai.