SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities

The SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities is designed with a broad spectrum of urban stakeholders in mind, recognizing the diverse needs and roles within urban development and planning. Its users range from local government officials and municipal planners to community organizers, civil society groups, and urban researchers. By catering to a wide audience, the Urban Toolbox ensures that its resources are not only accessible but also adaptable to different contexts and levels of expertise. Each featured tool includes case studies and guidance for usage, including whether any specialist knowledge is required for application.

Available tools

From spatial analysis and environmental impact assessments to community engagement frameworks and policy evaluation models, the Urban Toolbox offers a comprehensive toolkit for urban practitioners. Each tool within the Toolbox comes with detailed guidance on its application, including case studies, instructional videos, and technical support resources, ensuring that users can effectively leverage these resources in their work.

Co-design and development

The SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities was officially launched in 2023, emerging from the insights and experiences gained through the City Health and Wellbeing (CHeW) Initiative.

Recognizing that for inclusive and sustainable cities, planning processes need to be participatory, the SEI team set out to consolidate and streamline access to a variety of urban planning tools. The primary goal behind the creation of the Urban Toolbox was to empower urban stakeholders by providing them with the knowledge, tools, and community support needed to tackle the complex issues associated with urban growth. By equipping users with a comprehensive suite of resources, the Urban Toolbox helps to enhance the capacity of cities to plan and implement development projects that prioritize health, wellbeing, and sustainability.

Through consultations with urban stakeholders, the Urban Toolbox has been co-designed to address the challenges they face in terms of accessing user-friendly resources with clear guidance for usage. The co-design process is described in the discussion brief: The SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities: co-designing an accessible urban resource.

By hosting the Urban Toolbox on weADAPT, urban stakeholders are able to share their insights and experiences from applying the different SEI tools with other urban stakeholders. This will provide more examples and case studies of how these tools can be applied and tailored to different contexts, and support learning on best practices for their implementation. Integration with weADAPT also supports networking and discussion between those using and contributing to the Urban Toolbox, supporting knowledge exchange and collaboration.

As the Urban Toolbox is a living resource, it can be continually reviewed and updated to add in new relevant tools as they are developed, with the weADAPT platform enabling new tool developers to provide the necessary information for inclusion in the Urban Toolbox.

As a “living” toolbox, the Urban Toolbox is continually evolving. It is designed to be adaptive, with the potential for new tools and case studies to be added to reflect the latest in urban development practice and research. Members of the Urban Toolbox network on the weADAPT platform are encouraged to contribute their experiences, fostering a collaborative environment where knowledge and best practices are freely exchanged. By joining this vibrant community, stakeholders can stay at the forefront of urban development innovations and actively participate in the co-creation of future resources.

Become a member of the SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities network on the weADAPT platform to be the first to know about new developments and to upload and promote your Urban Toolbox-related articles and case studies.