What Future Cities Laboratory Global does

Future Cities Laboratory Global (FCL Global) is an interdisciplinary academic research programme that studies rapid worldwide urbanisation by integrating Science, Design, Engineering and Governance. The current phase commenced in December 2020 as a successor to the original Future Cities Laboratory founded in 2010, and operates under the institutional framework of the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) with primary funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore and co-investment from ETH Zurich and the Singapore universities NUS, NTU and SUTD. It serves academic researchers, government urban planning agencies (URA, HDB, JTC, CLC) and industry practitioners through two research hubs—at CREATE Tower in Singapore and ETH Hönggerberg in Zurich—and a research footprint spanning 38+ sites across Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and North America.

The programme's central technological asset is the Engagement Platform, a cyber-physical digital hub that coordinates research, disseminates knowledge, and aggregates data across all modules. FCL Global has produced nine proprietary software tools spanning the urban analytics stack: ur-scape (multi-scale planning support), City Energy Analyst (district-level energy and emissions analysis), BOMBYX (whole-building life cycle assessment), Hive (architectural design performance), GlobalViews (3D urban scenario visualisation of Zurich), Natcap Tool (Singapore ecosystem services), Singapore Views (3D-4D visualisation), Bike To The Future (cycling behaviour simulator) and the IÖ App (real estate appraisal in educational contexts). The research portfolio is structured as 13 modules grouped into four thematic clusters—Cycles & Districts (DEN, CFC, POW, BIO), Food & Territories (AGR, NEW, RES), Infrastructure & Ecologies (AMI, CEC, SEA) and Integration & Strategies (EFF, ACP, SUE)—with AI-assisted components including a Cities Knowledge Graph using Semantic Web Technologies and machine learning in the EFF module.

FCL Global is not a commercial enterprise. Its revenue model is research funding and institutional co-investment rather than product sales or licences, and pricing information is not applicable. Distribution is community-led, occurring through the Engagement Platform, academic publication in the ETH Research Collection (202+ publications), biennial World Cities Summit co-organisation, and recurring participation in the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2023 and 2025). Software tools are released under open-source or research licences; engagement with stakeholders (Harvard, EPFL, Empa, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, Arup, Surbana Jurong, WOHA, Snohetta, City of Zurich, Swiss Federal Railways, Deltares, TU Delft, Chalmers and others) is mission-driven rather than transaction-driven.

Name

Future Cities Laboratory Global

Legal name

Future Cities Laboratory Global

Website

https://futurecitieslab.world

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Future Cities Laboratory Global (FCL Global) is an interdisciplinary research programme on rapid urbanisation combining Science, Design, Engineering and Governance. Operating from Singapore and Zurich hubs under the Singapore-ETH Centre, it develops urban planning tools and conducts field research across 38+ global sites.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Research & Planning Software

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Collaboration & Joint Labs (International Partnerships) (EDAIABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

International Science, Technology & Space Cooperation Organizations (BPADAAAK)

Keywords

• Urban planning research
• Sustainable city development
• Urban analytics software
• Interdisciplinary urban studies
• Urban data infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Funding: Funded by National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore with support from ETH Zurich and Singapore universities. Operates under auspices of Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Future Cities Laboratory Global is an interdisciplinary research programme that conducts urbanisation research across Science, Design, Engineering and Governance through 13 research modules. It produces and maintains a portfolio of 9 urban planning software tools (including BOMBYX, City Energy Analyst, ur-scape, GlobalViews and Hive) and operates the Engagement Platform, a cyber-physical digital hub for research coordination, knowledge dissemination, data aggregation, and community engagement across its Singapore and Zurich hubs.

Product overview

Future Cities Laboratory Global is an interdisciplinary research programme comprising 13 distinct research modules addressing worldwide urbanisation challenges. The core product is the Engagement Platform—a cyber-physical space serving as the central hub for research coordination, knowledge dissemination, and data aggregation across all modules. The portfolio includes 9 specialized software tools (BOMBYX, Bike To The Future, City Energy Analyst, GlobalViews, Hive, IÖ App, Natcap Tool, Singapore Views, and ur-scape) that federate into the platform. The research modules span four thematic areas: Cycles & Districts (DEN, CFC, POW, BIO), Food & Territories (AGR, NEW, RES), Infrastructure & Ecologies (AMI, CEC, SEA), and Integration & Strategies (EFF, ACP, SUE), each contributing to the programme's goal of promoting equitable and liveable urban futures through science, design, engineering, and governance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Engagement Platform A cyber-physical space that supports and disseminates the vision, narrative and values of FCL Global; serves as the central tool for internal research coordination and public knowledge dissemination, aggregating news, events, materials and newsletters, while functioning as a comprehensive data repository for researchers, government partners, practitioners and the public.
• BOMBYX A simplified whole-building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool for buildings during early design stages, enabling architects and engineers to evaluate environmental impacts early in the design process.
• City Energy Analyst (CEA) Helps analyse the effects of building retrofits, land-use planning, district heating and cooling and renewable energy on future costs, emissions and energy consumption of neighbourhoods and districts; targeted at urban planners, energy modellers and sustainability consultants.
• ur-scape A visual and interactive planning support tool that integrates data at multiple scales to support efforts to make more sustainable and resilient cities and regions; designed for rapidly urbanising areas where data is often difficult to access and uneven in quality.
• GlobalViews An interactive 3D model of Zurich that allows users to design urban planning scenarios by modifying the land cover; web-based application for visualising urban data and scenarios.
• Hive Helps understand performative consequences of architectural design decisions on energy efficiency, comfort, cost and emissions; intended for architects and designers in early-stage design.
• Natcap Tool A Singapore-oriented 3D platform that allows users to easily show and modify different types of raster-based landcovers and calculate ecosystem services.
• Singapore Views An interactive visualisation and presentation platform in 3D-4D, focused on Singapore urban contexts.
• Bike To The Future A cycling simulator tool to understand and evaluate behavioural reactions of cyclists to street design interventions; supports transport planners and urban designers.
• IÖ App Furnishes students with a hands-on tool for appraising real estate parameters in real-world settings, visibly reinforcing the direct link between the built environment and its surrounding economic context.

Quantifiable outcome

• 202+ publications in ETH Research Collection
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

29 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• ETH ZurichcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institution and primary research partner. FCL Global operates under ETH Zurich with research activities spanning both Zurich and Singapore hubs.
• National University of Singapore (NUS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of four Singapore university partners in the research collaboration. Contributing to interdisciplinary urbanisation research.
• Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of four Singapore university partners. Contributes research expertise to the programme.
• Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of four Singapore university partners. Provides design and technology research capabilities.
• Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCL Global operates under the auspices of the Singapore-ETH Centre, which provides the institutional framework.
• Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPhysical campus housing the Singapore hub of the Singapore-ETH Centre.
• Arup SingaporemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineering consultancy collaboration on urban development research projects.
• EPFLmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne on research initiatives.
• EmpamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology on urban research.
• Harvard UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaboration on urban studies and planning research.
• World BankmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on urban development research and sustainable city initiatives.
• Asian Development BankmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on sustainable urbanisation research in Asia.
• Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly organised World Cities Summit and collaboration on liveable city research.
• Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSingapore government agency collaboration on urban planning research.
• Housing and Development BoardmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSingapore government partnership on public housing and urban development.
• Jurong Town Corporation (JTC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on industrial urban development and Jurong Innovation District research.
• Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration on advanced topics in urban studies.
• International Rice Research InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on food systems and agropolitan territories research.
• Surbana JurongmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban planning consultancy partnership on sustainable city development.
• WOHAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture firm collaboration on green building and sustainable urban design.
• Snohetta ArchitectsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture and design firm collaboration on urban research projects.
• Schindler GroupmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on mobility and urban infrastructure research.
• UNDP Global CentremajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on sustainable development and urban resilience research.
• City of ZurichmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Zurich city government on urban development projects.
• Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on adaptive mobility and transportation research.
• Arup Deutschland GmbHmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean arm of Arup collaboration on engineering and urban planning.
• DeltaresmajorTechnology or IntegrationDutch research institute collaboration on water management and blue-green infrastructure.
• TU DelftmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnische Universiteit Delft collaboration on urban and civil engineering research.
• Chalmers University of TechnologymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish university collaboration on urban research.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Arup: Global engineering and urban planning consultancy with significant proprietary R&D on cities, buildings, and resilience. FCL Global partners with Arup Singapore and Arup Deutschland, reflecting overlapping technical scope on sustainable urban design.
• C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group: Global network of mayors and city governments focused on climate action and urban policy. Not a research lab, but operates at the same intersection of city sustainability research and policy implementation that FCL Global targets through its intergovernmental partnerships.
• UN-Habitat: United Nations programme focused on sustainable urbanisation, with extensive research and policy outputs. Comparable in scope and global reach to FCL Global's research agenda on equitable and liveable urban futures.

Others

• World Bank Urban Development Global Practice: Multilateral funder and research producer on urban development. FCL Global is a named partner, and the Bank's analytical work on cities is a complementary, not competitive, output stream — relevant as a downstream channel for FCL Global's research.

Direct peers

• Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART): Joint MIT-Singapore research enterprise housed at the same CREATE campus as FCL Global. Operates an analogous cross-border university research model with interdisciplinary urban/environmental research themes, making it the closest structural peer.
• MIT Senseable City Lab: Academic research lab at MIT focused on data-driven urban studies, sensor deployment, and city analytics. Highly comparable in mission (urbanisation research), output type (tools and publications), and institutional funding model, and overlaps directly with FCL Global's CEA/ur-scape-style urban analytics work.
• TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment: Major European research group working on urbanism, building performance, and blue-green infrastructure. FCL Global has an active partnership with TU Delft, indicating direct methodological overlap in urban data and design research.
• UCL Bartlett School of Planning: Leading European academic unit for urban planning and city science research, with strong publication output and policy engagement. Comparable to FCL Global in research orientation and dissemination through tools and academic outputs.

Emerging players

• IIT Bombay Centre for Urban Science and Engineering: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay research centre focused on urban science, engineering, and planning for rapidly urbanising contexts — directly aligned with FCL Global's Agropolitan Territories (AGR) and EFF modules covering monsoon-Asia urbanisation.
• New York University Urban Future Lab: University-affiliated urban sustainability research and incubation initiative. Smaller scale than FCL Global but pursues a similar mix of applied research, tools, and stakeholder engagement on future cities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/_FCL
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@fclfuturecitieslaboratory7009
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/future-cities-laboratory
• Instagraminstagram.com/fcl.global

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Future Cities Laboratory Global