Driverless Future
Shumaker speaking at MIT forum
Nanshan Center
On April 18th, Director Jeffrey Shumaker presented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) City Design and Development Forum. Reflecting on Manhattan’s urban design history and KPF’s expertise, Shumaker postulated a dynamic, optimistic, and people-centric future of smart city design.
Having attended MIT’s architectural and planning school, Shumaker returned to Cambridge as an alumni speaker for the conference. He began by sharing his experience working at the City of New York and in Manhattan with a focus on people in the public realm. He then transitioned to KPF’s expertise with smart cities and innovation worldwide. KPFui is a platform that leverages urban data analytics and visualization to build cities responsibly: measuring a “sense of place” using Google Places data to visualize a 24-hour city and using their work with Sidewalk Labs in Toronto to generate a more dynamic, flexible master plan for urban design. KPFui allows the firm to design buildings in collaboration with universities, city planners, and public advocacy groups, creating optimal spaces for the client and the public. Shumaker serves as the Director for Urban Design and Planning for KPFui, and is currently the Director for Urban Design and Planning for Driverless NYC—a research initiative to develop an autonomous vehicle (AV) transit system for New York City. Shumaker is also working on Nanshan Center in Shenzhen, China—set to serve as a new model for sustainable living in a high-dense, vertical city that includes public amenities and an integrated AV transit system.
Leveraging technology for smarter urban development, Shumaker is transforming KPF’s urban practice to incorporate livability and resiliency into every urban project. In addition to KPFui, Shumaker’s other projects include Central Station & Tunnels Project in Hong Kong, CRL Hangzhou New Town in Hangzhou, and Lower Montauk Rail in New York. Shumaker’s holistic philosophy entails shaping cities for a smarter, more efficient future that not only champions aesthetics, but also more provides flexibility to focus on people and the public realm.
The MIT City Design and Development Forum occurs twice a year, with a fall and spring forum comprised of five lectures per event. Other presentations this spring included WeWork, City Leaders as Disruptors, UrbanUS, and the Gehl Institute.