Christopher Grant Kirwan
Advancing the research and development of smart cities worldwide
Christopher Grant Kirwan
Advancing the research and development of smart cities worldwide
About Christopher
Designer, Urban Planner, Technology & Media Innovator, Information Architect, Consultant, Professor
Christopher (alias Mustafa) is a multi-disciplinary professional and academic with over 30 years’ experience across a range of fields including real estate development, urban planning, architecture, technology and new media with a special focus on the convergence of the physical and digital in the context of smart cities. He performed graduate studies at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies and has been a visiting professor at Parsons School of Design, Harvard GSD and Tsinghua University in Beijing. He has written extensively on Smart Cities and urban operating systems culminating in his book Smart Cities and AI Convergence published in May 2020 by Elsevier.
Experience
Academic
- 1990-1991 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Advanced Visual Studies, Media Lab Graduate Studies.
- 1979-1984 - Rhode Island School of Design Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Architecture (5-year undergraduate program).
Professional
- 2015-Present - Newwork International Ltd; Managing Director; London / New York; Real Estate Development, Urban Planning, Architecture, Design and Branding; Responsible for the planning, design and marketing of a diversified global portfolio of projects and investments with a focus on smart cities and net-zero carbon technology integration.
- 2010-2015 - Reignwood Group; Global Director of Branding / VP International Business; Beijing; Project Management, Business Development, Branding and Marketing ; Responsible for brand management of a $6B global portfolio of diversified companies and investments across fifteen sectors including real estate, aviation, renewable energy, healthcare, and lifestyle culminating in the development of the Smart China Fund Portfolio and management of the OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) Project in partnership with Lockheed Martin.
- 2003-2009 - Newwork LLC; Creative Director; New York, Dubai; Co-founded small enterprise up to 35 employees and $2.5M per year consulting business in Real Estate Development, Urban Planning, Architecture, Design and Media.
Selected Published Works
- Cities as Convergent Autopoietic Systems in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Optimization Tools for Smart Cities; Designing for Sustainability, Springer (2022).
- Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence: Convergent Systems for Planning, Design, and Operations; Elsevier (2020).
- Defining the Middle Ground: A Comprehensive Approach to the Planning, Design and Implementation of Smart City Operating Systems; Springer (2015).
- Smart Asia: A New Platform for Collective Intelligence; Springer (2014).
- Urban Media: New Complexities, New Possibilities—A Manifesto, MIT Press (2011)
- Cybernetic Revisited; Towards a Collective Intelligence; Princeton Press (2011)
Note: please find links to papers below.
Academic / Teaching
- 2024 - Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Visiting Professor, Course on Smart Cities & AI.
- 2023 - Parsons School of Design, NY, Visiting Professor, Course on Smart Cities, AI & ML.
- 2020-2022 - Co-Director, Smart Cities Convergence Master’s Program, a joint program between The Polytechnic University of Milan and Tsinghua University Beijing.
- 2015-Present - Informatics Research Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading, England; Visiting Professor / Senior Consultant for Special Dean’s Initiatives.
- 2010-2015 - Tsinghua University, Academy of Art & Design, Beijing, China; Visiting Faculty/Lecturer; Established / Co-founded Design Beijing Lab at Tsinghua University.
- 1995-2012 - Parsons School of Design, Instructor and Thesis Advisor; Master of Fine Arts in Design and Technology Program.
- 1998 Fall - Harvard Graduate School of Design, Lecturer
- 1991 Fall - Harvard Graduate School of Design, Competition Coordinator Vienna, Austria
Advisor
- China National Smart City Joint Lab, China
- Asia Dialogue Society, Singapore
- Ban Chang Silicon Tech Park, Thailand
- Royal Elm Park Mixed-use Development, UK
SELECTED Publications
Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence: Convergent systems for planning, design, and operations
Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence: Convergent systems for planning, design, and operations
Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence: Convergent systems for planning, design, and operations
Cities as Convergent Autopoietic System in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence: Convergent systems for planning, design, and operations
Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence: Convergent systems for planning, design, and operations
Urban Media: New Complexities, New Possibilities—A Manifesto
Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence: Convergent systems for planning, design, and operations
Defining the Middle Ground: A Comprehensive Approach Smart City Operating Systems
Defining the Middle Ground: A Comprehensive Approach Smart City Operating Systems
Urban Phenomenology: Incorporating Dynamic Frames of Reference in the Design of Urban OS
Defining the Middle Ground: A Comprehensive Approach Smart City Operating Systems
Smart Asia: A New Platform for Collective Intelligence
Urban Phenomenology: Incorporating Dynamic Frames of Reference in the Design of Urban OS
Urban Phenomenology: Incorporating Dynamic Frames of Reference in the Design of Urban OS
Urban Phenomenology: Incorporating Dynamic Frames of Reference in the Design of Urban OS
Urban Phenomenology: Incorporating Dynamic Frames of Reference in the Design of Urban OS
Urban Phenomenology: Incorporating Dynamic Frames of Reference in the Design of Urban OS
INSTITUTIONAL RESOURCES
