The King’s Foundation and FormationQ Launch ‘Harmonious Urban Growth’ Programme to Help Cities Plan Sustainable Expansion Using Quantum Optimisation
Insider Brief The King’s Foundation and FormationQ launched a three-year initiative that will use advanced computational modelling and IonQ quantum technology to support sustainable urban planning across rapidly growing cities in the Commonwealth. The programme builds on The King’s Foundation’s Rapid Planning Toolkit, which was previously tested in Bo, Sierra Leone, to help guide development away from flood-prone areas while improving walkability and infrastructure planning. FormationQ, alongside urban planning consultancy Space Syntax, will use quantum optimisation methods to model complex city systems such as transportation, water networks, ecological corridors, and neighbourhood layouts in an effort to improve environmental resilience, public health, and infrastructure efficiency. PRESS RELEASE — The King’s Foundation and FormationQ today announced a new partnership to showcase how towns and cities across the Commonwealth can grow sustainably using quantum technology. The partnership, entitled Harmonious Urban Growth: A Health-Optimised Expansion Framework Using Quantum Methods, is a three-year programme designed to help cities grow sustainably while improving the health of people and the planet. The initiative will incorporate advanced computational modelling, including quantum optimisation enabled by trapped-ion systems from IonQ, to explore new methods for planning complex urban systems and sustainable town planning.Today, around 1.3 billion people live in unplanned settlements, and that number is expected to grow by well over one billion more in the next 30 years. When urban expansion occurs without planning frameworks, infrastructure and public services can struggle to keep up with population growth, creating long-term challenges for mobility, public health, and environmental resilience. Early planning helps cities become more livable, walkable and sustainable. In many of the places growing most rapidly, professional planning r
