Case study

You are the lead project engineer at a firm specialising in smart urban development. Your firm, a subsidiary of a large multinational technology company, seeks to reclaim and redevelop an abandoned former heavy industrial site close to the centre of a large city. The project seeks to create an innovative high-technology neighbourhood, providing housing, employment, retail, leisure and medical facilities for around 5000 people of all demographics. The development will make use of sustainable zero-energy building technologies, integrated autonomous transportation, extensive use of robotics and wide area sensing networks to monitor and influence occupancy and usage patterns. The local authority has initially welcomed the project as a tool for addressing problems in the city of rising housing costs, poor air quality, CO2 emissions, traffic congestion, water use and waste disposal.

In return for its investment in the area, your firm seeks to secure a share of property taxes and development fees, and to benefit from the inevitable rise in land value. An influential citizen opposition group has questioned the involvement of a technology company in matters of city governance, and concerns have been raised about the transparency of the company’s dealings with the local government development corporation charged with overseeing the project. A recent public consultation has also called for all data harvested to be treated as a public asset.

Leaving aside the specifics of the technologies that may be employed, discuss the implications of designing and managing such a project within each of the following contexts (you are free to reason a set of potential outcomes, or to investigate one specific example in more detail)

Ethical implications (max 250 words)

What would be the likely ethical implications of your firm’s proposal? Refer to the Engineering Council’s ‘Ethical Statement’ document below for some guidance

Environmental Impact and Sustainability (max 250 words)

What direct and indirect impact would arise? Consider both threats and opportunities. Refer to the Engineering council guidance on Sustainability

Relevant legal framework (max 500 words)

Consider the legal framework (and by extension likely regulatory requirements) within which the development would be required to operate

Solution

Ethics, Sustainability and Legal Context

Introduction

This paper is about a firm that wants to reclaim and redevelop an abandoned former heavy industrial site. The project entails creating an innovative high technology neighborhood, offering housing, employment, retail, leisure, and medical facilities to about 5,000 people. The first paper of the paper discusses the ethical implications of the project. The second part analyses the direct and indirect impacts that would occur while the last part considers the legal framework within which the development would be needed to operate.

What would be the likely ethical implications of your firm’s proposal?

The engineering council created a statement of ethical principles that will have implications on the proposed project. The first implication is the need for honesty and integrity (Engineering Council). The undertaking of the proposed project must be one where there are honesty and integrity………………………………………To access the rest of the solution for $5, please click on the purchase button.