The King’s Foundation and FormationQ have announced a three-year partnership titled “Harmonious Urban Growth: A Health-Optimised Expansion Framework Using Quantum Methods.” The initiative aims to support sustainable urban expansion across the Commonwealth by integrating advanced computational modeling with traditional town planning. The program leverages IonQ’s trapped-ion quantum systems to address the “combinatorial complexity” of urban design, helping planners optimize large-scale interconnected systems such as water networks, transportation corridors, and ecological buffers.
The project addresses a critical global challenge: approximately 1.3 billion people currently live in unplanned settlements, a figure projected to increase by one billion over the next 30 years. Without structured frameworks, rapid urbanization often leads to informal settlement patterns that are difficult to reverse and strain public health and environmental resilience. The program builds upon The King’s Foundation’s Rapid Planning Toolkit, a methodology previously piloted in Bo, Sierra Leone, which focuses on identifying walkable areas and protecting flood-prone wetlands before development begins.
Quantum-Enhanced Urban Optimization
Urban planning involves balancing competing factors—such as infrastructure efficiency, economic accessibility, and environmental preservation—across millions of potential spatial configurations. By utilizing FormationQ’s optimization platform powered by IonQ, the initiative can analyze these complex interactions more efficiently than classical methods. This computational modeling will be supported by UK urban planning consultants Space Syntax, who contribute deep-tier expertise in digital city mapping and data analysis to create new platforms for understanding urban complexity.
Participatory Planning and Field Testing
A distinctive feature of the program is the integration of high-tech modeling with a high-touch participatory planning process. The computational outputs will inform local authorities and community representatives, who then review and shape a preferred spatial framework. Once a plan is finalized, it is tested directly on-site:
- Physical Marking: Streets, squares, and public spaces are physically marked on the ground to guide immediate development.
- Digital Mapping: The finalized layouts are digitally recorded to ensure long-term adherence to the sustainable framework.
This “closed-loop” model—combining quantum optimization with community involvement and physical field testing—aims to provide a scalable and reliable framework for cities in rapidly urbanizing regions to grow in harmony with the natural environment.
You can find the official announcement from The King’s Foundation here and the press release regarding the FormationQ and IonQ partnership here.
May 11, 2026
