Global survey reveals US planners, architects, and engineers ahead of global average on artificial

intelligence adoption

The research, commissioned by global sustainable development consultancy Arup, surveyed 5,000 professionals in urban planning, architecture, and engineering to identify global trends in the industry’s adoption of AI.  

Embracing AI: reshaping today’s cities and built environment examines AI attitudes and implementation by those shaping our cities across 10 countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Singapore, the UK, and the US. 

The results show that AI is widely employed by built environment professionals around the world, with a third of global respondents relying on it daily — and the US is ahead of the global average. The research revealed overwhelmingly positive attitudes, with a vast majority (80%) of US-based respondents saying they are very excited about the growing use of AI in the sector, seeing it as an opportunity. Notably, only 8% of respondents working in the US see it as a risk to jobs. 

Gideon D’Arcangelo, Digital Services Leader for Arup in the Americas, said: “It’s evident that AI is revolutionizing the built environment, with designers and engineers harnessing advanced digital tools and driving this transformation. As an industry, we can continue sharpening our focus, bringing technology and human ingenuity together to address some of the most complex challenges faced by communities and our environment.” 

The survey found that design and engineering professionals are using advanced tools far beyond chatbots and large language models like ChatGPT. Technical experts responding to the survey are using tools such as machine learning–based data analytics and data-based predictive analysis, science-based AI, large scale simulations, and evolutionary algorithms to tackle complex project work. They reported using these AI-powered solutions for work including decision making and scenario planning, project management, design work, and enhancing sustainability and energy efficiency. 

In the United States, Arup is already using AI-powered tools to augment the expertise of technical experts and enhance environmental benefits.  

In Florida, Arup and The Nature Conservancy are applying AI and ML to develop and test a watershed approach that integrates monitoring, forecasting, and automated controls to pilot a ‘smart’ watershed that continuously learns and adapts to changing conditions. This collaboration will establish an innovative framework for using AI and ML technology in water management and aims to demonstrate how emerging technologies can be applied to existing stormwater infrastructure to improve environmental outcomes. 

With a genetic algorithm, Arup helped Whole Foods reduce its carbon footprint for a store in San Francisco by modeling 2,500 possible energy saving solutions. Using AI to calculate options took just one week — a huge time saving to what would have taken over 10 years if done by hand. Following the success of the approach, Arup later applied the method for the Natural Resources Defense Council, where it identified 40% energy savings for their New York City headquarters. 

Arup’s in-house tools Terrain and UHeat use machine learning and satellite imagery to model the impact of climate change on our cities. And the firm’s Fuse platform streamlines coordination across teams and information for better management of large infrastructure projects.  

Many believe AI can help projects become more sustainable and help to tackle the climate and nature crises, citing solutions such as developing sustainable materials, optimizing renewable energy, and waste reduction and management. A quarter of surveyed US built environment professionals saw promise for AI in decarbonizing the sector. But the survey also found a similar percentage of professionals in the industry are concerned that the use of AI will increase computing demands and raise carbon emissions as a potential consequence. Looking ahead, digital infrastructure will continue to play a pivotal role in improving our built environment, especially as our world becomes more data driven. 

With the continually evolving AI landscape, a large majority of survey respondents reported feeling a need to regularly upskill to stay up to date with the latest AI tools, and close to half of US-based built environment professionals felt that their sector is falling behind others in the adoption of AI.  

Arup commissioned the research to show how AI is already changing the way cities and infrastructure are designed. The firm is calling for increased focus on developing AI tools that can help decarbonise the sector and restore nature, while delivering prosperity resilient infrastructure for a growing global population. In 2024, there was $252 billion of corporate investment in AI. Survey commissioners argue if just 10% of this investment was used to design AI for major challenges in the built environment, it could help radically transform the sector and improve people’s lives.

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