The project will comprise a Feasibility Study exploring the future development of the Tyne and Wear conurbation - drawing on expertise from Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland Councils supported by academic and business partners. The project will build on the area’s test bed philosophy and consider how integration and collaboration amongst public and private partners (such as IT, water and energy infrastructure providers) can provide further platforms for innovative companies, particularly SMEs, to test their ideas; create integrated management systems; reduce adverse impacts of manufacturing; enable healthy ageing; and reduce carbon emissions. The findings and thinking developed in the project will be freely available through public reports and the internet.