LONDON is to become the world’s £45 million test-bed for the latest hi-tech gizmos designed to improve city life.

In a collaboration between Imperial College London, University College London and chip-maker Intel, a team of researchers is to develop the potential of real-time information and social networks to push at the boundaries of how future cities look and act.

“One example of how our research could work in practice is where there is a major leak from a water supply, flooding the roads,” said Edward Astle, Pro Rector Enterprise, Imperial College London.

“We could introduce a network of sensors that would detect the leak, divert the flow of water to prevent damage and wirelessly transmit information to transport authorities, so that traffic could be diverted, preventing congestion and general city-wide disruption.”

If they can have sensors for that, the grandly-titled Global Centre for Research in Sustainable Connected Cities can invent them for anything, probably, and we’ll all be in Logan’s Run territory before we know it, hopefully without the tacky age-limit.

While London is the HQ of the hi-tech city project, there will also be satellite Intel-sponsored teams throughout Europe, adding up to 350 researchers.

Earlier this month, the Greenwich peninsular was chosen as the test-bed for the Living Plan ITscheme, supported by Hitachi and Philips, which has broadly similar themes to the Intel project.

Other hi-tech city ideas for London include one called Catalytic Clothing, which features jeans that stop air pollution.