The first day of the online event confirmed that the smart cities sector is well aware of its destination but it’s how it gets there that will be the problem.
At SmartCitiesWorld’s inaugural advisory board meeting, Jeff Risom, chief innovation officer at Gehl Architects, explored how the public realm might be managed in the post-pandemic era.
SmartCitiesWorld City Profiles explore the city of Shenzhen, designated as China’s first special economic zone and a role model of urban modernisation. Find out more about Shenzhen’s smart city strategy in this 16-page report.
Our editor, gives his take on how smart cities are evolving. If you would like to receive these direct to your inbox as part of our weekly newsletter, make sure you sign up as a member (free!).
Members and regular visitors to our site won’t need to be told that SmartCitiesWorld has undergone a major redesign. Much like the cities and the technology featured on the site, we recognise that we ourselves must also evolve and react to changing times.
Discover how the city of Madrid is innovating to become a smarter, more sustainable city that’s able to deliver improved services to residents and visitors alike.
Join the next SmartCitiesWorld panel discussion to discover how AI can transform cities, enhancing operations and services for communities and empowering the workforce.
Tune into the latest Urban Exchange podcast, where guests from the city of Buenos Aires City Government and Yale University discuss the links between climate, health and inequity.
Tune into the latest Urban Exchange podcast, where guests from the city of Buenos Aires City Government and Yale University discuss the links between climate, health and inequity.
Our editorial newsletter pulls together our latest news items into one email, direct to your inbox. We also feature our latest city interviews, Special Reports and Guest Opinions.
When I think of cities, I think of my first time in Manhattan; getting out of the 8th Ave Port Authority bus terminal and just being swept away by the noise, the volume of people and the buildings towering above me. And then there was the pizza. It was pure awe.
The tragedy of the Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to think differently. This has led to some stunning technological breakthroughs - you only have to think of the lightning quick development of vaccines for one - and innovative new uses of existing technology.
Can you measure liveability? What do you deem important? The economy, healthcare, job prospects? Quality of bookshops and gyms, access to playgrounds (in my own case)?
The Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the centrality of technology to our lives - "you’re on mute" has become a catchphrase of frequent (too frequent?) Zoom meetings and videocalling has been an essential means for catching up with family or friends.
Michael Lewis, the forensic chronicler of the 2008 financial crash in The Big Short (among many, many other incredible books), made a headspinning comment this week: "There are six times more people over the age of 60 than under the age of 30 working in computer systems."
What’s important to you where you live? Waste is one area that is overlooked all too often, perhaps understandable given what it literally is, but you quickly realise when your city isn’t getting things right
You wait for stories on electric buses and then two come along at once. This week saw Gothenburg in Sweden and Charlotte in the United States announce plans to electrify their public transport networks.
There’s no place like home. And up until recently there has been no place that has built via a 3D printer. This week Elize Lutz and Harriet Dekkers got a digital key to their two bedroom bungalow in the Beatrix canal in the Eindhoven suburb of Bosrijk.
Momentum is building. Earth Day this week saw world leaders falling over themselves to promise even further cuts to climate emissions in a sign that our leaders are taking this issue seriously.
Joe Biden has hit the ground running as US president, determined to make up for the somewhat eventful four years of his predecessor in office, rebuild international alliances and, critically, put climate at the heart of his presidency.
It’s a strange time. Of course, it has been a strange time for well over a year but optimism surrounding vaccination rates in countries like Israel, the UK and Chile is being sharply tempered by fresh and sudden lockdowns in Europe, vaccine scepticism in some countries and a deadly and passive approach to the virus in Brazil.
First off, I would like to apologise to you for being unable to find a smart cities angle on the hapless ship stuck in the Suez Canal. I am sure you all have been as horribly fascinated with the story as I have and I regret being unable to write about it.
Can simplicity be damaging? This is a question I have been chewing over for most of the week. Many careers, journalism included, reward keeping it simple. It doesn’t mean limited or unambitious - it means engaging and inclusive.
George Orwell had a point when he once wrote: “The planting of a tree, especially one of the long-living hardwood trees, is a gift which you can make to posterity at almost no cost and with almost no trouble, and if the tree takes root it will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.”
Here in the UK, the phrase "build back better" is an inescapable mantra of the government as it looks to rebuild the economy following a successful vaccination programme (and take attention away from its chaotic handling of the pandemic itself).
Net-zero climate targets are ambitious and essential. But they can be onerous to some. How best to manage reducing emissions alongside fiscal challenges, generating employment, managing traffic networks and the myriad of daily challenges you face with the uncertainty of Covid-19 thrown into the mix?
It’s the little things that matter. Consider kerbs. For the majority of us they’re things we ignore (and occasionally trip over). For those with mobility problems they can be obstacles for travelling around a city, at times closing off parts of where they live
Covid has stopped many of us flying for business and leisure. ‘Think of the positive environmental impact’ is a common refrain in my house. And its true; transport accounts for 16 per cent of greenhouse gases.