June 11, 2020

By Edge Technologies

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Companies around the world have found themselves in a new situation where unpredictable circumstances determine how we live and work. Many businesses struggle with adapting, although there are some who have been able to settle and move on. What determines a successful adaptation and what is the role of the physical environment in this process?
 

With a brand-new digital event series, EDGE focused on factors shaping our workplace together with partners in the industry. We defined 3 phases "Response – Recovery – Resilience" – according to Dr. Joseph Allen, author of Healthy Buildings and assistant professor at th Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. ​ 

Together with peers from various companies and excellent speakers such as Rick Fedrizzi, Rachel Gutter and Tim Oldman, we discussed these phases in a series of events. The perfect opportunity to gain insights and be prepared for the future! 

June 10, 2020

By Sam Kim

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South Korea is making a national push to reshape its economy around a concept called “untact.” Developed by a group of local consumer science gurus in 2017, untact envisions a future where people increasingly interact online and companies replace humans with machines to immunize themselves against the effects of rising wages and a rapidly aging workforce.

March 17, 2020

By Tim Ha

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South Korea’s ruling political party on Monday announced its ambition for the nation to adopt a Green New Deal and deliver net zero carbon emissions by 2050. If the plan goes through, the country—the world’s seventh-largest emitter—will be the first in East Asia to set a timeframe to end its contribution to climate change.

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In its manifesto for the upcoming legislative elections, the liberal Democratic Party of Korea outlined policies geared towards shrinking the country’s vast climate impacts. They include a carbon tax, a phase-out of domestic and overseas coal project financing, and large-scale investment in renewable energy.

By Phil Goldstein

Cities need to evolve their approaches to technology as they continue to face challenges such as congestion, pollution and crime, as well as new threats such as cyberattacks, climate change, and other emerging issues. 
 

“This new reality requires new approaches, leveraging a range of new technologies to create true strategy shifts,” said Dominique Bonte, vice president for end markets at ABI Research, in a statement.
 

One of the strategic shifts ABI identified in a recently released white paper, “5 Ways Smart Cities Are Getting Smarter,” that can help cities push ahead on smart city initiatives is the use of digital twin technology. Digital twins combine numerous technologies to create full-scale digital versions of real-world objects and processes, changing how cities are designed, monitored and managed.How Digital Twins of Smart Cities Will Develop

February 25, 2020

By Katie Jones

Urban populations are rising around the world, but cities are struggling to keep up.

As the silent force that has revolutionized our world, technology is now being leveraged to manage rapid urbanization and to create smarter cities.

Today’s infographic from Raconteur explores how the Internet of Things (IoT) has become a vital component in the creation of more efficient, sustainable, and resilient cities, and illustrates the growing impact this will have on both people and the planet.

February 18, 2020

By Joe Pobiner

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...Change is happening in cities big and small, urban and suburban. And it reaches beyond the recent expansions of mixed-use developments in formally monolithic areas like office parks and shopping centers. It involves fundamental shifts based on strategic or philosophical principles on “how” and “why” we develop. Three strategies stand out as key trends in urban development: Innovation Districts, Blue Zones, and EcoDistricts.

February 14, 2020

By Anthony Flint

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To build Masdar City, the provincial capital put in seed money for the estimated $20 billion cost. The project team, Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, brought in the British architectural firm Foster + Partners, which boasts impeccable eco-credentials. The vision was for a 2.5-square-mile neighborhood that would be close to carbon neutral, thanks to clean-energy wizardry, LEED-certified building design, and a giant adjacent solar panel farm.

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...The problem is, there aren’t many pedestrians to enjoy all the friendliness. The 4,000 office workers in the renewable energy startups arrayed around the property pop out for an espresso now and again, but the 1,300 residents seem invisible. (The original plan called for a population of 50,000.) 

June 22, 2018

By Linda Poon

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The Songdo International Business District, as it’s formally known, was built from scratch, on reclaimed land from the Yellow Sea. The 1,500-acre development sits an hour outside of Seoul and is officially part of the city of Incheon, whose proximity to the international airport and the sea makes it both a transportation hub and the gateway to Korea.

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It’s the heart of the greater Songdo city, and from its conception in 2001, the IBD was envisioned as a sustainable, low-carbon, and high-tech utopia. For Koreans, the city would have all the perks of Seoul—and more—but without the capital city’s air pollution, crowded sidewalks, and choking automotive traffic. And for foreign corporations looking for access to Asian economies, Songdo as a whole would be a glitzy business capital to rival Hong Kong and Shanghai. “The city aims to do nothing less than banish the problems created by modern urban life,” as one 2009 story declared.

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What it doesn't have: enough people.

November 03, 2017

By Mimi Kirk

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...Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman announced Neom last month. The $500 billion megacity, whose name is an amalgamation of neo—Latin for “new”—and “m” for the first letter in mustaqbal, the Arabic word for “future,” will span 10,000 square miles. That’s 33 times the size of New York City. The metropolis will skirt the northwest coast of the country on the Red Sea, even reaching north into Jordan and across the sea, via a bridge, into Egypt.

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Prince Mohammed envisions Neom as a hub for manufacturing, renewable energy, biotechnology, media, and entertainment, filled with skyscrapers, five-star hotels, and robots to free humans from repetitive labor. The website dedicated to the city proclaims that it will offer “an idyllic lifestyle…founded on modern architecture, lush green spaces, quality of life, safety, and quality in service of humanity paired with excellent economic opportunities.”

February 17, 2020

Articles by Fortune.com

The world has never been so urban. And humankind has never had so much riding on the success of our cities, which today generate over 80% of global GDP, according to the World Bank. They also produce 70% of greenhouse gas emissions. And as people continue to flock to urban centers in search of opportunity, the challenge of keeping these environments workable (and livable) continues to grow. To better understand how cities are adapting, our reporters went deep in three major metropolises: San Francisco, Shenzhen, and Toronto. We also solicited “city fixes” from a range of experts. Read on for insights into our shared urban future.

We prefer to say "reimagining the city"... but a nice report by Fortune on some global trends... including smart city.

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January 07, 2020

By Jane Lanhee Lee and David Shepardson

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Toyota Motor Corp said on Monday it plans to build a prototype "city of the future" at the base of Japan's Mt. Fuji, powered by hydrogen fuel cells and functioning as a laboratory for autonomous cars, "smart homes," artificial intelligence and other technologies.

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Toyota unveiled the plan at CES, the big technology industry show. The development, to be built at the site of a closed factory, will be called "Woven City" - a reference to Toyota's start as a loom manufacturing company - and will serve as a home to full-time residents and researchers.

February 14, 2020

By Credit Valley Conservation 

This video clip is a "must see" of a beautiful waterfront conservation area being developed by the City of Mississauga ... at the footsteps of Lakeview Village, our smart, sustainable community development.

​The Digital Innovation Appendix (DIA) provides updates to the Master Innovation and Development Plan (MIDP) which reflects the Threshold Issues resolution process. The DIA also provides further detailed information on the digital innovation proposals included in the MIDP, and provides an overview of Sidewalk Labs' approaches to responsible data use and inclusive design...

December 09, 2019

Public trust in Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple (GAFA) has never been lower and evidence suggests a wave of regulation will soon be unleashed against tech companies.

Data privacy is not disappearing as a dominant urban concern in the global environment, not for Silicon Valley, not for would-be smart cities around the world and certainly not for government regulators.

GlobalData’s recent Data Privacy report – by its Thematic Research team – warns that Big Tech’s golden age of light-touch regulation, strong political alliances and near immunity from prosecution is coming to an end.

Green Buildings—A Finance and Policy Blueprint for Emerging Markets shows how financiers, governments, developers and building owners can take the lead in shaping and accelerating this multitrillion-dollar business opportunity.

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From almost 15 years of investing in green buildings, IFC (International Finance Corporation) has learned that green buildings should be: 

• Certified as green under one of the internationally recognized certification standards or an approved national standard.

• At least 20 percent more energy efficient than a baseline building without energy-efficient design.16

• Able to quantitatively report impact metrics, such as energy and water savings, and greenhouse-gas emissions reductions.

When IFC provides credit lines to its client banks and other financial intermediaries for on-lending for green building projects, it requires eligible projects to be certified at least 20 percent energy efficient than the benchmark.17

By Shoji Nozaki, Technical Director, 3DS Business Transformation Japan, Dassault Systemes K.K.

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Agenda includes:

Dassault Systemes Overview
Smart City (Virtual Singapore)
Smart Mobility (AKKA Technology + Rennes City)

What is a Smart City? according to CNBC many governments around the globe are racing to infuse technology with just about every aspect of its city's operations. Mentions of Virtual Singapore, Smart Dubai, and Smart Barcelona.

The 1,500 acre Songdo International Business District (IBD) includes 45 million square feet of office space, 30 million square feet of residential space, 10 million square feet of retail, 5 million square feet of hotel facilities and 10 million square feet of public realm. Additional facilities include a K-12 International School, world-class hospital, museum and university campuses.

• Here is a video where in the pilot episode of a show called "Smart Cities", the host travels to Songdo, which they deem a "first - generation smart city", to find out more.

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• Below are two PDF files of the planning of Songdo City. Some great ideas but not all were implemented in the final design. 

  • Phase One, 2013

  • Phase Two, 2018

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• Check out this interview of co-founder Cha from the Korea Times in response to the development of Songdo with this eyebrow raising title: Smart City expert unimpressed with Songdo

November 20, 2019

ESI ThoughtLab announced the key findings from its Building a Hyperconnected City program, a year-long global study of 100 cities using technology to improve, connect, and secure all areas of their ecosystem. The study shows how cities can go beyond current smart solutions to become "hyperconnected" hubs generating large economic, social, and environmental benefits by linking key elements of their urban landscape - from transportation to public health and security, from government to business and residents. 

November 13, 2019

The leaders of Thailand's DEPA (Digital Economy Promotion Agency) gather together in this video to talk about how going "smart" has benefitted their city making it a better place to live, more livable, safer, and more efficient. Data is everywhere to analyze with AI face detection, car sharing systems, smart vehicle location tracking that helps monitor traffic, and more. The idea is to find what the real problem of the city is and to try and find the right solution using the data gathered.

 

PTK1, an 11-story building built in Peta Tikvah, Israel, can accumulate information, process it, and use Artificial Intelligence to make decisions with 14,000 sensors used to monitor the lighting, temperature, occupancy, ventilation, conference rooms availability, and parking.

To read more specifics on this building, please read the PDF document provided in the link below.

November 01, 2019

By Chris Teale

Data management has been one of the most controversial issues surrounding this project, with Sidewalk Labs having previously proposed a "data trust" run by a third party. The review said the proposal still lacked "greater specificity" on how it would function, or how it would handle a potential data breach. That "data trust" proposal was nixed and control over personal data taken by Waterfront Toronto, something that those close to the project said is a good thing.

October 31, 2019

The United Nations estimates that by 2050, the world’s population will rise nearly 30% to 10 billion. Global energy usage will be 50% higher, led by growth in Asia, according to data collected by the EIA. Ninety percent of this growth will take place in high populated urban areas and cities. Together these factors will put pressure on cities to become more sustainable, secure and mobile.
 

...Digital twins, in particular, are going to play a significant role in the operation of smart cities in the future. The twins are getting recognition as a valuable part of a building’s tech stack. This offers a comprehensive picture of the environment in real-time.

October 25, 2019

By Eleanor Gibson

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Italian architect Stefano Boeri has unveiled plans to create a forested smart city in Cancun, Mexico, that is designed to be a "pioneer" of more eco-efficient developments.

Smart Forest City Cancun is intended to be built on a 557 hectare site near the Mexican city. According to the architect it will contain 7.5 million plants, including numerous species of trees, shrubs and bushes chosen by botanist and landscape architect Laura Gatti.

October 10, 2019

By Sam Lubell

Vo Trong Nghia Architects, based in Ho Chi Minh City, infuses its work with lushly planted walls, hanging vines, structure-piercing trees, weathered stones and sunken landscapes. It also incorporates traditional Vietnamese building techniques, like complex bamboo trusses, perforated blocks, cooling water systems, shaded terraces and thatched roofs. Mr. Nghia’s firm also is expanding into prefab housing, urban farms, green towers, parks and urban plans around Asia.

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All these efforts are infused with a resolute vision: the creation of architecture that merges nature, local vernacular and — through modern materials and methods — contemporary design. Mr. Nghia sees such work as a way not only to refine the urban environment, but also to provide a sense of peace in the world.

As massive, complex organisms, cities somehow manage to deliver services, move products and goods, protect us, educate us, inspire us. But how can they do it smarter?

Check out Deloitte's collection of articles targeting Smart Cities.

August 28, 2019

By Reif Larson

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Scientists predict we've got about eleven years to vastly reduce global emissions before we're, in a word, screwed. That would require governments to dramatically restructure their economies. So where does that leave everyday people doing their best to recycle? A city in Sweden claims to have an answer. They claim to be the "most sustainable city in the world." GQ sent novelist Reif Larsen to find out what we can learn from the good people of Gothenburg.

August 24, 2019

By Alita Sharon

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Taiwan’s capacity to support smart cities is growing. The region is looking to work closely with partners to help the world innovate on the future of cities and tech. The potential for drone technology to improve smart city applications were also discussed.

July 31, 2019

• One Bangkok showcases world-class masterplan for country’s largest fully-integrated district with
  an ambition to be a new global landmark 

• District will set new standards in design, quality, sustainability and smart city living, aiming to become the first LEED-Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) Platinum project in Thailand

• Masterplan outlines Grade A commercial offices, residences, retail, hotels plus art and culture spaces within the state-of-the-art project

• 430-metre Signature Tower to be one of ten tallest buildings in ASEAN, offering visitors panoramic views of Bangkok’s skyline.

June 18, 2019

By Anthony F. Pipa

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When countries adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, the inclusion of SDG 11 highlighted the importance of urbanization to sustainable development, and committed national governments to support cities in becoming more inclusive and resilient.

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Four years in, it is clear that cities matter for much more than SDG 11. Mayors and local government officials are demonstrating that cities form the front lines of SDG success, as they translate the agenda’s global aspirations into a blueprint for local progress.

July 12, 2019

IEC Systems Committee on Smart Cities and the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee for ICT two key international smart city standards committees, convened for the first time ever when Connected Places Catapult hosted the International Smart Cities Standards Conference on 17 July 2019.

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Bringing these two committees together represents a significant step in the right direction for the development of smart cities standards. Based on the latest research carried out by the Connected Places Catapult and Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC), we found that cities and industry often find it hard to access and understand smart city standards. While standards serve many different purposes, such as ensuring functionality and reliability in the products and services we use every day, the work that goes into developing a standard is often overlooked. Developing a standard is not easy. 

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To view the morning and afternoon sessions, please visit these links:

Morning Session

https://futurecities.zoom.us/recording/play/RSdWjqpXMqDCC0a_R4LZ6DXpBAnYs6F27V10XtJ-80jzvRNATuD8VolIJKYzQnbn?continueMode=true

Afternoon session

https://futurecities.zoom.us/recording/play/6sHmFpssyXKGYVRno1AP-2dem6sjllxYC99Rqy9c5eD4AVj70uPvw1x0_27QNsey?continueMode=true

July 10, 2019

By Mike Brown

Hayes Barnard, one of the key figures behind making solar energy affordable, now wants to use the technology to drive an even bigger change: safe, clean water for everyone.

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The former chief revenue officer at SolarCity, which merged with Tesla in November 2016, Barnard now serves as founder and president of GivePower. The non-profit organization, launched by SolarCity in 2013, recently built what it calls the “BLUdrop,” or “basic life unit,” a desalination system that uses solar panels to produce reliable, drinkable water.

By ESI ThoughtLab

In today’s digital age, becoming a smart city is vital for attracting business, residents, tourists, and talent, and for ultimately fostering growth and prosperity. But the path to a smart city future is often unclear to urban leaders, who require a deeper grasp of the approaches that will drive the best results.

To provide cities with a more effective roadmap, ESI ThoughtLab teamed up with a coalition of organizations with urban and technology expertise to conduct ground-breaking research into the impact of smart city solutions on urban performance.

June 24, 2019

Alphabet-owned Sidewalk Labs, has faced steep criticism from citizen groups, etc. and in response has released a 1500-page draft plan for a “smart” high tech urban development in Toronto, Canada, and it shows the Google sister company is reigning back some of its involvement in many ways, amid local pushback.

Access to the document is also available for view on our website

in our Resources section.

June 18, 2019

By Anthony F. Pipa

Serious local implementation will not go to scale if cities see the SDGs primarily as a compliance exercise or yet another reporting framework. The cities that gathered are embracing the SDGs because of the worth they provide to their citizens. The themes that run through these initiatives are indicative of the utility of the SDGs for cities: Making data a cornerstone for cities and their constituents, Financing and shaping the market to meet city-specific SDG needs, and Building new models of local governance.

April 01, 2019

By Sasaki

Lakeview Community Partners Limited (“LCPL”) is pleased to announce the selection of globally-renowned design firm Sasaki as Lead Master Plan Architect for the development of Lakeview Village in Mississauga. Sasaki was chosen to help refine and improve the initial master plan, concluding an international search that included interest from more than 30 local and global firms.

“We’re excited to have Sasaki join the Lakeview team,” said Fabio Mazzocco, President, Lakeview Community Partners Limited. “We have a unique opportunity to transform Mississauga’s waterfront, and Sasaki’s international experience will help us to not only create a destination in the Greater Toronto Area, but a model for future mixed-use waterfront development around the world.”

By Dominic Wilson, Pi Labs

Over the past decade, e-commerce offerings and home delivery services have flourished as traditional retail has declined. This has largely been the result of changes in consumer preferences — and that same phenomenon is driving shifts in the commercial and office real estate industry too.

Thanks to the decoupling of work and location in recent years, the flexible workspace industry is booming. According to projections from the coworking magazine Deskmag, 1.7 million people were working from approximately 19,000 coworking spaces worldwide by the end of 2018. Companies seeking to meet the demands of a more mobile workforce are rethinking traditional office setups and turning to coworking spaces to house their workers instead.

October 24, 2018

By Forbes Insights Team

It takes smart planning to build a smart city—a seamless synergy of high-tech experts, business visionaries, academics and, above all, forward-thinking civic leaders. Yet before the first sensor is locked in place or the first network switched on, the build must gravitate around the most precious resource of all. A recent study by Juniper Research and Intel puts it best: For all the dissections and analyses of what makes smart cities great, “they do not sufficiently account for the most important part of the city itself: its citizens.”

January 23, 2019

By ITSInternational

More than two-thirds of people do not know what a smart city is - and around a quarter find the concept worrying due to lack of available information, says a new study. 

ATG Access surveyed 1,000 UK participants and found that just 24% of people in this category believe the concept would improve overall safety.

Smart Cities: Turning the dream into a reality says educating the public on how smart cities can help solve challenges on traffic congestion will be key to solving consumer reservations. 

January 14, 2019

By Ron Nyren

With the popularity of walkable urban environments on the rise, more developers are turning to mixed-use projects, usually bringing together some combination of office, housing, and shops, sometimes with a hotel or community-serving uses. The following 10 mixed-use projects—all built during the past five years—help activate the public realm by weaving in open space, pedestrian and transit connections, or ground-floor retail and dining options. They include two projects that incorporate schools, two that involved converting buildings originally erected to support international sporting events, a shopping mall redeveloped to add a library and a hotel, and a transit-oriented development that provides affordable housing and a multicultural community center.

December 19, 2018

By SmartCitiesWorld News Team
 

Sejong in South Korea has become the first city in the world to receive ISO 37106 certification from the British Standards Institute (BSI).

The ISO (International Organization for Standards) 37106 (Sustainable cities and communities – Guidance on establishing smart city operating models for sustainable communities) designation has been awarded to Sejong to acknowledge that it has achieved world-class performance and maturity against the indicators of the smart city framework.

November 21, 2018

By Sidney Fussell

In Toronto, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, hopes to create the sensor-filled metropolis of tomorrow...

In Silicon Valley, to make a device "smart" means to add internet connectivity, allowing it to collect, send, and receive data, often while learning and adapting...

 

August 31, 2017

By Alexander Gelsin
 

A growing number of cities around the globe are testing smart waste management solutions to create higher efficiency in terms of resources and costs associated with keeping their cities clean.
 

While equipping the bins of private households with latest sensor technology is tested only by a few cities (like Santander in Spain or Montreal in Canada), several cities start in public spaces with implementing smart waste management solutions.

By Rani Samtani

Cities around the world—including those in Southeast Asia—aspire to become smarter, so as to improve the quality of living for their citizens. To synergisethese efforts amongst member states of the Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN), Singapore has proposed the formation of an ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) under its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2018. This platform will facilitate cooperation on smart city development, share best practices and explore common technological solutions.

November 07, 2018

By Memoori, Smart Building Research

Window real-estate is growing, of course, in fact modern buildings are increasingly using glass to construct their entire façade. The standard image of a skyscraper today is one of floor to ceiling windows giving occupants incredible views and allowing natural light to flood into offices. Research has found that natural light has a significant impact on health, wellbeing, and productivity, so it makes sense for buildings to maximize the size of their windows.

November 05, 2018

By Smart Cities World News Team

The Smart Cities Council and Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) have published a new benchmark for urban development practices across greenfield communities, urban regeneration precincts and diverse institutional campuses.

The Code for Smart Communities applies to the areas of telecommunications connectivity, data insights, digital planning practices and innovation districts.

November 02, 2018

By Mark Troester

Companies across all sectors report a growing need for data scientists. But are there enough to go round, and how can the public sector attract them?

October 23, 2018

By Andrew Williams

Ubiquitous sensors in mobile robots, aerial drones, and autonomous vehicles, plus connections to municipal infrastructure through the Internet of Things, promise more efficient delivery of utilities and reduced traffic, among other things. While the variety of sensors and applications for smart cities has grown rapidly in recent years, a lot of work remains, especially in the areas of machine learning to analyze and interpret the data from these sensors, experts and observers said.

August 21, 2018

By Frank Van Geertruyden
 

Smart city managers are facing a daunting task. Depending on their size, location, population and numerous other factors, every city has different needs and requirements. And to make things worse, the smart city market is currently neither transparent nor digitalized, making it extremely difficult for them to see the forest through the trees and find the appropriate solutions for the problems their cities are facing.
 

bee smart city, founded in 2017, has one simple goal: to accelerate the development of prosperous and livable smart cities and communities around the globe. To this end, they provide an efficient toolset for smart city analysis and for facilitating collaboration and the successful implementation of the best smart city solutions available.

August 08, 2018

By Lizzi Goldmeier

The term Smart City is more likely to conjure an image of a bustling, sprawling metropolis than of a small or suburban community. But cities of all sizes can become “smart,” because the foundation of every Smart City is the ability to collect and utilize data collected by intelligent sensors for streamlining city operations and public safety. Small cities can drive their Smart City transformation with these five attainable approaches: 
 

1. Optimize Intracity Connectivity

2. Encourage Information Sharing

3. Enable Real-Time Response

4. Drive Sustainability Initiatives

5. Promote Security and Economic Growth

Government of India has released a list of 20 smart cities out of the 98 shortlisted for the 'Smart Cities Mission' as first step towards redeveloping urban area. These 20 cities will be the first to receive funds, thus kick-starting the process of developing them into 'smart cities'. The next two years will see the inclusion of 40 and 38 cities, respectively. Of the 98 cities and towns that five years down will graduate into smart cities, 24 are capital cities, another 24 are business and industrial centres, 18 are culture and tourism influenced areas, five are port cities and three are education and health care hubs.

By Jonathan Hills and Tom Duncan

...The next era of urban innovation will be based on advances in technology. This time, however, progress will be in the digital realm, where emerging technology such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) is facilitating the emergence of Smart Cities featuring advanced information and communication technology, helping drive sustainable development and improving the quality of live. 

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This ViewPoint by CBRE Research explains how real estate ha key role to play in Smart City development and is also set to be one of the major beneficiaries of this new technology. It also includes a summary of several major Smart City initiatives currently underway in Asia Pacific.

November 03, 2018

​By Lance Wang

...AI’s potential to ease traffic congestion offers tangible benefits for many of Southeast Asia’s rapidly urbanising cities, where crowded roads are an uncomfortable part of daily life for many people. According to transportation intelligence firm Inrix, Thailand topped the list as the most congested country for the second year running... Integrating AI into current traffic management system is one way for cities to optimize road conditions and enhance urban transportation planning.

The scene is set for an AI-driven future, and by extension, an AI-enabled workforce. AI and automation are reconfiguring the workplace, reshaping operations, processes, workflows and business models. At the same time, such investments in AI are augmenting employee skills and capabilities, paving the way for a future-ready workforce. For instance, AI can help replace manual and repetitive tasks, freeing up employees for more skilled and meaningful work.

October 19, 2018

By Niall Patrick Walsh

The Insider Labs program seeks out start-up and established firms to work alongside Microsoft experts from three bases in Redmond USA, Shenzhen China, and Munich Germany. Products are developed, prototyped, and tested for market commercialization, steering the course of how citizens will use future urban environments.

More information about the Microsoft Internet of Things Insiders Labs, including details on how to apply for the program, can be found here.

October 12, 2018

By Vietnam News
 

Smart city planning should place people at the centre of development, with no one left behind, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam said on October 11 at an international conference held in Bình Dương Province. 

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Đam said: “We are living in a world of modern technology where there are both opportunities and challenges. If a country is willing to take the lead in innovation and technology application, it will benefit more than others.”
 

In recent years, building smart cities has become increasingly affordable with the use of advanced technology. 
 

However, Đam noted that smart cities must be built according to the conditions of each country.

September 09, 2018

by Noman Akhtar: Smart cities analyst & Kevin Hasley, executive director of performance benchmarking, IHS Markit

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The notion of a smart city — and the benefits that they can provide — is especially pressing given the world’s rapidly growing urban population. According to the United Nations, more than 55 percent of the earth’s population live in cities today, with that percentage is expected to expand by a factor of 1.2 during the next 30 years.
 

Such fast, often-unprepared-for growth leads to related economic and social issues. Smart city technology can help address urban challenges, especially in the areas of resource allocation and management.

If cities across the globe were to universally adopt smart city technology, what would the benefits be?

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Major cities from around the world have been ranked across 4 key factors in technology: mobility, healthcare, public safety and productivity, with the goal of evaluating how they might deliver positive citizen outcomes in terms of improving quality of life.

Visit this website now to hover over the map to see which cities are adopting smart city technology and leading the way in giving time back to its citizens.

June 28, 2018

By Venture Smarter

The Smart Cities Readiness Guide® is the first collaborative and comprehensive framework for a smart city, against which cities can assess their readiness to innovate,  identifying a path, taking next steps and measuring their progress. The Guide is a conceptual roadmap to address growth strategies by focusing on universal principles that unite key areas such as energy,  transportation, water and public safety.

January 01, 2020

The Smart Cities Project Activator will collect, analyze and visualize data about smart city projects and decision makers.  The Project Activator will be used by cities, solution providers and investors to cut the time it takes them to define their future ecosystems by 70%, gain stakeholder agreement up to 30% faster, develop early prioritization and consensus on smart city projects, accelerate the scoping of those projects. and ultimately, speed up the delivery of benefits to city residents.
 

The Smart Cities Project Activator will enable a Readiness Program already proven to work for Smart City Council members. The program includes a collection of resources for cities tackling smart city projects, the opportunity to participate in a challenge, local readiness workshops, a defined readiness road map, project scoping templates, assistance with financing and access to skilled readiness ambassadors.

June 26, 2018

By Lily Maxwell

The term ‘smart city’ is everywhere at the moment, but it is still mostly discussed in reference to familiar names - Amsterdam, Barcelona, Toronto, Vienna - the usual suspects. This overlooks the innovative projects and smart city solutions being implemented in less well-known cities across the globe, and suggests that the world’s major capitals are the only leaders in this space. In this article we are therefore going to take a brief look at the world’s smart cities that we believe deserve more attention in 2018. Some are big, others are small, but, regardless of their size and location, they’re all making themselves ‘smarter’ for the benefit of their citizens

Smart City innovations offer mayors across the world a promising new way of engaging citizens and increasing quality of life. To offer city leaders guidance on assessing the readiness of their governments to develop, facilitate, or track their smart city initiatives, Eden Strategy Institute and ONG&ONG (OXD) developed this independent ranking of the Top 50 Smart City Governments, selected from over 140 cities globally. 

The demand for living in cities is already high, but it seems that this is only set to increase.
The United Nations’ World Cities Report predicts that by 2050 over 70% of the world’s population will be living and working in cities — one of many reports predicting that cities will play an important role in our future.

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“A smart city is characterised by the integration of technology
into a strategic approach to sustainability, citizen well-being and economic development.”

— Scoring methodology, Juniper Research, 2017

April 09, 2018

By Swetha Mahesh

The populations of cities are growing. In fact, 54 percent of the earth’s population lives in cities, and according to the Population Reference Bureau, that figure is expected to grow to 70 percent by 2050.

This increase in global urban migration brings new challenges to ensuring the safety, convenience, and security of residents, prompting city planners and governments to look at “smart” city technologies to solve daily municipal problems and enhance the quality of life of citizens. 
 

April 09, 2018

By Nichola Saminather

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Sidewalk Labs was chosen in October based on a proposal that included autonomous vehicles, a thermal grid that does not use fossil fuels, low-cost modular buildings with flexible uses, and robotic delivery and waste-management systems. The company settled on Toronto after searching for sites across North America, Europe and Australia to create a smart city. 

A development plan is expected to be approved by the Sidewalk and Waterfront Toronto boards by the end of 2018, and the first residents could move in as early as 2022, CEO Dan Doctoroff said in an interview.

March 23, 2018

By Property Report

Facebook is soliciting more public opinion on Willow Village, its upcoming master-planned community in Silicon Valley.
 

The social media giant hosted this week its third open house consulting locals on plans for the 59-acre mixed-use development. It will offer 1,500 apartments to its growing employee base in California.

The open houses are part of an 18-month planning process for Willow Village before construction.

March 20, 2018

By Tony Mulhall

Interactions between governments and citizens, between citizens themselves and between individuals within organisations, such as employers, healthcare systems and educational institutions, all make up the life of a city.

March 15, 2018

By Teena Maddox

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The chief digital officer of the city of London talked to TechRepublic at SXSW to discuss what's next in smart city technology in order to make London the "smartest city in the world."

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London is in the midst of change with a new plan being developed to push the city forward in the smart city realm.

Five years ago, government officials developed the Smart London Plan to help the city manage its transport, social, economic and environmental systems, but that plan is dated and needs an overhaul.

March 09, 2018

By Thomas Maresca

This was supposed to be the future. Songdo, an instant city built on 600 hectares of reclaimed land along the Incheon waterfront near the South Korean capital Seoul, has ridden wave after wave of eco- and techno-utopian hype that started before its first brick was laid.

Songdo was conceived in 2001 as a public-private partnership between New York-based Gale International, Korea-based POSCO E&C and Incheon Metropolitan City. Construction began in 2005, and it is now in a third phase of development. Some 45,000 people call the well-designed high-rise buildings of IBD home, while the greater metropolitan area has grown to more than about 130,000 residents. 

Smart Cities Council Australia in collaboration with Consult Australia created this guide looking to bring greater clarity and opportunity to the smart cities market place.

It is key to make sure our city designers and builders are on the journey. Embracing technology and data solutions can truly help accelerate sustainability, livability and workability outcomes for communities, and the infrastructure and development projects that underpin them.

February 20, 2018

By Teena Maddox

"Smart Cities have recently evolved from a collection of discrete flagship projects to a sizeable market opportunity that will drive significant technology investments in 2018 and beyond," said Serena Da Rold, program manager in International Data Corporation (IDC)'s customer insights and analysis group. "IDC believes that the strategic priorities we identified will drive digital transformation across cities of all sizes, but our research demonstrates that there can be significant differences in the focus of investments across regions." 

February 09, 2018

By Sophia Stuart

 

Why Denver? Because, as Wendt explained, his team was pleasantly surprised at the lack of bureaucratic holdups. Agencies in Colorado — across energy and utilities, transport, housing, big business — were ready to go.

“At Panasonic, we’re not political; we just want to get things done,” said Wendt. “So when the governor of Colorado, the mayor and all the stakeholders here in Denver, said: ‘This area could be your living lab and become the US version of your success in Japan,’ we said: ‘We’re listening.’ Because, we know, if you can’t get all those stakeholders in alignment, our ability to be effective deteriorates significantly.”

February 07, 2018

By Matthew McCartney, Priyanie Amerasinghe, and Ignacio Ortinez​

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In an era of rampant land development and increasing climate unpredictability, the world is growing used to alarming images of flooded city streets.

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But cities themselves can combat these floods by turning into “sponge cities.” By utilizing wetlands – wet areas such as marsh, swamps or shallow ponds – as well as green spaces and floodplains, a city can absorb large amounts of water before it submerges its streets. 

January 03, 2018

By Johannes L. Chua

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According to an article released by Greenfield, its project showed that “21st century digital living is no longer the stuff of fantasy but a practical and useful reality that residents are now experiencing. It will soon be the norm rather than the exception.” The smart home promises a futuristic home experience... will this become a norm – or still an exception – among developers selling their homes in 2018?

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In broad terms, a smart city is one that is “a developed urban area that is sustainable, offers high-quality living to its residents, has world-class infrastructure, and more importantly, one that harnesses efficient technology.” Add to that, some would also define a smart city as one that is “governed efficiently, has an effective transportation system and traffic management, and offers venues for recreation, healing and wellbeing.”

December 06, 2017

By Mark Eltringham

Smart city technologies could save businesses, governments and citizens globally over US$5 trillion annually by 2022 according to a new whitepaper from ABI Research (registration required). The new white paper analyses the scope for cost savings and efficiency as a driver for smart city deployments, smart technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT). According to the report, titled ‘Smart Cities and Cost Savings,’ the use and deployment of IoT and smart technologies will be pivotal to the future success of smart cities, but only if players collaborate to embrace a holistic approach. With higher concentrations of people and enterprises in cities as a result of urbanisation, smart city and IoT technology, along with new sharing and service economy paradigms, will be key for cities to optimise the use of existing assets, maximise efficiencies, obtain economies of scale and ultimately create a more sustainable environment. Automation, artificial intelligence, along with sensors, data-sharing and analytics, will all be critical in helping cities save costs.

November 27, 2017

By Zach Edelson

While tech giant Alphabet recently announced it would develop 12 acres of Toronto waterfront into a smart-city-technology testing ground, a similar undertaking has already begun 12 miles south of Boston. Developer LStar Ventures has big plans to turn this 1,500-acre site, dubbed Union Point (formerly South Weymouth Naval Air Station), into a “smart” development that will specially cater to technology companies.

November 19, 2017

By Sarah Barns
 

Sidewalk Labs, the urban innovation startup owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, has announced a partnership with the City of Toronto to develop a new waterfront precinct. Time to ask Google: can you build a city?
 

The Quayside precinct, dubbed “Sidewalk Toronto”, is to become a 500-hectare sandpit for testing a suite of new tech products. The aim is to radically re-imagine the way a city is made.

November 17, 2017

By Leana Garfield

 

When residents of the International Business District (IBD) in Songdo, South Korea go to work, pick up their kids from school, or shop for groceries, driving is optional.
 

That's because the $35 billion district — currently a work-in-progress about the size of downtown Boston — was designed to eliminate the need for cars. 
 

A project that began in 2002, the area prioritizes mass transit, like buses, subways, and bikes, instead of road traffic, according to Stan Gale, the chairman of Gale International, the developer behind the IBD.

When completed by 2020, the district will span 100 million square feet.

November 12, 2017

By Romana D. Brown

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The Gulf nations are constantly acquiring increased visibility in the establishment of smart cities worldwide, with Dubai developing as the most prominent smart city. The region has acquired great strides in a shorter period of around 10 years since the establishment of its e Government in the year 1999.

In simple words, a smart city is like a playing field where authorities can link individuals to the public organizations via online and mobile governments. Smart cities facilitate the revolution of public services and sequentially improve the convenience for inhabitants. One of the crucial consequences of cities getting smarter is the digitization of governments that allow for the provision of services to people in a citizen-friendly way. e Government and m Government services are making services less seamed and available to the public – particularly for the people isolated or have decreased mobility. Although citizens are always the players in the digital system, and thus, new technology is more centered around involving people and taking control.

November 06, 2017

By Teena Maddox

A report from the National League of Cities shows that US cities are incubators for new technology, and a sharing economy is a major part of the plan for many municipalities.  Also according to this report, Smart city growth continues to expand, with 66% of cities reporting that they are investing in smart city technology, and 25% of those without any smart city systems are exploring how to implement it,

October 26, 2017

Bas Boorsma currently serves as Cisco’s Digitization leader in North Europe. In this role he orchestrates Cisco´s regional efforts that allow for the digitization of Cisco customer operations, partner operations and Cisco itself. Bas has a rich background as a City Digitization specialist. In that capacity he has managed a portfolio of smart city endeavors globally. Bas is the author of “A New Digital Deal” (September 2017).

In his recent book “A New Digital Deal” the various building blocks for successful smart city strategies have been examined and articulated. Among the most important: the delivery models and the business architectures that accompany them.

September 27, 2017

By SmartCities World

Businesses around the world could achieve vast financial savings in reduced rental costs if their buildings were refurbished to the most efficient standards and in a way that uses space more effectively, new research finds.

August 04, 2017

By Kate Wilson

Wavefront, similarly to Re-Imagining Cities Foundation, helps small early-stage companies get started by helping them focus their ideas and energy, helping them grow in size, and then connecting these smaller companies' emerging technologies to larger organizations.  

In the last 10 years, Wavefront has connected with somewhere between 800 and 1,000 companies with the desire to create smart cities to help the planet become more sustainable.

July 06, 2017

By Catherine Talavera, The Philippine Star

 

“The project’s ultimate goal is to create social mobility for Filipinos and an international destination for cultural integration,” HPA deputy managing director Nicholas Ho told The STAR in an email interview.

Ho said the public-private partnership project between the international consortium and the city government of Manila aims to create the biggest smart city in the world.

April 03, 2017

By Barns, McNeill, Cosgrave, and Acuto

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Up until now, “Smart Cities 1.0” investments were dominated by relatively small, experimental systems in vertical “data silos” and failed to demonstrate real, scalable benefits.  The emerging logic of “Smart Cities 2.0" is quite different and focuses on creating platforms for data access, sharing, re-use and inter-operability. 

We look for collaboration partners to help us deploy Smart Cities 2.0 throughout Asia in what we refer to as the cloud based "Living Lab" big data platform upon which to accelerate next gen sustainability solutions and innovation.

April 01, 2017

By Katie Mcbeth

Smart cities aren’t all they are cracked up to be—yet. Many of the advancements in science have caused even larger hurdles. Instead of creating a dream world where technology streamlines everything, smart cities have fallen victim to environmental hazards and bureaucratic shortfalls.

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But if researchers aim their sites at the right obstacles, a tech and human collaboration could be on the horizon. How can new technology help solve many of the smart city’s pitfalls? See how the circular economy could help us reach true smart cities in the near future.

December 08, 2016

By Hazel Sheffield

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Sweden is so good at recycling that, for several years, it has imported rubbish from other countries to keep its recycling plants going. Less than 1 per cent of Swedish household waste was sent to landfill last year or any year since 2011.

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Sweden is a top performer when it comes to sorting and recycling its waste and is in the rare situation of lacking garbage at its incineration centres, which produce enough electricity to supply 250,000 homes and heating for 950,000 homes.

September 20, 2016

By Ken Ranger

We are on the brink of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” – “a fusion of technologies” that represents an exponentially fast transformation unlike anything humanity has experienced before.  “Smart Cities” is now a buzzworthy topic that has spurred regions across the globe to determine how best to incorporate digital technology and ICT into city planning to create efficiencies and improve services for citizens.  Cities must realize their true potential as connected entities capable of taking on important challenges and providing better, more cost-effective services to their citizens, recognizing the true potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

July 27, 2016

By Henrik Evensen, RW

People are increasingly migrating from rural to urban areas. By 2050, about 86 percent of people in developed countries and 64 percent of people in developing countries are expected to live in cities. Because cities will absorb future population growth, it is crucial to use resources more efficiently. How will smart city technology make the urbanization process as smooth as possible?

May 14, 2014

By Sue Lebeck

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This brief compilation of emerging standards reveals the breadth of smart city subject, the value of collaboration, the opportunities for innovation and the potential for 21st century transformation. Starting with the ICT enablers that drive smart cities, this multi-part sampling will touch also upon energy, water, transportation, the built environment, carbon and climate, resilience, community, materials and food, finance and economic development, city business and measurement indicators.