Instead of adding layers of tech, we should be getting back to basics.
We have long complained about "smart" everything, writing in praise of dumb homes, dumb boxes, and dumb cities. We are not going to do that anymore: The use of the word dumb is ableist. We are also not alone in complaining about the silliness of "smart." Writing in Yale 360, Jim Robbins explains why the luster on once-vaunted smart cities is fading and looks at some of the smart city proposals on the boards and in the dumpster. He quotes Boyd Cohen, a professor and climate strategist at EADA business school in Barcelona, about what has to come first:
Weiterlesen: Enough With 'Smart Cities'—We Need Cities Done Right
With the passage of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, much-needed funds are starting to trickle down to states and cities. But how will localities spend their share?
While our nation’s roads, bridges, and highways need attention, the legislation also offers new opportunities for state and local agencies to lay the infrastructure of the future. And with two-thirds of the world’s population expected to live in cities by 2050, smart cities are a top priority.
Smart cities face new, exceptional challenges with new exceptional technologies. Those starting from scratch have seen a shakeout for reasons varying from push-back against people control to failing to raise the money. In contrast, work has begun on the NEOM smart city in Saudi Arabia and the more modest Toyota Woven City at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan that is, in some ways, more advanced. The IDTechEx report, "Smart City Materials, Systems, Markets 2022-2042" has the analysis and forecasts.
Weiterlesen: Smart Cities Pivot to Hydrogen and Other Priorities, Reports IDTechEx
After some notable disappointments in the development of 'smart city' projects, experts are increasingly critical of the movement to use tech to solve urban problems.
In a piece on Treehugger, Lloyd Alter outlines some of the criticisms of the 'smart city' concept, reminding readers that, despite the promises made by "smart garbage bins" or "smart parking systems," "almost every smart solution listed here is fixing a problem that could be solved in a simpler, low-tech way instead of adding a layer of complexity and 'smart.'" Planetizen previously covered Shannon Mattern's book A City Is Not a Computer, which describes the ways that the mentality prevalent among 'smart city' proponents clashes with the realities and unpredictabilities of real cities.
The global smart city market is expected to grow in terms of revenue from an estimated $129 billion in 2021 to $241 billion in 2025, according to data from Statista.
At the same time, experts are warning that cybersecurity cannot fall by the wayside as cities continue to roll out technologies to improve city services and make life easier for residents.
Weiterlesen: How to Make Cybersecurity a Priority for Smart Cities