Cities around the world are increasingly becoming dependent on technology as according to a report by NLC. These trends are disrupting workplaces and companies need to be aware of the changes and seek to adapt in order to remain competitive.
Smart cities - connected spaces where technology is integrated into business and social life - are growing. ABI’s Smart Cities Competitive Assessment report names Singapore as the world’s leading smart city, primarily due to innovations with driverless taxis and shuttles. Most other major capitals are following suite, developing automated and connected technologies. This leads to questions as to how the smart city is altering the way we work.
Weiterlesen: Global cities are increasingly becoming dependent on technology
The “smart city” is no mere futuristic fantasy, but a work in progress. Chris Carter analyses the trend’s rapid development and explains how you can profit from it.
The lights in the bedroom gradually brighten and you wake up feeling refreshed. You know you’ve slept well: the fitness and sleep tracker on your wrist says so. Downstairs in the kitchen, your refrigerator places an order for more orange juice just as you upend the last drop from the carton into your glass. The coffee-maker gurgles into action right on cue. After breakfast, the mirror in the bathroom bids you good morning and informs you that road-traffic sensors are reporting light traffic, while the leaves on the railway lines have been swept away. All trains are running on time. Oh, and the weather will be warm. So might the wardrobe suggest you wear summer clothes today? The sun is shining as you step outside. The car has charged overnight, when electricity is cheaper. It starts with a hum at the press of a button and you’re off on your way to work.
Weiterlesen: Invest in the clever and connected smart cities of the future
Ancient Rome was, at its peak, the greatest power in the world. Roman engineering and architectural achievements survive to this day in the form of aqueducts, roads, and buildings. Roman social institutions have survived for the long haul. And of course, the Roman military was a beacon of professionalism not seen again for hundreds of years. While Rome’s military was successful for numerous reasons, one factor, in particular, was the army’s focus on building group strength through individual contributions. The great Roman legions were powered by thousands of well-trained, well-equipped individual legionaries who collectively were more than the sum of their parts.
The same is true in smart cities, whether or not governments and planners acknowledge it. The best smart city initiatives in the world need to “talk” to buildings and local spaces in order to be fully efficient. To simplify, if the vision of smart cities is an operating system for urban areas, it doesn’t make much sense if each building in the city has its own OS, none of which can talk to each other.
Weiterlesen: When Building Smart Cities, Don’t Forget the Neighborhood
In 2006 the world experienced a unique phenomenon: for the first time in human history, the number of people living in urban areas equalled the number living in rural areas.
This was due to what is often labelled as the “biggest mass-migration in history”, where the world’s population is moving en masse away from rural areas into urban areas.
Weiterlesen: Smart cities key to Earth's future as urbanisation balloons
“If the essence of urban development is individual action, then a city can only be as smart as its citizens.” - Michael Batty, Bartlett Professor of Planning at University College London
Despite their recent surge in popularity, smart cities are not a new idea. In fact, their origins can be traced back a hundred years to the work of early 20th century urban planner Le Corbusier, who understood the home as a "machine for living in."
Weiterlesen: Smart Cities Are Built By Smart People Not Smart Things