The recent uptick of natural disasters in the Pacific Northwest is pushing researchers at Portland State University’s Digital City Testbed Center (DCTC) to explore ways to raise the public’s awareness about environmental threats. However, between communities that are distrustful of urban digital technologies and startups’ innovations that never gain traction, many tech-based solutions for increasing awareness of local and global problems are never deployed.
“The analogy that we've been drawing is with the COVID-19 vaccine,” DCTC Director Jonathan Fink said. “You have this miraculous technology, but it's not able to realize its potential because so many people have concerns about it and are reluctant to use it,” he said. “There's a similar issue in terms of climate change, particularly in cities where there are technologies that can help mitigate some of the effects.”
Read more: US: Oregon: Portland: Campus testbeds pilot smart city solutions to climate threats
Following the 'first wave' of the smart cities movement, local leaders describe how they have largely shifted from a tech-first to a resident-first approach.
Hindsight is 20/20. When asked how the smart cities movement has changed in the past five years, many city leaders describe how an early exuberance for the potential of new smart city technologies may have distracted them from their primary concern: the residents, their perspectives and their needs.
Read more: US: Smart city evolution: How cities have stepped back from a 'tech arms race'
Smart City Water Inc., a drainage asset management software and service company for the municipal industry has developed and launched a new approach to identify drainage system vulnerabilities that can cause significant damage to homes and businesses. Their latest finding implements a new method to understand how the overland flow and sewer systems interact and predicts how the sewers become overloaded due to excess surface water entering the underground pipes in ways not previously accounted for. This new approach adds powerful tools to the Visual OTTHYMO (VO) hydraulic and hydrologic modelling platform.
Read more: US: Smart City Water Develops a New Approach to Reduce Urban Flooding
Cities are changing the way they do business.
Governments in recent years have been pushing forward on digital transformation and service delivery modernization. It’s a vital part of broader smart city initiatives to better leverage data and technology to enhance the quality of life for urban residents.
Whether it’s regarding traffic and mobility, health and environmental wellness, crime and physical safety, or even economic development, smart city technologies are transforming the urban landscape as well as the government experience for constituents.
Read more: US: Enhancing Government Services While Strengthening Small Businesses
Fears of surveillance are big in urban resident’s minds
Amazon announced with great fanfare in 2018 that an area of Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., would be the location of its much-sought-after second headquarters. The area would be known as ‘National Landing,’ prompting residents of Arlington County, Virginia, to ask, “What the heck is that?” The National Landing name was a new umbrella term and part of a rebranding campaign by Amazon, developer JBG Smith, and local economic development committees. National Landing was never a term used by locals, and some residents mocked the name, saying the place didn’t even exist. Other residents were simply confused.