Technology is becoming increasingly integral to city infrastructure, but does it actually enrich people’s lives?
More people are living in cities than at any other time in human history and at a time when technological advances can almost feel as if they are overwhelming us. We need to make sure that technology works for us in positive ways. Luckily, many cities around the world are starting to do just that. Read on to learn about five smart city initiatives around the world from Jakarta to Reykjavik that are all completely people-focused.
Smart city initiatives can give everyone a voice – Better Reykjavik
Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, uses a platform based on ‘Your Priorities’, developed by the Icelandic Citizens Foundation. For the last ten years, this web-based platform has actively encouraged democracy in Iceland; by providing a usable and intuitive way for groups of people to discuss and share ideas; for encouraging online debate; and as a way of prioritising and implementing ideas. Citizens of Reykjavik can use Better Reykjavik to submit proposals concerning anything from opposition to planned development to new playgrounds. Nearly 60 percent of Reykjavik’s citizens have used the platform and the city has developed over 200 projects suggested by these involved citizens. Better Reykjavik clearly demonstrates how technology can politically engage citizens in an overwhelmingly positive and productive way.
How Jakarta uses smart city initiatives to combat flooding
Jakarta is known as ‘Twitter City’ because of the massive numbers of its citizens that regularly use the social media platform. Developers of PetaJakarta decided to harness this feature of the population and use it in a productive way. PetaJakarta uses big data from social media to monitor floods. Flood reports are crowd-sourced from Twitter via an app called Qlue combined with a traffic management tool. Floods are a huge issue in Jakarta, but PetaJakarta’s real-time flood mapping in the city has massively improved flood-preparation and contingency planning.
Paris’ contribution to global smart city initiatives – ‘Madame Mayor I have an idea’
Parisians are now actively encouraged to participate and vote on ideas for projects in the capital, thanks to the website, ‘Madame la Maire, j’ai une idée’. Created by Paris City Hall, residents of the City of Light are invited to post comments on wide-ranging topics, such as the plans for the Olympic Games, due to be held in Paris in 2024, to models of how the city might look in the future. The website uses Assembl, a platform developed by an EU-backed research group, that is able to create a synthesis of thousands of views over a long period of time.
Seoul the Sharing City; how smart city initiatives can encourage a more efficient use of the city’s assets
The Sharing City Seoul Initiative is an attempt by the South Korean government to share assets, such as tools, office space and cars. Launched in June 2013, a platform called Sharehub lies at the heart of this laudable sharing movement, which has proven to be an inspiration to cities around the world. On Sharehub, users will find over 350 articles about sharing and a directory of sharing services and projects across Korea. There has also been a massive public engagement and education campaign. Interest in sharing has since taken off across South Korea, with numerous communities initiating their own sharing enterprises.
The USA’s Walk Your City – how a smart city initiative is helping to improve walkability
Cities in the USA are famous for being great for drivers but hard to access as a pedestrian. Walk Your City aims to make it easier for walkers to navigate city centres by producing signs that provide directions and inform them how long it will take them to arrive at their destination on foot. You can visit the Walk Your City website and request signs for your own city, which can be fastened to lampposts and include QR codes that can be scanned with a smartphone to bring up travel information via Google Maps.
Walking is an accessible, free and effective form of exercise. As obesity levels rise across the globe, smart city initiatives such as Walk Your City can be harnessed to improve population fitness levels. And, of course, another benefit is the reduction of polluting traffic on the roads.
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