Urbanization and smart cities

Abstract

Abstract The shift from rural to urban societies and predominantly urban culture is a global trend with significant consequences for environment quality. Chapter 7, “Urbanization and Smart Cities,” focuses on the challenges of global urbanization by recognizing the potential of integrating physical, social, ecological, and technological infrastructures. Climate change and social inequality are the present-day calamities and part of the sustainable development goals to be addressed while redefining the 21st century city as an agent of resilient change. The essential links between environmental systems, sustainability, public space, social justice, and information and communications technology (ICT) need to be reinforced through urban design and planning of our cities. In this chapter, innovative solutions from across the globe reflecting efficiency and flexibility in urban services have been discussed as examples of ICT-information and communications technology related initiatives for improving the quality of life index of our cities. Across multiple dimensions, the scale and speed of urbanization is unprecedented, and especially so in developing regions. Today, in Asia, the urban agglomerations and anticipated growth in urban population will require one of the most massive build-up of urban infrastructure. Since there is much to learn from countries with the fastest rate of urbanization, paradigms and cases from India have been cited for impacting urban policies in cities all over the world. As agglomerations of population and services increase, cities need to acknowledge their potential vulnerability to the impacts of mass migration and natural hazards, mainly due to our growing energy and resource consumption. One of the recommendations for successfully implementing innovative concepts is that based on diverse perspectives and multidisciplinary dialog the “smart cities” initiative must support programmatic interventions as well as facilitate community partnerships and citizen participation. The focus of smart cities needs to remain on the sustainable and equitable use of a city’s resources—natural, human, and financial. The conclusion is that our cities are a joint built and natural environment, which requires a design-driven, integrative, and systems-based approach, one grounded in a deep understanding of social life, political context, ecological transformation, and spatial thinking.