Why Smart Cities? Why now?
The concept of smart cities may seem like a futuristic idea, but the truth is, it is already happening around us. The need for smart cities has become more urgent than ever before as the world’s population is rapidly urbanizing, and traditional city infrastructure struggles to keep up with the growing demand. Many projects such as Google Sidewalk, Toyota Woven City, and National Landing show us that smart cities are a reality now and into the future.
One of the primary reasons for the emergence of smart cities is technology. The advancements in machine learning, IoT, and other technologies have made cities more efficient, sustainable, and liveable. These technologies have also brought automation and digitization to city services, leading to quality of life improvements. If you look at the rapid evolution of these technologies, we can be confident that smart products and solutions are on the cusp of explosive growth in the next decade or so.
This growth and evolution of technology are supported by infrastructure investments in networks, sensors, charging infrastructure, renewable energy, real estate asset repositioning, etc., which will ensure that the real-world deployment and penetration of these smart solutions will not be far behind. We also see a very cognizant effort by governments to provide the right framework of policies and standards in which these solutions can effectively thrive. You only need to look at projects like Smart Dubai or Smart Nation Singapore to see first-hand evidence of all these layers (technology, policies, and infrastructure) coming together to enable smart city evolution at scale. And it is because of these developments happening across the globe that we have confidence that the time for smart cities has come.
This spring, via a series of blog posts, we will continue to explore how the smart cities ecosystem has evolved, how we define and look at it, and what key emerging investment trends we see. Follow us and stay tuned for more!
