The ‘bold visions of future urban living’ are being given a reboot, with AI at the forefront.
When computer-generated images of gleaming new smart cities started to appear back in the 2000s, they would typically be captioned as a ‘bold vision of the future of urban living’. It is a vision that has been blurred by a succession of unforeseen legislation and disruptors in the years that followed.
New environmental governance rules, data privacy regulation and mandates over how resources such as water and energy must be managed have all sent pioneering smart city planners back to their digital drawing boards.
Smart city projects have been further tested by the global crosscurrents of economic turbulence, pandemics, geopolitics and policy shifts. Antipathy towards Big Tech players linked to smart city initiatives – and the subsequent cooling off of their buy-ins – may also have contributed to a diminution of interest.
Meanwhile, many established cities have adopted ideals and innovations as...