Smarter Cities
Safe neighbours. Quality schools. Affordable housing.
Traffic that flows. It's all possible.
Tab navigation
- Conversations
- Signs of Smart- selected tab,
Smart Growth – a need to be smarter about the growth of our cities to reduce the strain on resources
In 1900, only 13% of the world's population lived in cities. By 2050, that number will have risen to 70%. We are adding the equivalent of seven New Yorks to the planet every year. If there was ever a time to focus on the smart growth of our urban areas, that time is now.
As populations grow at a fast clip, they are placing greater demands on the city infrastructures that deliver vital services such as transportation, healthcare, education and public safety. Adding to the strain are ever-changing public demands for better education, greener programmes, accessible government, affordable housing and more options for senior citizens.
Replacing the actual city infrastructures is often unrealistic in terms of cost and time. However, with recent advances in technology, we can infuse our existing infrastructures with new intelligence. By this, we mean digitising and connecting our systems, so they can sense, analyse and integrate data, and respond intelligently to the needs of their jurisdictions. In short, we can revitalise them so they can become smarter and more efficient.
How smart is your city?
Today’s cities, home to more than half of the world’s population, can be seen as complex networks of components: citizens, businesses, transport, communications, water, energy, city services and other systems. As more and more of us move to cities, we need to consider how to manage this growth so that our cities are sustainable for years to come.
How can you assess how smart your city really is? What are the signs that progress is needed? And most importantly, how do you measure this progress?
Read the latest IBV report from IBM, "How smart is your city" to help answer some of these questions for your city.
Smart Growth - Smart cities worldwide
More people live in the world’s cities now than live outside them. No wonder cities are getting smarter.
Watch the video to see how.
A vision of Smarter Cities
Making cities more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent isn't only about overcoming the challenges they face. It also recognises that cities provide us with some of the greatest opportunities for making the planet smarter, too.
Cities symbolise and centralise so many aspects of what will make for a smarter planet: smarter education, smarter healthcare, smarter water and energy use, smarter public safety, smarter transportation, and smarter public services ... to name but a few.
A new report from the IBM Institute for Business Value, "A Vision of Smarter Cities," makes the case that cities must use new technologies to transform their systems to optimise the use of finite resources. As sustainability for cities and the planet becomes ever more important, the question isn't whether cities will do this; the question is: Which ones are doing it first? And who will do it best?
Adopt smart growth – Read the report, “A Vision of Smarter Cities” (US)
Innovative cities – adopting smart growth strategies
The UK government’s commitment to more effective, efficient and joined-up public service delivery puts huge pressure on local authorities to realise the transformation required. IBM has offered innovative technologies, professional services and business transformation expertise to help deliver this far-reaching reform agenda which will in turn help make our cities become smarter.
Smarter governance
Three local UK councils have adopted a new IBM business model that could change the way local government is managed. Through Southwest One (PDF, 100KB), IBM will manage the IT infrastructure, procurement, customer service and workforce development functions, allowing agencies to focus on delivering critical services to citizens. The model can expand to include up to 30 public sector agencies.
Smarter healthcare
Cheshire County Council (PDF, 324KB) in the UK, was one of the first local authorities to address the government’s requirement of a uniform, standardised way to assess the healthcare and social services needs of its senior citizens. The new model implemented has reduced the time and costs required to perform in-home senior visits by 20% as well as positioning Cheshire to be at the leading edge in the way it provides services to its older citizens.
Smarter transportation
Some cities start by transforming their transportation systems. Stockholm, Dublin (US), Singapore (US), Brisbane (US) and London are working with IBM to develop smart systems ranging from predictive tools to smart cards to congestion charging in order to reduce traffic and pollution.
Smarter policing and emergency response
New York, Syracuse (PDF, 180KB), Santa Barbara (US) and St. Louis (US) are using data analytics, wireless and video surveillance capabilities to strengthen crime fighting and the coordination of emergency response units.
Smarter power and water management
IBM is working with local government agencies, farmers and ranchers in the Paraguay-Paraná River basin, where São Paulo is located, to understand the factors that can help to safeguard the quality and availability of the water system.
Malta is building a smart grid that links the power and water systems, and will detect leakages, allow for variable pricing and provide more control to consumers. Ultimately, it will enable this island country to replace fossil fuels with sustainable energy sources.
Crime in New York City has dropped 27% since 2001
Smarter cities fight crime by capturing data.
Watch the video to learn more about Smarter Public safety.
How IBM can help
Smarter Business & Technology
You've seen the areas where progress is still needed to build a smarter planet ... now why not explore the business solutions and technology that will help drive the change that is needed.
