Why do we need smart cities?

The main goal of a smart city is to create an urban environment that provides a high quality of life for its residents, while generating overall economic growth. Therefore, a major advantage of smart cities is their ability to facilitate increased delivery of services to citizens with lower infrastructure and costs.

As the population in cities continues to grow, it becomes necessary for these urban areas to accommodate the growing population by making more efficient use of their infrastructure and assets. Smart city applications can enable these improvements, advance city operations, and improve the quality of life among residents.

Smart city applications enable cities to find and create new value from their existing infrastructure. The improvements facilitate new revenue streams and operational efficiencies, helping governments and citizens save money.

The result of our centuries-old pattern of city growth is skyrocketing inequality. We now find ourselves in a situation where the political, economic and social environment is fractured, many citizens do not trust elected officials to act on their behalf, and the government bureaucracy seems incapable of providing effective services.

This is a global challenge. Examples from China, India, Africa and here in Australia vividly illustrate the need for smarter solutions to deal with massive population growth, rural-to-urban migration and resource depletion.

We need to transform our cities. Not just once, but continuously.