Smart City Examples

The smart city movement is truly global. In almost every part of the world, cities have declared smart city initiatives. Even cities that don’t overtly align with the smart city nomenclature are doing work that has all the hallmarks of smart initiatives.

In addition to existing communities, new cities are being built, or are in the process of being built, that are designed with urban innovation at their core. These include Yachay in Ecuador, Masdar in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Songdo in South Korea, Konza in Kenya, Neom in Saudi Arabia, and a new capital in Egypt. This list alone demonstrates the global nature of the smart city movement.

Let’s take a look at two cities from two perspectives: an existing built environment and a completely new city. First, let’s focus on Amsterdam, a beautiful, world-class European city, the capital of The Netherlands, that began as a fishing village in 1275. Second, take a look at Konza Technopolis, a new, in-progress smart city located 60 kilometers south of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya on the central east coast of Africa.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The smart city efforts of Amsterdam, which began in 2009, are focused on these six themes:

• Infrastructure and technology: Adopting new technologies, such as drones, a smart grid, and the Internet of Things
• Energy, water, and waste: Improving the performance of three essential areas that are relevant to every city
• Mobility: Reducing traffic congestion and pollution and increasing safety
• Circular city: Minimizing waste and pollution by recycling, reducing, and reusing
• Governance and education: Ensuring that decision makers have the tools to make the right decisions and that Amsterdam attracts and retains skilled talent
• Citizens and living: Ensuring that citizens are engaged and have a way to contribute and participate in new ideas for the city

Konza Technopolis, Kenya

In 2008, the Government of Kenya approved the creation of Konza Technopolis (formerly Konza Technology City) as a flagship Kenya Vision 2030 project. Vision 2030 aims to create a globally competitive, prosperous Kenya with a high quality of life by 2030. To that end, its smart city goals are highly focused on economic opportunities.

The smart city efforts of this new city are focused on these four types of services:

• Infrastructure: These include technologies in support of transportation, utilities, public safety, and the environment.
• Citizen: Within this area, the focus is on easy access to services and for citizen engagement in the city.
• City: These technologies support efficient and effective planning and development.
• Business: This area includes a range of services to support enterprises and local commerce such as rapid business registration and training.

In both initiatives, a large number of projects accompany each of the goals. In Amsterdam, these projects must be integrated with legacy challenges, including existing infrastructure and technology, to ensure that no existing systems are impacted in their daily operations. Konza has the benefit of not having to consider legacy limitations, because everything is new. If you’ve ever managed a big project, you’ll recognize how much easier the latter is.

These two examples are reminders of the global nature of smart cities and the variety of focus areas that reflect local needs and priorities. Both instances have recorded successes, but they’ve also faced significant challenges. In particular, Konza has had many setbacks related to financing and competing national priorities.

There’s no sugarcoating it, building smart cities is hard. However, for the upside, it’s definitely worth it. Check out the case for smart cities to learn more.