Panel Discussion (20 Jan): Digital twins and AI as the intelligent operating layer for cities

Join us for insights from real-world case studies on the use of digital twins and AI as the present and future of urban management.

OnDemand Webinar: Getting your data strategy right for smarter sites and safer operations

Discover the crucial role industrial sites are playing in shaping safety, resilience, and service continuity for continued city connectivity.

How San José is setting an AI benchmark for other cities

Mayor Matt Mahan explains how the city is responsibly deploying AI and leading the discussion on how cities can use it to improve civic engagement, public safety, transportation, and service delivery.

How competition shapes the future of urban innovation

Jennifer Sanders of North Texas Innovation Alliance (NTXIA) explains how the second Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge at SCEWC is levelling up in 2025.

Smart Cities Reports

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Shenzhen

SmartCitiesWorld City Profiles explore the city of Shenzhen, designated as China’s first special economic zone and a role model of urban modernisation. Find out more about Shenzhen’s smart city strategy in this 16-page report.

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Las Vegas

SmartCitiesWorld City Profiles explore the city of Las Vegas with its unprecedented growth, urban development, and leaps of imagination.

Podcasts

Podcast: Using mobility data to shape the future of citiesSponsored by TomTom

TomTom’s Ralf-Peter Schäfer discusses the power of real-time data in reshaping city life, and what the future holds for smart urban mobility.

Defining the path for public service digitalisationSponsored by Huawei

Hong-Eng Koh, Global Chief Public Services Industry Scientist for Huawei’s Enterprise Business Group, details how to lay the critical foundations for smarter, more efficient public services.

Opinions

How AI and biometrics are shaping next-generation mobility paymentsSponsored by ST Engineering

Fuad Alsagoff, Senior Manager, Mobility Payment Systems, Urban Solutions at ST Engineering, explains how mobility payments are evolving with a new wave of technology – and how openness and inclusive services are driving adoption.

Embedding intelligence: from smart to cognitive cities

Mostafa Othman, smart cities programme director, Honeywell, examines how AI is heralding a new urban intelligence where cities learn, adapt and optimise themselves in real time.

Home | Editor's Blog

Editor's Blog

Our editor, gives his take on how smart cities are evolving. If you would like to receive these direct to your inbox as part of our weekly newsletter, make sure you sign up as a member (free!).

How two cities are increasing transparency

How two cities are increasing transparency

Editor's Blog16 Feb 2024

How San Antonio and Barcelona are using accessible and user-friendly data dashboards and portals to foster more openness and transparency in governance.

22 - 26 June 2026: Find out more

Latest City Profile

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Dublin

Smart Cities Reports

Find out how Dublin is innovating to improve experiences and services for its communities in the latest SmartCitiesWorld City Profile, including digital twin projects, traffic reduction, and economic growth.

Latest Trend Report

Trend Report 2025: Planning and operating thriving cities – innovation for smarter urban living

Trend Series

Download our latest report to uncover how artificial intelligence is being used to support cities in how they plan and operate city services to ensure they are vibrant, sustainable and economically thriving modern spaces.

Latest Webinar

Panel Discussion (20 Jan): Digital twins and AI as the intelligent operating layer for cities

Webinars

Join us for insights from real-world case studies on the use of digital twins and AI as the present and future of urban management.

Latest Podcast

Urban Exchange Podcast Episode 32 – Flood and energy resilience in Quezon City

Urban Exchange Podcast

Tune in for the latest Urban Exchange where we get a first-hand account of city resilience measures from Quezon City following unexpected extreme rainfall.

Latest Urban Exchange Podcast

Urban Exchange Podcast Episode 32 – Flood and energy resilience in Quezon City

Urban Exchange Podcast

Tune in for the latest Urban Exchange where we get a first-hand account of city resilience measures from Quezon City following unexpected extreme rainfall.

Latest Special Report

How Ukraine developed its AI assistant – and claimed a world record

Special Reports

The Diia.AI app represents a new way for governments to interact with communities and aims to bring fast, intuitive public services even closer to people.

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Tampere invites residents to co-design their smart city

Tallinn and universities partner to make urban traffic smarter

Brighton & Hove deploys AI sensors on active travel corridor

National Grid utilises AI to combat rising wildfire risk

What is ‘Smart City’ and why do we need them?

SmartCitiesWorld Newsletters (Daily/Weekly)

Our editorial newsletter pulls together our latest news items into one email, direct to your inbox. We also feature our latest city interviews, Special Reports and Guest Opinions.

Moving with the times

Editor's Blog16 Jul 2021

Members and regular visitors to our site won’t need to be told that SmartCitiesWorld has undergone a major redesign. Much like the cities and the technology featured on the site, we recognise that we ourselves must also evolve and react to changing times.

Access all areas

Editor's Blog09 Jul 2021

Equity is a little word but one that must carry huge weight as cities around the world pledge to build back better.

Plant Power

Editor's Blog02 Jul 2021

When SmartCitiesWorld was launched five years ago, agriculture and food production weren’t identified as being among the vertical sectors which we would cover. After all, our preoccupation was cities and advanced technology. The focus on resilience and sustainability though, especially in the context of climate change, has meant that to tackle many urban challenges, it is impossible to overlook these areas.

Flexible thinking

Editor's Blog25 Jun 2021

The tragedy of the Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to think differently. This has led to some stunning technological breakthroughs - you only have to think of the lightning quick development of vaccines for one - and innovative new uses of existing technology.

Education, education, education

Editor's Blog04 Jun 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the centrality of technology to our lives - "you’re on mute" has become a catchphrase of frequent (too frequent?) Zoom meetings and videocalling has been an essential means for catching up with family or friends.

Micro Machines

Editor's Blog28 May 2021

The world’s most striking cities are almost certainly the most congested: whether London, New York, Istanbul, Paris, the list goes on. While Covid-19 related lockdowns led to a fall in traffic in our major cities, as things gradually, thankfully open again, roads are going to be packed once more.

Oil leaks

Editor's Blog21 May 2021

Michael Lewis, the forensic chronicler of the 2008 financial crash in The Big Short (among many, many other incredible books), made a headspinning comment this week: "There are six times more people over the age of 60 than under the age of 30 working in computer systems."

Making haste with waste

Editor's Blog14 May 2021

What’s important to you where you live? Waste is one area that is overlooked all too often, perhaps understandable given what it literally is, but you quickly realise when your city isn’t getting things right

Bus conductors

Editor's Blog07 May 2021

You wait for stories on electric buses and then two come along at once. This week saw Gothenburg in Sweden and Charlotte in the United States announce plans to electrify their public transport networks.

Who lives in a house like this?

Editor's Blog30 Apr 2021

There’s no place like home. And up until recently there has been no place that has built via a 3D printer. This week Elize Lutz and Harriet Dekkers got a digital key to their two bedroom bungalow in the Beatrix canal in the Eindhoven suburb of Bosrijk.

Soft power

Editor's Blog23 Apr 2021

Momentum is building. Earth Day this week saw world leaders falling over themselves to promise even further cuts to climate emissions in a sign that our leaders are taking this issue seriously.

Reality bites

Editor's Blog16 Apr 2021

Joe Biden has hit the ground running as US president, determined to make up for the somewhat eventful four years of his predecessor in office, rebuild international alliances and, critically, put climate at the heart of his presidency.

The fourth generation of cities

Editor's Blog01 Apr 2021

It’s a strange time. Of course, it has been a strange time for well over a year but optimism surrounding vaccination rates in countries like Israel, the UK and Chile is being sharply tempered by fresh and sudden lockdowns in Europe, vaccine scepticism in some countries and a deadly and passive approach to the virus in Brazil.

(Almost) everything flows

Editor's Blog26 Mar 2021

First off, I would like to apologise to you for being unable to find a smart cities angle on the hapless ship stuck in the Suez Canal. I am sure you all have been as horribly fascinated with the story as I have and I regret being unable to write about it.

Should we still keep it simple?

Editor's Blog19 Mar 2021

Can simplicity be damaging? This is a question I have been chewing over for most of the week. Many careers, journalism included, reward keeping it simple. It doesn’t mean limited or unambitious - it means engaging and inclusive.

From tiny acorns

Editor's Blog05 Mar 2021

George Orwell had a point when he once wrote: “The planting of a tree, especially one of the long-living hardwood trees, is a gift which you can make to posterity at almost no cost and with almost no trouble, and if the tree takes root it will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.”

Twin town

Editor's Blog26 Feb 2021

Here in the UK, the phrase "build back better" is an inescapable mantra of the government as it looks to rebuild the economy following a successful vaccination programme (and take attention away from its chaotic handling of the pandemic itself).

Aiming for zero

Editor's Blog19 Feb 2021

Net-zero climate targets are ambitious and essential. But they can be onerous to some. How best to manage reducing emissions alongside fiscal challenges, generating employment, managing traffic networks and the myriad of daily challenges you face with the uncertainty of Covid-19 thrown into the mix?