The cities chosen are considered to have come up with the boldest urban innovations emerging from the pandemic with the challenge aiming to spread the most promising ideas.
The mayors of Milan and Rome highlight the imperative for G20 countries to use recovery funding in a way that advances, not hinders, ambitious and equitable climate action ahead of COP26.
Sadiq Khan is inviting applications to a £1m Resilience Fund and also wants to harness the capital’s design talent to make a vital contribution to its recovery from Covid-19 in a separate initiative.
It seeks to bring the whole nation together in collective efforts to help all Singaporeans have the necessary digital tools, skills and habits to succeed in the future.
The acquisition will help Planet Smart City to use gamification to drive residents’ loyalty and participation in community life and reward the most active and environmentally conscious behaviours.
Projects ranging from curbing transport emissions to urban agriculture and flood protection in slums have made the finals of the WRI Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities’ Prize for Cities 2020-21.
The Scottish city has outlined achievements to date as well as next steps and priorities, including the renewed focus of digital investment to support recovery from the pandemic.
The digital infrastructure, e-gov services, a City Brain, the integration of information technology and industry and its strategic objectives were all highlighted by the judges.
The World Economic Forum has chosen the cities to pioneer a global policy roadmap developed by its G20 Smart Cities Alliance for the ethical and responsible use of data and technology.
The 2020 Smart City Index measures citizens’ perceptions of the impact that technology has on their lives, surveying them on areas such as governance, health and safety, mobility and opportunities.
Mapping work will begin with a major research and evidence-gathering exercise into the issues that central London and the Canary Wharf area are facing given the reduction in footfall due to the pandemic.
Singapore’s IMDA and the SG Digital Office are aiming to connect with and raise the skills of 100,000 seniors by March 2021 via its Seniors Go Digital programme.
Urban Footprint has combined datasets to help governments and frontline organisations better understand where spikes may happen next and plan ahead to deliver relief and essential resources.
Smart mobility hubs, connected vehicles and the re-commissioned Linden LEAP aim to improve mobility and road safety as well as provide community food support.
It is proposing a partnership with San Diego Futures Foundation which would provide thousands of computers to families in need and reduce the future costs of recycling the technology.
The hubs, set up by Singapore’s new SG Digital Office, will support the smart nation’s next phase of digitalisation and help it to reach out and connect with every community.
The device will release the required medication to customers at prescribed times and safely stores it inside so customers can’t take more than the prescribed amount.
The SG Digital Office will recruit 1,000 digital ambassadors to help every individual and business to go digital in the phased economic recovery from Covid-19.
Nineteen smart city projects across the region have been recognised in the sixth annual awards programme, which were announced in a virtual event this year.
Seat Pleasant calls itself “the world’s first authentic small smart city” and has a high proportion of low-income and vulnerable people, making it an ideal launch location for the technology, which could be expanded nationally.
The first day of the online event confirmed that the smart cities sector is well aware of its destination but it’s how it gets there that will be the problem.
