Smart Cities Need H.E.A.R.T.

Source: Forbes on April 13, 2018 | Padmanand Warrier

Lots of smart people are talking about smart cities. There is an increasing urgency to take action, given that more than 50% of us already live in urban environments -- a statistic expected to be 66% by 2050. Recently Austin, my hometown, played host to global thought leaders at the Cities Summit during the SXSW conference. It was both informative and inspiring to listen to a cross section of civic leaders, creative urbanists and concerned citizen advocates.

Yet, I came away with a sense of want -- something fundamental seemed missing from the discussions around autonomous vehicles, digital identities, smart sensors and so on. Although there were a few voices calling for the need to include the human aspect, they seemed to be crowded out by exuberance over technology. I internalized the provocation from Trevor Hardy, the CEO of Future Laboratory, who spoke at SXSW. Hardy argued that if corporations are in charge of transforming cities, the cities of the future will become "branded utopias" or "commercial dystopias." Neither option appealed to me. After reflecting on the topic through my experience at SXSW as well as other research, I deeply feel that smart city thinking needs more heart thinking.

H: Human-Centric Design

How we create is just as important as what we create. This means not only human-centric design but designs that are based on human values. Already, there are academic programs that incorporate human values into city planning (e.g., Lancaster University and Georgia Tech). I anticipate that governments and industry will soon embrace these practices.

E: Entrepreneurial Spirit

We need to take calculated risks, but with purpose. It’s encouraging to see cities like Boston, Dubai and New York put this in action. Boston has a startup culture within City Hall. It reimagined the experience of how to register a child with Boston public schools, eliminating confusion and frustration for busy parents. Dubai has a bold vision to make it the “happiest city on earth” with a concrete plan to eliminate paper by 2021 and reduce friction for how citizens engage with the government.

A: Asset Development For The Greater Good

There seems to be an increasing conscientiousness that extraction of our resources (natural or human) purely for financial gain has long-term consequences. One example is sprawl, both rural and urban. Peter Calthorpe in his seven principles for building better cities talks about reducing the “human distance” by creating “connected islands” of local businesses and citizens through investments in city landscapes, public transport and renewable energy.