Global Resources and Promising Practices for Building and Refining Accessible and Inclusive Smart Cities from Darren Bates LLC.
When we talk about people-centric urban planning, we are referring to a process that puts people, or end-recipients, at the center of the process. People-centric urban planning develops prototypes and solutions by performing embedded qualitative and quantitative research on those same people and end-recipients.
When we adapt this model to Smart Cities, we are describing a process by which the broader community (including people with disabilities and other historically undeserved or marginalized communities) becomes the center of the Smart City transformation process. All of our planning tactics and smart city solutions are informed directly by the needs, desires, expectations, and habits of the community.
This process requires urban planners to be nimble and flexible enough to adapt and edit their solutions based on community feedback—integrating and engaging the community into every step of the process from pre-design research and dialogue, to getting feedback on design concepts and prototypes, to noticing how the community uses the final product and making changes accordingly. So how exactly can we begin to integrate this approach into our process? Read On…
People-centric urban planning is mandatory for successful Smart City transformation because residents understand the strengths and weaknesses of their community and city better than anyone else.
A City isn’t smart if it doesn’t support the needs of all citizens.
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This word ‘smart’ is mentioned in reference to cities a lot. There are endless conferences and trade fairs exploring ‘smart cities’ or ‘Internet of things’ technologies. Most cities now have tech weeks – and the term is now so regarded that it’s often capitalised as ‘SMART’. But spending time in this world, hearing from the many mayors at the many…
Read MoreKnobbly pavements and ticking pedestrian crossings are one thing, but the frustrating experience of getting around the city for visually impaired people could soon be revolutionised by a new navigational headset which claims to let you hear your surroundings as a “3D soundscape”.Developed by Microsoft and the Guide Dogs charity over the last two years, with the government-funded Future Cities Catapult, the headset contains a GPS tracker,…
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Perhaps the strongest theme to emerge from our Smart City InFocus conference in Yinchuan, China in September was the need to keep people at the center of smart city initiatives. In many ways, this would seem to go without saying – by definition, city workers are there to serve citizens. Source: Smart cities: The need for a renewed focus…
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Smart cities are getting more and more attention in the media, from technology companies and entrepreneurs, and increasingly from both local governments and civil society. On one hand, smart cities hold the promise to potentially make the growing number of cities around the globe more efficient, more tech-savvy, more wired–and with all that, they can hopefully improve the quality of…
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Cities at the National University of Singapore and Vice-Chair of the ITU Focus Group for Smart Sustainable Cities (FGSSC), agrees. Smart technology is an enabler of improving the quality of lives of citizens. “If you don’t improve the quality of life of urban dwellers, you aren’t doing something right,” he says. Nonetheless, improving the lives of city dwellers is in…
Read MoreSmart cities have the potential to create major benefits for city dwellers in developing countries, but only if urban planners combine “low-tech” innovations with “high-tech” ones, continue to build large capital infrastructure, and ensure people are at the center of design, John Bachmann of multinational engineering company AECOM, told Devex.He argued that smart cities should be seen as a tool…
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Thus far, the smart city movement has been focused on core infrastructure like broadband and sensors, but this week, the conversation began to shift to an even more important element — people. Source: Smart City 2.0: Shifting the Focus from Infrastructure to People
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Technology has the power to create communities that are more responsive to citizen needs and that can enhance citizens’ quality of life. However, much of the research and planning around smart cities is driven by technology rather than the needs of the citizens. The human aspect is often overlooked when talking about smart cities. If you ask most people what…
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Bangkok to build people-centric city within a city. 04 Apr 2017. The development will have eight hectares of green and open areas in the city centre It is hoped One Bangkok will position the Thai capital as a key gateway city in Asia. TCC Assets (Thailand) and Frasers Centrepoint Limited (FCL) are to jointly develop ’One Bangkok’, Thailand’s first and…
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Civic engagement – Beyond just publicly sharing information, governments must actively explore new ways to interact with citizens and provide them with contextual data. Including community groups in the process, which may be viewed as untapped government departments, promotes transparency and opens additional resources. Further, governments that embrace communication with the public make it easy for people to provide and…
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[Barcelona, Spain, November 15, 2016] Huawei today shared its strategy and latest technologies for Smart City transformation at the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) 2016 held from November 15 to 17, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Huawei’s strategy centers on providing leading new ICT across cloud-pipe-device to enable governments and industries to deliver advanced citizen-centric services that enrich people’s lives,…
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Designing an inclusive LIVING LAB: challenges, experimentation, and a toolkit. December 2016 By Lara Casciola When developing urban spaces toward a ‘smart city’ goal, it is important to include the viewpoints of a diverse range of urban stakeholders. Equally important, however, is getting something back; the value diverse stakeholders can provide to developing new urban technology should be identified, nurtured,…
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Re-visioning the structures of human prosperityThe majority of the planet now lives and works in cities. If economic growth is coupled with better networked communities and more environmental friendly practices, human prosperity could be redefined as the win-win formula of the future.In this vision, the entire urban space works interactively with its inhabitants, businesses and public sector to raise the…
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When kids put on their urban planner hats – cities are better for everyone The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child championed children’s participation in all social processes, but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that UNICEF took that goal further by introducing the concept of cities by and for children. In the last decade, organizations like the…
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These aren’t pipe dreams. They are smart city products and services in action — aspiring to use technology to put people first. And the sooner we can realize these aspirations, the better. In the top 100 metropolitan areas of the United States, nearly 25% of citizens are over the age of 65 or living with disabilities. The internet of…
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Planning your next smart city initiative? Your smart city initiative should be driven by the challenges and opportunities already facing your citizens. I’ve ranged across a few topics today. I’m still working out what a more people-centric approach to smart cities might look like, and how to: Lead with citizen needs – not new technologies.Your smart city initiative should be driven…
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Is modern urban life possible without the car? Many cities are experimenting with ways to do just that. Their goal is to improve air quality and mobility, reduce noise, and reclaim the streets for pedestrians. URBAN HUB takes a stroll through some of the new urban landscapes under construction. Source: Design for people, not cars | URBAN HUB
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Is your city a happy city? Do you know what makes a city happy? Luckily, there are plenty of surveys and studies on what makes for urban contentment – and how to achieve it. Many people are a bit surprised to learn that money is not the main ingredient. Of course, economic prosperity brings many good things to cities, such…
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People-centric smart cities: five ways technology can support better urban livingBy Darío Hidalgo April 1, 2015 8 Comments Cities worldwide can become smarter by using technology to make public transport more efficient, sustainable, and effective at meeting the mobility needs of their residents. Photo by Cristina Valencia/Flickr.What are smart cities? While there isn’t a standard definition, consensus is…
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Turning a regular city into a smart city is not simple. There are a lot of challenges and issues to be tackled: Identifying the funding sources; defining the strategic plan; knowing the right benefits to the citizen and so on. But with well-defined standards and best practices, a complex path can be simplified into one that is easy to follow.…
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