Commonwealth Local Government Forum

Asia \ Cities and urbanisation

In 2014, 54% of the global population was living in urban areas and this is predicted to rise to 66% by 2050. The characteristics of cities differ greatly across countries and regions of the Commonwealth and some issues facing large and megacities will differ from those faced by secondary cities and towns and across the Commonwealth, the degree of urbanisation varies significantly. Whilst 38.1% of the population of the Commonwealth lived in urban settlements in 2014, Commonwealth Europe is 82% urban and Commonwealth South-East Asia 78% with Commonwealth Africa 41%, Commonwealth South Asia 33% and the Commonwealth Pacific Islands 18% urban. Achievement of SDG 11 will require cities to actively address the key dimensions of sustainable development – the economy, the society and the environment and to be inclusive, and proactive to ensure safety of all citizens. Subthemes includes urbanisation and migration, urban planning, informal settlements, formal and informal urban economy, disaster risk reduction and emergency planning, safety and security in cities, and smart cities and ICT.

Sub-topics:

Featured

Smart Cities: Contradicting Definitions and Unclear Measures

Cities are contemporary metropolises that concentrate human and social activity;

engineered to support and develop the physical environment and the people within it, Smart

cities, we are led to believe, are the immediate future, where smartness is perceived as a

characterisation of advancements or digitalisation, in government, mobility and sustainability.

Therefore it is not surprising that many organisations are marketing their smart solutions and

products, often to a ubiquitous extent and so called smart cities are striving to outperform each

other. But how are smart cities actually being defined and how is performance being measured

in an era where there is increasing access to unprecedented amounts of foreseen data? This

paper identifies the plethora of the smart city definitions and categories evidenced from the

literature and shows that 'Smart cities' lacks a robust coherent definition, with many

contradicting facts within what constitutes a smart vision. Notably, almost every attempt from

organisations, the European Union or cities themselves has failed to define 'smart' in objective

terms that can be accepted globally. Certainly, they all are negotiating with a range of

descriptors and smart ways to improve the city. Even the UK's attempts to develop a clear

definition and set of standards for smart cities (i.e. PAS 180 and PAS 182) appears to suffer

from fundamental differences in how the semantic content of a 'smart' city is defined. This paper

demonstrates the necessity for a single 'Smart Cities' definition that deals with both the physical

and digital using shared parameter value(s) that can be adopted and scaled amongst different

localities and within a range of urban contexts adjusting according to existing city condition(s)

and vision(s) setting the paradigm for further innovative research in this area

Author: Marianna Cavada, Dexter Hunt and Chris Rogers Publisher: World Sustainability Forum 2014 – Conference Proceedings Paper Publication year: 2018


Telling city success stories - roundtable on SDGs and Urban innovation

This roundtable aimed at discussing and sparking new train of thoughts on how to strengthen the role of urban innovation among the city leaders, institutions and urban stakeholders, including private sector organisations. It further explored the strategic pathways for Urban Innovation Community (UIC) to provide new tools, expertise and knowledge on implementing and achieving the SDGs at the local level. 

Author: Metropolis Publisher: Metropolis Publication year: 2016


Surat Safe City Project

To provide a safer community for its citizens, the Surat City Police Department started the ‘Safe City Project’, an initiative striving to reduce the city’s crime rate using modern technology.

Author: Microsoft CityNext Publisher: Microsoft CityNext Publication year: 2016


How Singapore is realising the true power of the Internet of Things (IoT)

We’re at a transformative moment in time where the proliferation of technology has penetrated into every aspect of our lives and allows us to advance a broad range of sectors. With the number of connected devices set to reach 26 billion by 2020, we’re reaching a tipping point in which we can realize the power of Internet of Things (IoT) across various sectors – from transport to logistic and healthcare. On a recent trip to Singapore, I had the pleasure of meeting with Microsoft partners, and business leaders in both the public and private sectors. I am impressed by the country’s drive towards becoming the world’s first Smart Nation – a bold vision that is being realized by bringing together government, academics, big businesses, and startups, to solve some of the world’s toughest societal challenges through technologies such as the cloud, IoT, and analytics.

Author: Jean-Philippe Courtois, Microsoft CityNext Publisher: Microsoft CityNext Publication year: 2016


The Social Underpinnings of Decentralized Governance: Networks, Technology and the Future of Social Accountability

Prepared for the USAID/DRG Centre Volume Decentralized Governance and Accountability: Academic Research and the Future of Donor Programming

Author: Erik Wibbels Publisher: USAID’s DRG Centre Publication year: 2016


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