Overview

Difficulties and challenges

  • our world is increasing challenged
    • urbanization
    • ageing population
    • social conflict
    • inequality
    • loss of nature
    • pollution
    • energy crisis
    • climate change
    • natural disaster
    • resource depletion

Basic understanding

  • definition of smart city
    • no official definition
    • basically
      • the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) to improve the quality of life and city services, making the city more livable
  • ultimate goals
    • enhance quality of life
      • key indicators
        • health
        • time and convenience
        • safety
        • cost of living
        • jobs
        • social connectedness and civic participation
        • environmental quality
    • foster sustainable growth
  • leverage on technologies for better city management
    • IoT (data collection)
    • big data (much data)
    • AI (data analysis and prediction)
    • above three technologies are based on GIS (Geographic Information System)

Building a Smart City

Countries developing smart city initiatives with their own goals

  • Copenhagen, Denmark
    • create a “zero emission city” by 2025
  • Sweden
    • eliminate all traffic-related deaths by 2025 - vision zero program
  • London, UK
    • fintech capital of the world
  • Dubai
    • improving its gross national happiness index
  • Singapore
    • global leader in “smart government”
    • leading role in transportation (MaaS, Mobility as a Service) and freight hub (FaaS, Freight as a Service)
  • Moscow
    • quality of life
    • efficient government
    • solid infrastructure
  • Vietnam
    • build SDI (Spatial Data Infrastructure) with GIS, developing national urban database (2020)
    • piloting of smart city model (2025)
    • establish the network in north, central & south Vietnam (2030)
  • Thailand 4.0 initiative
    • innovative
    • value-based industry
    • high income country
    • build 100 smart cities by 2022
  • India
    • develop 100 smart cities by 2023
    • drive economic growth and improve the quality of life
  • Japan
    • super smart society (society 5.0)
      • 1.0 -> hunting society
      • 2.0 -> farming society
      • 3.0 -> industrial society
      • 4.0 -> information society
    • integration of cyberspace with physical space
    • a human-centered society that balances economic development & solves social issues
  • China - beautiful China
    • clean environment
    • high tech companies
    • responsive government

10 steps to build a smart city

  • work out what problems need fixing
  • find a leader
  • develop a vision everyone can get behind
  • make a business case
  • share data and incentivise innovation
  • design from the bottom up
  • tread carefully
  • get politicians on board
  • educate citizens
  • spread the world

KPIs to measure & track innovation & technology spending

  • number of unicorn
  • number of startup
  • employment figures
  • R&D (Research and Development) expenditure
    • takes up the specific proportion of GDP
  • number of patent
  • international rankings

Smart city components

  • smart economy
  • smart mobility
  • smart environment
  • smart living
  • smart government
  • smart people

3 phrases of smart city

  • smart city 1.0
    • technology-driven
  • smart city 2.0
    • government-driven
  • smart city 3.0
    • citizen-driven
    • is the ultimate goal

4 pillars of a smart city

  • smart planning
    • planning & engineering
    • urban & community design
  • good services
    • operation efficiency
    • good government services
  • civic inclusion
    • connecting with the community
  • data-driven performance
    • through data & analytics

Case - Hong Kong

  • advantages
    • economic freedom
    • financial system
    • IPO (Initial Public Offering) funds raised
    • business-friendly tax system
    • success in developing human capital
    • global competitiveness
    • infrastructure competitiveness
    • international air passenger hub
    • global financial center
    • stock market size by market capitalisation
    • international innotech hub
      • solid technological foundation
      • pool of quality scientific & technological talents
      • promote collaboration on the technology front
    • national policies
      • HK as a key link for the Belt & Road
      • plan to build smart city clusters: greater bay area
      • global science & technology clusters: HK - Shenzhen - Guangzhou
    • HK policies
      • HK smart city blueprint (2017)
        • it emphasis smart city is “people-centric”
        • it should be built upon the needs of the people & the benefits should be seen and felt by residents & visitors
      • HK smart city blueprint 2.0 (2020)
        • more than 130 smart city initiatives
        • smart city dashboards
  • details
    • smart economy
      • fintech ecosystem
        • international financial center
        • vibrant startup ecosystem
        • favorable policies
        • strong pool of talents
        • robust ICT infrastructure
      • …
    • smart mobility
      • HK - Zhuhai - Macao bridge
      • Gangzhou - Shenzhen - HK express rail link
      • …
    • smart environment
      • zero carbon building
      • T-Park
      • …
    • smart living
      • mapping the outbreak of SARS
      • ehealth
      • …
    • smart people
      • top-notch universities with strong research capability
      • establishment of Hong Kong Academy of Finance (AoF)
      • …
    • smart government
      • innovation & technology park at Loop Area
      • EKEO (Energizing Kowloon East Office) - smart city pilot area
      • …
  • infrastructure
    • open data
    • CSDI (Common Spatial Data Infrastructure)
    • COP (Common Operation Picture)
    • city dashboard

Readiness for the future

  • solution-driven
    • technology can tackle insurmountable challenges
  • human-centric
    • unleashing human potential in creativity, innovation & productivity
  • sustainable
    • sound production processes can minimize negative environmental impact
  • inclusive
    • everyone can benefit from 4th industrial revolution technologies

4P approach is the key to success

  • content
    • public
    • private
    • people
    • partnership
  • goal
    • achieve the ultimate goal of “smart city 3.0”

Additional Reading