Luke Leung
Director, Sustainable Engineering Studio
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Chicago
Our future relies on harmonized relationships among people, technology and nature.
According to NYU Professor Eric Klinenberg, communities where people have tight bonds are more resilient during emergencies and healthier in normal times. Smart cities allow people to connect and share. For example, Copenhagen has a “LetsGo” program for people to build relationships through car sharing.
Technology can help people be more sustainable and stitch tighter networks. Many smart systems (e.g., elevators and software to track machine downtime) have been developed in the last few years. Top IT companies are working to not only connect these systems, but also make them work together like one single living being to improve resiliency and efficiency.
Smart cities are harmonizing more with nature, such as Bishan Park in Singapore, to harvest environmental benefits and provide soft fascination for human wellness. By doing so, cities are getting closer to humans and nature finally thriving together.
Brian Lakamp
Founder and CEO
Bedford Hills, N.Y.
We’re still at a nascent stage of technology in the built environment. As next-generation solutions develop across energy, communications, mobility and the internet of things, quantum leaps in capability and services are foreseeable.
It’s exciting to watch the evolution and to witness early standardization efforts that allow us to move beyond point products to integrated platforms that leverage data and services across multiple systems. Those kinds of solutions are emerging across energy storage, 5G, edge compute, and various sensors and devices.
We’re not far from a day of resilient, battery-backed 5G small cells that locally process video feeds, real-time energy stats and micro-weather data to drive decisions that dynamically support smart grids and autonomous vehicles.
It may sound futuristic, but it’s not. The pieces are being assembled as we speak.
Looking farther out, we can see the seeds of new interaction models emerging to support these integrations. Augmented reality and voice interactivity promise to turn space into interface and breed new utility.
Ryan M. Colker
Presidential Advisor
National Institute of Building Sciences
Washington, D.C.
The integration of information from multiple data sources and departments to support citizen- focused services will fundamentally change how cities operate. Interoperability across systems is essential to assuring data can be used for multiple purposes by multiple users.
Cities are optimizing public transportation offerings by tracking travel times and ridership, and then delivering arrival times to bus stations and mobile devices. Traffic flow information can trigger changes in traffic light timing.
Water and electric utilities also are using sensors and smart meters to better manage utility infrastructure and the delivery of services.
As more smart systems come online, the greatest value will be where systems intersect. For example, an integrated network of LED streetlights can serve as localized sensors and communication tools. They can communicate early warnings for approaching hazards through changes in color while collecting data on air quality, traffic flow and other important data points.
