top of page

Urban Sustainability and the City as a Service

Ever since the publication of the UNFP State of the World Population 2007 report, the world’s attention has intensified on the rapid rate of urbanisation: how to mitigate the potential problems and unleash the benefits of urban growth.


By the year 2050 The world population is expected to reach 9.6 billion. 6.4 billion (66 percent) will be living in urban areas. This is all good news if the cities around the world are able to not only absorb the population growth but also flourish economically while achieving and maintaining environmental and social sustainability.


Cities have been expanding for some time now, but the technology world has largely ignored the sector for many reasons. This is beginning to change rapidly, and rightly so. Cities are the engines of economic growth at the centre of human aspiration. More than ever before, cities are homes to humanity’s greatest ambitions. They are the magnets for people and businesses. But cities can also become home to increasing social disparity, poverty, pollution, congestion, waste and environmental problems. The capacity of nations to pursue their economic and social agendas will increasingly depend on their ability to shape and govern their cities.


As demand continues to rise, the social, economic and environmental challenges of urban growth are significantly increasing the cost of public services, safety, security and welfare. Unbridled construction of buildings and infrastructure is a consistent backdrop to almost every city in Asia, but the truth is that local governments have not taken steps to understand the long-term impacts of such rampant development.


Consider the redevelopment a 1,000 m2 neighbourhood bungalow into a 20-storey residential tower. Financially, this is a win-win for land owner and municipality, but a complete analysis must consider the impact on quality of life for the neighbouring homes, business and infrastructure. If the development sets a precedent and similar buildings follow, the city may not have the capacity to accommodate them.


Urban sustainability will be one of the biggest challenges that city administrators will face in the coming years. While sustainability is everyone’s concern, there is no integrated platform or tool to understand, measure and manage it. The recently-established ISO 37120 is emerging as a standard for benchmarking sustainable cities, but it doesn’t address the precinct scale where development decisions are made. Precinct assessment schemes like LEED-ND, BREEAM Communities and Green Star Communities provide a framework for new developments, but don’t help understand the existing urban fabric.


City administrators, developers and urban planners require tools to help them:

  1. Understand the city and its precincts as they exist today and into the foreseeable future;

  2. Measure and analyse the impacts of their design and operating decisions;

  3. Explore design alternatives to choose the most appropriate; and

  4. Share their results with their colleagues and stakeholders.

Given the multitude and complexity of a city’s subsystems, many tools must be developed across this spectrum. For these tools to be intelligent and manageable, they must integrate through a common parametric data model with a deep understanding of the variables and their relationships. Ultimately, this unified platform will unlock the potential of a digital city for anyone who wants to use it.

Citizens could point at any location to explore the benefits and risks of living there. Developers could zoom into any plot of land and calculate its development feasibility. Urban planners could analyse the sustainability performance of their designs. Municipalities could monitor the usage of their cities in real time and consider how to make them more attractive to people and businesses. All of their insights would feed back into the system, and ultimately the city itself.

Every stakeholder wants different services from the city, and yet the data is fundamentally interrelated. The city-as-a-service concept centralises the problem of universal integrated data management, providing the richest possible context for specialised applications. This is essential for exploring holistic solutions to the world’s grandest challenges. What’s more, all kinds of users will be able to collaborate directly, bringing a new level of efficiency, intelligence and participation that will characterise the cities of the future.

Commentaires


  • Urbanetic Facebook
  • Urbanetic Twitter
  • Urbanetic Linkedin

© 2020 Urbanetic Pte. Ltd. | Privacy Policy

DISCLAIMER (Dated: January 20, 2020)
This website’s content ( “The Website” ) is for business promotion and general marketing of Urbanetic. Pte Ltd. and their affiliates. The content of this website is strictly confidential and shall only be used by the viewer ( “The Viewer” ) of this website  for information purpose and for any  additional  purpose  specified  by Urbanetic Pte. Ltd. or  their  affiliate(s)  when  the  content of the website is viewed by the viewer . Statements  in  this  website   are  made  as  of  the  date  hereof at the beginning of this disclaimer unless  stated  otherwise,  and  neither  the  delivery  of  this  Presentation  at  any  time  nor  any  sale  of  the  share interests (if applicable) shall under any circumstances create an implication that the information contained herein is correct as of any time after such date.

The  product features, functionalities, forecasts,  future  projections,  estimates,  prospects,  returns  or  any  of  the assumptions underlying them provided in this website are based on internal extrapolation, industry trend and other public information, and also based on assumptions made at the time such projections were developed. They involve risks, variables and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that the results set forth in any such projections will be attained, and actual factors, which are not predictable, can have a material impact on the reliability of projections. This website and its contents are not intended to be relied upon as the basis for an investment decision, and is not, and should not be assumed to be, complete. The contents herein are not to be construed as legal, business, or tax advice, and each prospective investor or business partner should consult its own attorney, business advisor, and tax advisor as to legal, business, and tax advice.

This website and its contents  does  not  constitute  an  offer  or  solicitation  in  any  country, state  or  other  jurisdiction  to  subscribe  for  or  purchase  any  limited  partnership  interests  described  herein. Viewer of this website agree that Urbanetic Pte. Ltd., its affiliates and their respective partners, members, employees, officers, directors, agents, and representatives shall have no liability for any misstatement or omission of fact or any opinion expressed herein. The viewer further agrees that it will (i) not copy, reproduce, or distribute the content of the website, in whole or in part, to any person or party (including any employee of the viewer other than an employee directly involved in evaluating any potential investment in investment funds to be advised by Urbanetic Pte. Ltd. or any potential business cooperation with such funds) without the prior written consent of Urbanetic Pte. Ltd.; (ii) keep permanently confidential all information contained herein that is not already public; and (iii) use this Presentation solely for the purpose set forth  in the first paragraph above.

bottom of page