India needs sustainable cities
Every minute during the next 20 years, 30 Indians will leave rural India for urban areas. At this rate, India will need some 500 new cities in the next two decades. If there were ever a time to focus on developing solutions for sustainable cities, that time is now.
As population centers grow, they are placing greater demands on the city infrastructures that deliver vital services such as transportation, healthcare, education and public safety. Adding to the strain are ever-changing public demands for better education, greener programs, accessible government, affordable housing and more options for senior citizens.
Replacing the actual city infrastructures is often unrealistic in terms of cost and time. However, with recent advances in technology, we can infuse our existing infrastructures with new intelligence. By this, we mean digitizing and connecting our systems, so they can sense, analyze and integrate data, and respond intelligently to the needs of their jurisdictions. In short, we can revitalize them so they can become smarter and more efficient. In the process, cities can grow and sustain quality of life for their inhabitants.
Making cities more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent isn't only about overcoming the challenges cities face. It is about recognizing that many of the challenges we face in making a smarter planet are centered on creating sustainable cities.
Cities symbolize and centralize so many aspects of what will make for a smarter planet: smarter education, smarter healthcare, smarter water and energy use, smarter public safety, smarter transportation, and smarter government ... to name but a few.
A new report from the IBM Institute for Business Value, "A Vision of Smarter Cities," makes the case that cities must use new technologies to transform their systems to optimize the use of finite resources. As sustainability for cities and the planet becomes ever more important, the question isn't whether cities will do this; the question is: Which ones are doing it first? And who will do it best?
How it's done
Introducing "The Smarter City" series The modern city is a system of systems. When collaboration is encouraged, progress results.
The Living City Meeting increasing needs for education, health and social services as populations grow.
Powering the City Implementing a smarter system for production, management and supply of energy and water.
City in Motion
Making use of new traffic and travel advances with fewer resources and a growing population.