Issue 22 - Cities of the Future

Page 32

The Sustainabilist | SMART CITIES

FEATURE

Building the Cities of Tomorrow

Upgrades to our urban centres and the creation of brand-new smart cities are key to sustainable growth in the region By HE Khaled Al Huraimel Group CEO, Bee’ah

T

he term ‘smart city’ is used a lot these days and for good reason. Here in the Middle East, our urban centres must develop quickly to leverage the power of information to make optimal use of resources and operations. This is not a 30

choice - our populations are growing, we must confront climate change, and we need economic diversification that paves the way for future growth beyond the oil industry. We must always put the wellbeing of our citizens at the forefront of our considerations.

The good news is that we see multiple examples of government initiatives across the GCC to meet these challenges. Bahrain has heavily promoted FinTech Bay in a bid to be a low-cost tech hub. Oman is developing a 2030 strategy to help plan smart cities. The most striking example


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Issue 22 - Cities of the Future by Dubai Carbon - Issuu