Making smart cities inclusive

Smart cities put people and the environment at the heart of high-tech developments that use data and technology to drive service delivery and improve quality of life. But to support these efficiencies, smart cities often put the technology at the centre and want to implement all innovations at once.

By Tijs van den Brink

Making smart cities inclusive This is particularly relevant for a government that is fiscally This comes with high upfront capital investments, typically recovered through higher property values and rentals. effective way to quickly learn which technologies work in the local context, prior to larger-scale roll-outs. To make this happen systemically, clear constrained as it responds to the Covid-19 pandemic. A broad partnership with the private sector, academia and NGOs also allows for more creative and diverse uses of available data. On a broader scale, it requires connecting That immediately excludes the bulk of the plans that prioritise what experiments will urban development with public sector population from ever being able to afford be conducted in which cities are needed. initiatives, like the Presidential Commission to live in a smart city. In a country like This forms a solid business case for both for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, South Africa, with one of the world’s greatest the current setting and how the experiments Johannesburg’s Tshimologong Precinct, and inequality gaps, everything possible needs to will be replicated and scaled to future Ekurhuleni’s Drone Accelerator Programme. be done to guard against this. applications. Remember, these experiments Ultimately, making our cities smarter is a

We can make South African cities smarter can fail. And it’s okay if they do, as long as sustainable and impactful way to improve the by following these three steps: they’re stopped immediately, and the lessons quality of life within urban areas. Although learnt are shared widely to prevent future often associated with wealthy areas, the STEP 1: Gather data misallocations of funding. smart city concept can be applied to lowerData is the foundation. Knowing exactly An interesting local example of successful income areas too to unlock the transformative what is going on within the city and what experimentation is the Count Dropula smart impact that technology can have on the implications of those events are helps water meter initiative launched during the people’s lives. authorities make better decisions, faster. peak of Cape Town’s water crisis in 2018.

Ideally, data should be gathered in (near) Developed by a Stellenbosch University real time from a wide range of sources and associate professor, the meter helped sensors. Insights should be presented in a schools to address water leaks rapidly by way that enables decision-makers to act as notifying them immediately of consumption events unfold and helps them understand how spikes. Once installed at 350 schools, Count patterns evolve over time. Dropula saved almost 550 million litres in

That said, accessing accurate, relevant and 17 months. real-time data is a challenge in South Africa. When it comes to infrastructure, authorities STEP 3: Partner broadly often don’t know exactly what exists, what Learning from and partnering with the private state it’s in, or what it’s being used for. For sector has additional benefits. A 2018 MGI this reason, South African cities must start report found that “more than half of the gathering information to paint a true picture initial investment that needs to be made that they can work with. [in service and infrastructure systems] by the public sector would generate a Tijs van den Brink, advisory group STEP 2: Experiment rapidly positive financial return, which opens director: Digital Services and Smart Asset Management, Royal HaskoningDHV Rapid experimentation is the only cost- the door to partnerships.”