The main focus today is how we can transition into smarter cities, but in countries where population growth is expected to hit the hardest they are beginning to build smart cities from the ground up. Here are a few new city projects that are trying to set the pace for the smart cities of the future.
Located just 30 kilometers from Seoul on 600 hectors of reclaimed land from on the Yellow sea, Songdo was commissions in 2001 to be the first smart city built from the ground up. Expectations were high for the city, with the vision of it being an international hub for foreigner and South Koreans alike. Now, running behind schedule and not attracting as many inhabitants as originally planned, the future of Songdo and its attractiveness have been questioned recently.
This ambitious project in Saudi Arabia, broke ground this year and is scheduled to be completed in 2025. Funded by the Saudi government and private investors, this futuristic mega city will cover roughly 25,900 square kilometers from Egypt to Lebanon. At an estimated cost of about $500 billion, the development plans and details remain in the air in respect to how “smart” it will actually be.
Belmont, Arizona- Bill Gates’ city of the future.
In 2017, the Bill Gates investment firm announced that they bought 24,000 acres of land in southwestern Arizona. According to Belmont Partners, the new development will include high-speed public Wi-Fi, self-driving cars and high-tech manufacturing facilities. Many of the details have yet to be reviled and not much has been said since the initial 2017 announcement.
Sidewalk Labs’ Quayside in Toronto
Probably the most talked about smart city project recently in the news is the Sidewalk Labs project in Toronto. Planned to be build on the waterfront of Lake Ontario after winning the contract, the new development will keep mobility, housing and real estate, sustainability, the public realm, community and on “open digital infrastructure to inspire innovation” at its core.