Skip to content

What are you looking for?

Comment

Now is the time of the Smart City: A changing 2020

In early March, we discussed the emergence of the Smart City as a concept for the built environment profession. We touched on the many opportunities and challenges the industry faces as we engage further with the ‘Smart Cities’ movement.

In just five months, circumstances around this commentary have changed significantly. Our cities, places and spaces are functioning in an entirely different way and we have seen an overwhelming increase in our reliance upon data, technology and virtual means to achieve day-to-day tasks.

Our first piece highlighted a number of challenges the industry faces in fully embracing the Smart City concept, including:

  • the need for national support;
  • lack of skills, money and time, which stymie opportunity;
  • willingness for public and private sector collaboration; and
  • sharing expertise and making data widely accessible.

As these become more pertinent and our perceptions and priorities change in adapting to the constraints of COVID-19, will the role of the Smart City become ever more critical? How can the concept support economic recovery, changing needs and development requirements, and stimulate growth?

COVID: Economic recovery

Previously we highlighted the importance of utilising big data and the Smart Cities initiative to direct funding for new development and infrastructure. This has become ever more pertinent given recent announcements from Westminster, focussed on spending our way to recovery.  

The Department for Transport has announced that they will provide a £2bn package for new and improved walking and cycling infrastructure[1]. This is in addition to plans within the Spring Budget to invest £650bn over five years to “build the homes, to fix the NHS, to tackle the skills crisis, to mend the gap in opportunity and productivity and connectivity between the regions of the UK”[2]. To make the most of this investment and ensure the biggest beneficial impact, the Government needs to engage fully with the Smart Cities initiative, ensuring that the money is invested in the necessary locations.

We have seen this type of engagement on a local level in Devon with the County Council announcement of £27m additional funding on road improvements for the current financial year, with a shift in focus to improving lower category roads, primarily for cycling purposes. To maximise the benefits of this investment, the county council are utilising readily available data from the fitness application Strava to confirm the most frequently used routes. This is a fantastic example of a local authority utilising real-time data that is free, readily available and easy to translate into investments to deliver improvements.

Through proper engagement, the Smart Cities initiative has the ability to maximise the use of available funding and ensure it reaches the locations where it will be most beneficial. It takes away the scatter-gun approach to deciding which projects or locations benefit from investment and funding, utilising a data driven approach in its place. This is one of the principal reasons why all leadership models should be focussed on Smart Cities, particularly in a post-pandemic world.

A ‘Smart’ priority for Planning?

This is a topic that is being championed by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), who have confirmed in their Priorities for Planning Reform[3] and ‘Plan the World We Need’ Research Paper[4] the following key objectives:

  • The need for a ‘smart’ electricity grid to respond to fluctuations, as highlighted by the supply and demand during the pandemic;
  • Regional data observatories or ‘hubs’, providing consistent and timely data and evidence to inform strategic planning and promote innovation at various levels;
  • Scenario modelling tools to allow policies, land use and infrastructure investments to be tested and visualise options;
  • Open data and standardisation, allowing a common language and access for the Government, developers, infrastructure providers and other stakeholders to cooperate through this recovery; and
  • Digital tools to promote participatory planning, enabling discussions, qualitative data gathering and analysis of a range of representations.

This has been brought to the forefront with the recent Planning for the Future White Paper[5], where the word ‘digital’ features 51 times. In comparison, that’s 47 times more than ‘economy’. The document focuses on several of the areas raised by the RTPI including a digital planning application process, readily accessible mapping and data to support local and neighbourhood plan making, and digital engagement processes.

Whilst the Paper begins to think about tangible ways to embed digital services, such as reliance on the PropTech sector, are we still missing the essence of ‘smart’ planning? Integrating the concept into our day-to-day working can only occur if planners are at the forefront of innovation. Opportunities must be given within the public and private sector to develop the skills of planners to meaningfully utilise real-time data and digital technology in the development of our towns and cities. It is vital that this is seen through the emerging ‘PlanTech’ concept supported by the RTPI and Connected Places Catapult, enabling planners to give the best advice on what our people and places need in a post-pandemic world.

For more information on Smart Cities please contact Jadine Havill or George Wilyman.  

14 August 2020

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2-billion-package-to-create-new-era-for-cycling-and-walking

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-a-new-deal-for-britain

[3] Priorities for Planning Reform in England: RTPI Policy Paper, April 2020

[4] Plan the World We Need: RTPI Research Paper, June 2020

[5]Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government: Planning For the Future White Paper, August 2020

You may also be interested in