A new report assesses the smart city performance of local government areas representing 85% of Australia's population. NSW leads the way, and all the leading performers are in the major cities.
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Articles on smart cities plan
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How smart are our cities now? In Queensland, a study of all 78 local government areas reveals major gaps between the ten leading the way in becoming smart cities and the rest of the state.
As cities become 'smarter', they need more and more objects fitted with technology. We need to think about designing these objects to accommodate computers, which often break down and create e-waste.
With the emerging emphasis on regional City Deals and Smart Cities funding, perhaps Australia is beginning to find its way to a national cities policy, rather than just a big cities policy.
Toronto has entered a joint venture with a Google sister company to create a high-tech urban development area. The goal is to 're-imagine cities from the internet up' – Google's internet, of course.
Knowing a city’s professional network ratio helps to understand how connected its inhabitants are to other markets, customers and ideas. All support innovation, adaptation and city growth.
Regional cities can be as effective at generating jobs and growth as their big five metro cousins. But they must identify and build on their strengths to be investment-ready.
Universities can lead the way in creating opportunities for the economic development of regional cities and outer metropolitan areas under new City Deals.
Australia has lagged behind some other countries in its investment in smart cities, but in retrospect that may not have been such a bad thing.
A project in the Western Himalaya has highlighted some valuable lessons for the future.
Like a 5D movie on speed, the city today defies conventional boundaries. This raises new questions about what we imagine to be 'the city' – and how we as a democratic community can shape it.
Value capture is touted as a way to fund infrastructure, but what actually is it?
The 2016 articulation of an urban agenda assumes building more highways, railways and trams will produce better, more productive cities that somehow give everyone a job.
The rhetoric of 'smart cities' is dominated by the economic, with little reference to the natural world and its plight. Truly smart and resilient cities need to be more in tune with the planet.
Governments too often hinder change, when instead they should aim to foster an organic innovation ecosystem. This is more about bottom-up innovation than top-down schemas.
Australia's Smart Cities Plan largely conveys a limited role for people: they live, work and consume. This neglects the rich body of work calling for better human engagement in smart cities.
Top contributors
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Senior research fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute
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Engaged Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
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Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Planning, Queensland University of Technology
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Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Sydney
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Associate Professor, Centre for Urban Research and Urban Futures Enabling Capability Platform, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Melbourne
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Adjunct Professor, Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University
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Professor of Urban and Cultural Geography, Western Sydney University
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Professor of Global Urban Politics and Director, Connected Cities Lab, University of Melbourne
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Dean, Research and Innovation, University of South Australia
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Professor of Political Economy at the Department of Geography and Fellow of Fitzwilliam College; Director, University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute, University of Cambridge
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Associate Professor and Head, School, Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology
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Professor of Housing Research and Deputy Director of the NHMRC Centre of Excellence for Healthy Housing, University of Adelaide
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Professor of Social Epidemiology, Principal Research Fellow in Social Epidemiology and Director of the Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy Housing in Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
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Research Associate, UCL
