Smart Cities
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The concept of a “smart city” or “connected community” has been around for decades, but experts argue the meaning of the term, and the expectations around it, have changed in recent years. Residential input remains vital, city leaders explain. -
City officials will begin working to forecast pothole hot spots in order to find and fill holes that have gone unreported. An audit last spring recommended using mapping software to reduce the distances between pothole jobs; the city will explore it.
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Four technology companies are part of the city’s initiative, which is aimed at growing its tech industry and making strides in smart city and digital government work. A Living Lab facility is in the works.
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Its newly launched Local Government Research and Development Agenda, a nationwide undertaking, looks to provide research and science to cities. Interviews and workshops with 20 munis are underway.
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The city has invested $15.4 million in climate projects since the 2021 adoption of the Mesa Climate Action Plan. Officials have purchased 71 electric work trucks, and have 19 more electric vehicles on order.
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The state’s most populous county is piloting installation of 12 solar streetlights near the Downtown South area of Las Vegas. It has been hard hit by copper wire theft, which has kept conventional lights dark for months.
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced the state’s second such site Monday, with $95 million in investment lined up from state, private and local partners. The initiative is expected to generate an estimated 2,000 new jobs.
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The Connective, a regional smart city consortium in the Phoenix, Ariz., metropolitan area, is working to help local governments deploy scalable technology solutions. Its events bring together private- and public-sector leaders.
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Recent data walks, and the city’s newly launched digital rights platform, inform residents on how city technologies collect their personally identifiable information, and how it is stored.
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Cities are no longer seeing their miles of streetscape as cheap parking spaces. Curbs are now considered some of the most in-demand pieces of urban real estate, and technology is stepping up to help manage them.
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The Autonomous Robotic Pickup Platform, a project launching next week in Detroit’s Transportation Innovation Zone, will start by testing small sidewalk delivery bots to collect food waste for compost.
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The city will work with technology company Populus and an urban design firm to digitize its streetscape. It’s part of a project known as The Curb Reimagined, which will create a real-time, digital city map.
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Its vote activates plans to install a citywide network of reliable charging stations. The goal is to have chargers in place within five years at all city buildings, libraries and recreation centers, and at beach locations.
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The Pacific Northwest city will launch a small zero-emission delivery zone later this year, to gather data and collaborate with service operators on effectively removing delivery-related vehicles with emissions from a section of downtown.
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A $30 million project to modernize bus shelters in Los Angeles considers them as mobility hubs that could house modern amenities like digital screens, e-bike and e-scooter docking, dimmable lights and movable shade structures.
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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently opened another 5.6 miles of bus priority lanes, giving the region a total of 51 lane miles designed specifically for public transit. Another 46 miles are coming next year.
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The AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone in Fort Worth is becoming a center for developing next-gen transportation technologies. It’s situated near an interstate, rail lines and an air cargo hub.
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The city will explore using GPS technology from LYT to give green lights to emergency vehicles. The initiative, at a dozen intersections, will preserve its existing, optical-based system and compare their performance.
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Officials hope to break ground in April on the Habitat Green Freedom subdivision, in Aurora, Ill. The new 17-home area will feature solar panels, battery storage, in-ground fiber and devices including smart thermostats.
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The 20-year contract will enable the purchase of solar photovoltaic energy and battery storage from Bonanza Solar. It moves the city closer to sourcing electricity from carbon-free sources by the end of 2030 and replacing coal-fired energy.
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Tools like smart streetlights help cities understand what's going on at the ground level, but as solutions advance, officials say they should be easy to stand up and keep public privacy top of mind.
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