Dr. Xin Chen, Research Fellow at New Zealand Asia Institute, University of Auckland
I would like to thank the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding at Peking University and Prof.Wang Dong for the opportunity to participate in this forum and share my opinions on smart cities in a post-Covid world.
Over the last decade or so, smart city initiatives across the world have leveraged innovative technologies to improve the overall quality of life for urban residents. The recent and continuing battle against the COVID-19 pandemic has further signified the value and benefits of data-driven digital infrastructures of smart cities. Not only has the digital infrastructure made real-time health surveillance and coordinated control possible, but the reliable digital connectivity has also enabled a wide range of 24/7 online services despite the mandatory quarantine and often stringent lockdown measures.
In the meantime, pandemic disruptions, and adaptive responses of government agencies, commercial enterprises, and urban residents have further accelerated digital transformation of smart cities. The COVID pandemic has thus provided an opportunity for smart city technologies to rapidly evolve from a “fashionable” branding strategy to bread-and-butter infrastructures of daily lives.
However, this change has also sparked concerns about whether the technologies can guarantee that all urban dwellers have equitable, inclusive, and sustainable access to smart city services. Such concerns are not unfounded as historically disadvantaged and marginalized communities in cities have not always shared in the prosperity brought by urban revitalisation. As a matter of fact, increasing studies have shown that the Covid pandemic has already had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable groups. It is thus not difficult to anticipate that, without guaranteed equal access to smart city technologies, accelerated knowledge-driven urban transitions may widen existing social inequalities and urban segregation. Acknowledging this problem, discussions of post-pandemic economic recoveries not only emphasize “inclusive growth” side by side with “resilience”, but reflections on the future of smart cities are also shifting focus from digital innovation and transformation to social infrastructures that will boost digital inclusion. The idea of digital inclusion typically entails that a dynamic digital ecosystem for a smart city should enable everyone to use the same facilities, take part in the same activities, and enjoy the same experiences. To put it differently, for a smart city to develop, it requires “smart” citizens who are actively engaged and possess a solid understanding of the potential benefits and advantages of new technologies. It thus follows that urban planning and designs of smart cities need to go beyond internet access and adoption, and emphasize strategies and programmes that will improve digital literacy and ensure that residents have adequate digital knowledge and skills.
Also, to meet the increasing demands for a workforce that is adept at utilizing emerging technologies and responding effectively to new opportunities from digital transformation, smart cities must be more human-centered and invest more in skilling, reskilling and upskilling their workforce. Of course, to put the digital transformation machinery of smart cities to work for all residents, there needs to be effective and supportive institutional frameworks to productively coordinate all key players that drive the digital landscape. Furthermore, since the digital landscape cuts across all sectors, the State, not the market, is increasingly acknowledged to have a central role to play in the development of public-private strategies and action plans for an inclusive digital transformation of cities.
As a matter of fact, after decades of retrenchment, the Covid pandemic has not only evolved smart cities into the “new norm”, but also brought back the State into force as the main actor of economic policy and as the key institution to face challenges. This means that ensuring smart cities to invest more in socially inclusive infrastructures may have already been incorporated into the pandemic-updated social contract between the State and citizens.
Thank You!
Subscription
