Smarter Greener Cities Through G2G Collaborations

Singapore was recently declared as the top-performing smart city in the world, outperforming major cities like San Francisco, Seoul, London and New York.

- Tay Kok Chin

Yet, this achievement can only be lauded if the move towards smart cities creates a net positive value for humanity and the planet.

There is no question that smart cities are in vogue with governments across the world today as the overall market size for smart cities is projected to grow from USD308 billion in 2018 to USD717.2 billion by 2023 globally. While this is an overall positive development for the world, we need to acknowledge the fact that if not done right, the rise of smart cities may turn out to be one of the toughest challenges of our time.

SMART CITIES – POLLUTING OUR FUTURE?

Alarmingly, up to 4.2 million deaths occur yearly as a result of exposure to air pollution and 91 percent of the world’s population currently live in places where air quality exceeds WHO guideline limits – and that is just for air pollution alone. The rapid rate of industrialisation, driven by the appetite for smart city development, is exacerbating the problem of pollution in many parts of the world. Proliferation of data centres and IoT control towers – core components of smart cities – places an incredible strain on existing infrastructure, leading a rise in carbon emission as well as land pollution.