The Future of Smarter

Cities Tim Dixon, Professor in Sustainable Futures in the Built

Environment, School of Construction Management &

Engineering, University of Reading

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smart_City_Nansha.jpg?uselang=en-gb

Cities today……

Evolution of cities thinking

60s & 70s

• Systems thinking

• Urban crisis

• Sustainable urbanism

1980s

• Knowledge cities

• Broadband cities

• Eco city

1990s

• Sustainable cities

• Digital economy

• Wireless cities

2000s

• Smart cities

• Complexity and network society

• Smart and sustainable……?

‘Systems’

‘Complexity’

Differing visions of cities

Smart City Framework

Source: BSI Smart Cities Framework (2014) Source: Danish Smart Cities Report (2012)

Smart Cities: EU

Source: EU (2014)

Number Percentage

Birmingham: Smart City Visions

Source: Birmingham City Council (2014)

• Every £1 in broadband has £20 economy impact

• UK public sector data is worth £16b if fully used

• By 2015 90% of all jobs will require IT skills

Other smart cities

Smart and Sustainable City

“A city that leverages the ICT infrastructure to:

Improve the quality of life of its citizens.

Ensure tangible economic growth for its citizens.

Improve the well-being of its citizens.

Establish an environmentally responsible and sustainable approach to development.

Streamline and improve physical infrastructure.

Reinforce resilience to natural and man-made disasters.

Underpin effective and well-balanced regulatory, compliance and governance mechanisms”

Source: ITU (2014) and Boyd Cohen (2014)

Reading 2050: Smart and

Sustainable? BIS Future Cities Foresight

Programme (2065 City Visions)

Environment, economy and lifestyle

How can Reading be smart and sustainable?

What would low carbon living look like?

Physical infrastructure, growth and development

What will be the key growth areas?

What are Reading’s key infrastructure requirements?

What do we

need for cities

to be smarter

(and more

sustainable)?

Visions

Partnerships and networks

Financing

Co-creation and partnership

(‘urban transition labs’ & ’urban

rooms’)

Urban innovation

City devolution

Integrated solutions (‘It’s the

people, stupid’!)

Thank you! Contact:

Professor Tim Dixon

Chair in Sustainable Futures in the Built Environment

School of Construction Management and Engineering

University of Reading

Engineering Building

Whiteknights

PO Box 205

Reading

RG6 6AY

t.j.dixon@reading.ac.uk

http://www.reading.ac.uk/sustainability-in-the-

built-environment/