Timothy
Martin Kadzere
With nearly 70 percent of the global population expected to live in cities by 2050, the use of artificial intelligence solutions has become an integral part in reshaping urban set up.
In Africa, about half of the population will be living in urban areas, according to the United Nations. Given the infrastructural deficits in Africa, some analysts have raised concerns that the expected rapid urbanisation will compromise quality of lives. By harnessing the benefits of information technologies and innovation, smart or modern cities provide solutions to rapid urbanisation and will significantly impact positively on economic growth and lives of the urbanites.
Smart cities are modern settlements that respond to sustainable human development requirements while providing cutting edge technologies and services.
They offer cleaner services hence residents enjoy better connectivity, ambience and convenience.
Analysts believe it had never been more crucial to make cities smarter, more efficient, and sustainable for their residents.
Cutting edge infrastructure
“There is need for enhanced digital connectivity since they are largely technology driven,” Percy Toriro, urban planning Consultant told Business Weekly.
“Smart cities typically benefit from the internet of things. They don’t just require digital infrastructure, but also smart technologies to manage water, sewerage, public lighting and other enabling infrastructure.”
Toriro said there was need to install smart sustainable infrastructure and utilise sustainable non-polluting infrastructure.
For instance, wind and solar can be used for energy. Modern technologies will also be used to manage both liquid and solid waste so that rivers and soils are not polluted.
Timely policy action needed
Technology expert Lazarus Muchenje said to reap the full economic and social benefits of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) especially where it concerns smart cities, the Government has to put in place policies that encourage and make investment in the telecoms and technology sector attractive.
This means there should be a “soft touch” regulatory approach.
“This must primarily mean that licences in fields where there is no scarcity should be reduced or done away with totally, and if kept should be primarily for registration and follow up purposes as these tech and telecom industries are the bedrock on which smart cities will be built,” Muchenje, who is former chief executive of state owned mobile phone company NetOne told Business Weekly in an interview.
“The soft touch regulatory approach will reduce the cost of investing in infrastructure such as fibre which are essential for the 4IR.”
Power availability and reliability is also a key pillar in the success of smart cities.
It’s important that the power infrastructure is reliable in order for the smart city devices to stay on, as they are supposed to be “on all the time” Muchenje added.
The government should offer incentives for companies that invest in the infrastructure that supports the 4IR by creating non geographic economic zones such as tax breaks duty exemptions.
Toriro noted that smart cities should also provide an opportunity to correct past urbanisation challenges. Harare is developing laterally expanding rapidly into agriculture land.
“This is not sustainable because land is a finite resource. Smart cities must adopt efficient compact designs,” said Toriro.
“They must have efficient mass transport systems that include railway and large buses that carry many passengers and avoid congestion.
“Use of public transport must be faster, more efficient, and more fashionable than the private car.”
This week, the Zimbabwe Government approved the development of a smart city in Melfort, about 40 km east of Harare, probably the first endorsement of the modern city at Government level.
Melfort is strategically located midway between Harare and Marondera, and has potential to become a major economic hub. It is endowed with excellent weather conditions, abundant water sources, thriving agricultural activities, a railway line and an elaborate road network.
Melfort has a direct link with the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and the link road will reduce the distances to the airport for the exporters and other vehicular traffic from the East.
There are substantial down-stream spin-off benefits accruing from the envisaged development. Going forward, the Smart City also aims at decongesting Harare, and the concept will be replicated throughout the country. The development can be replicated to other areas such as Figtree and Chirundu Border Post.
Investment potential
Smart cities have the potential to generate US$20 trillion in economic benefits by 2026, a report done by Barclays analysts said.
Firms were being incentivised to fund Smart City projects through green stimulus packages and strategies that help reduce their financial risk whilst also providing potential for ancillary income, the report titled Rethinking Smart Cities, Prioritising Infrastructure added.
The Barclays analysts argue that “prioritising changes to urban infrastructure is central to Smart City development, ensuring the foundations are in place before additional solutions and services can arise.”
The accelerated development of new technologies including 5G, AI, cloud, and edge computing is helping to drive the evolution of Smart Cities.
“We are in the early stages of an edge computing revolution and it is critical to support the exponential increase in the number of connected devices, and vast growth in data collected,” the report said. It is expected that approximately US$20 billion of opportunities across hardware, software, and services could be deployed at the edge by 2023 with a significant upside to those numbers in the long term.
Global trends
Globally, Singapore is the current top smart city investor, followed by Tokyo, New York and London, according to Forbes Magazine.
Regionally, the U.S., Western Europe and China account for over 70 percent of the world’s total spend on smart cities, with Latin America and Japan experiencing the fastest growth in spend.
Bongani Ndlovu