How Vietnam Can Ensure Economic Growth and Create Green Cities
How can Vietnamese cities avoid the environmental pitfalls of rapid urbanisation? Adam Ward proposes solution-driven policies for key areas.
Saudi Arabia’s Smart Cities Program: Why Local Government is Imperative to Digital Transformation
Cities can only become “smart” if they are responsive to their citizens – therefore, local governments need to take the lead in the digital transformation, says Bilal Saghir.
Public Participation Processes: Lessons from Israel
What’s the secret to smart urban development? The answer is simple, says Tomer Chelouche: Engage and respect local residents.
What Hides Behind the Concept of Digital Water?
How can digitalisation of urban services increase sustainable urbanisation? What different approaches and innovations already exist and have proven successful? Kala Vairavamoorthy, director of the International Water Association addresses these questions.
Promoting Sustainable Urban Development Through Impact Innovation
Human-centred impact innovation can be an extraordinary source of social and economic growth for cities and metropolitan areas in developing regions that drives growth of urban communities, supporting equitable and sustainable development and inclusive prosperity.
The Human Rights Dimensions of India’s Smart Cities Mission
Shivani Chaudhry from the Housing and Land Rights Network argues that India’ Smart Cities Mission lacks a human rights dimension – with highly problematic consequences.
“I believe that technology can foster democracy” – interview with Kalpana Viswanath from Safetipin
Kalpana Viswanath from Safetipin, a mobile app developed to support community and women's safety, points out what she is currently missing in the smart city debate and explains to URBANET how technology can actually be used in an inclusive way to promote democracy and citizenship.
Make or break: How the city of tomorrow will shape our future
"Building cities able to accommodate half a billion people over the next 30 years is one of the biggest transformations of our planet and we have to get it right", Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General stated at the Langenburg Forum for Sustainability. Read the full speech here on URBANET
How M-Pesa is changing everyday life in Kenya
Mobile money has revolutionised the lives of many people in the Global South, most of all the ones living in difficult economic circumstances. The M-Pesa service in Kenya is one of these success stories. Judith Owigar describes how it helps making basic services like water and energy available to citizens.
“I think the Smart Cities are on the right track” – An interview with GP Hari, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd.
The city of Kochi in India is a Smart City, meaning that it is well connected and accessible, and over time is being developed into a clean, green and healthy city that is governed in a smart way. In an interview with URBANET, GP Hari from Kochi Metro Rail Ltd talks about how the city is tackling the Smart City approach and what the future might bring.
“Nowadays cities are more aware of the problem” – An interview with Jiao Tang and Luis Marinheiro from the ISWA
In recent years there have been great advancements in solid waste management and people are becoming more and more aware of its importance. However especially in developing countries there is still a need for more sustainable solutions. We spoke to Jiao Tang and Luis Marinheiro about the current situation in waste management and what still needs to be done to make it more sustainable and innovative.
Live from Quito, Day 3: Partnerships, Smart Cities, and urban-rural linkages
Yesterday at Habitat III, Sarah Nandudu from Slum Dwellers International and Mayor Manuel Fernando Velarde Dellepiane of San Isidro district in Lima, Peru, talked about networking and Smart Cities. To find out what else happened, read URBANET's report on the events of the third day of the conference!
Live from Quito, Day 1: The official opening of Habitat III
Habitat III, the long-awaited global conference on urbanisation, was officially opened on Monday morning. Read URBANET's report on the first day of the conference!