Resilient cities of the future

Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, which are estimated to be responsible for more than 70 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions[1], a figure expected to increase by two-thirds by 2030[2], putting cities squarely on the climate change front line. Look another 20 years into the future and almost 70 percent of the world’s estimated 9.8 billion population will be city dwellers[3].

If the recent COP27 Summit taught us anything it was that the time for incremental change has passed; we need to take action now to put the right strategies in place to enable this rapid urbanization without seriously undermining the path to a low carbon future.

Positive steps are already underway. We are seeing more and more evidence of cities across the world deploying electrified transportation technology and integrating renewables. The problem is that many city leaders still think of urban decision-making in terms of individual strategies for transport, for example, or flood defenses, treating each area as a silo project rather than part of a more comprehensive ecosystem.

But if we are to realize the safe, smart and sustainable cities of the future before it’s too late, we need to transition from a siloed to a systems-led mindset. Even the most intelligent individual approach to one challenge will fail to make the most of the opportunities available from considering cities as a connected whole.

This issue is explored in a series of four ‘Cities of Tomorrow’ Insight Reports by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which ABB contributed to. All four reports urge city leaders to adopt a systems-led approach to how we plan, build, manage and power our cities to create more positive outcomes.

One focuses on urban infrastructure, one on accelerating urban inclusion, the third on using digital technology and the final report is about rethinking city revenue and financing using a systems approach.

This is just one example of how a systems-led approach can ensure cities are primed for the future.

The report defines a five-point plan. Firstly, it’s about demonstrating leadership and vision, supported with a more integrated, cooperative model involving all levels of government, business, civil society and academia. Underscoring this is the importance of stakeholders and community engagement, ensuring all citizens play a role in addressing the climate challenge with urgency and ambition.

Thirdly, it’s about adopting an integrative process to maximize synergies among systems and take advantage of quick win opportunities, which can be delivered at scale. This follows onto implementation with an onus on a unified, collaborative approach, which integrates everyone from infrastructure designers, providers and operators through to investors and financiers.

Finally, it’s important to take the opportunity to build capacity by enhancing involvement from external parties, for example multilateral development banks, development agencies and the private sector.

Meanwhile, to move towards a systems approach to digital transformation, city leaders are advised to start by asking, “What are the most pressing unmet needs and challenges in cities that technology can improve”, rather than, “What can we do with digital technologies?”.

The report further explains that a systems approach to financing urban transformation depends on access to a diverse range of revenue sources to advance both traditional and green infrastructure, and it must include investment in operations and maintenance.

In Switzerland, for example, many homeowners wanted to switch to renewable energy and become ‘prosumers’ by powering their homes from communal solar panels. But the calculation and billing of electricity use was seen as too arduous and complex, deterring many people. To make this move easier and faster, Ormera, a start-up by SwissPost Finance and Bern Water and Energy, partnered with ABB Switzerland to develop a simple solution that combines smart meters with blockchain technology. This simplification will encourage many more homeowners to join the prosumer movement and with technology that can be easily commissioned and installed on any building without the need for complicated programming. This in turn has the added positive impact of accelerating the energy transition in Switzerland.

The truth is that the city of the future cannot be realized with a set of siloed individual initiatives. It requires input from all stakeholders, working together to achieve the common goal. For industrial partners like ABB, this means taking an ever more collaborative approach with our customers, to develop the right safe, smart, sustainable and scalable solutions, that will help our cities tackle their energy challenges and become truly climate resilient, in a world with ever increasing urbanisation and demands for electricity.

Does this resonate with you, either as city dweller or a city planner or leader? I’m intrigued to know and understand more about what are the most pressing unmet needs and challenges in cities, so we can explore together how technology can improve those.

[1] https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/09/1046662

2 https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/09/1046662

3 https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html