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PwC unveils 10 point plan for city competitiveness

18 April 2016

by Jonathan Andrews

The cities of the future must do more to integrate new technologies within public services if they are to remain competitive and keep pace with urban population growth equivalent to the combined current populations of India and China, according to a new report published by the World Economic Forum and global consulting firm PwC.

The 60-page document entitled Inspiring Future Cities & Urban Services provides a framework for cities to classify various dimensions of their development, and proposes a ten point plan to transform the built environment.

The report is intended to provide guidance on creating competitive policies that can entice and retain global talent, encourage the private sector to help cities meet new development priorities set out in the Sustainable Development Goals and at COP21, and empower municipal leaders to become more calculated decision makers.

Cities around the world are adopting smart urban solutions at scale,” Hazem Galel, Global Leader of the Cities and Local Network at PwC told Cities Today. “The successful ones use rapid prototyping to experiment with several emerging technologies to enable new services, adjust quickly to how citizens respond and then deploy at scale, while putting in place the success factors to encourage large scale uptake.

The report draws on examples of how emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile based sensing, location and condition sensing, data analytics, and open data are already shaping modern services in cities like Auckland, Helsinki, Madrid, London, Caracas and Medellin, and a number of other locations.

In an era characterised by enormous technological advancements and economy uncertainty, the ability to create narratives that attract investment from the private sector and the role that circular economies–industrial economies that do not produce any waste–can play in helping cities achieve more with less, are unsurprisingly central features.

“In the fourth industrial revolution, we are likely to see the biggest industrial shifts in a generation,” said Alice Charles, Lead for Urban Development at the World Economic Forum. “Innovations such as 3D-printing, Artificial Intelligence and next generation robotics will shift models of work and production in ways that are impossible to predict. Public private collaboration will be required to enable cities to navigate the path of this urban transformation,”

The report follows sustained interest in the dynamics of migration to cities, with the ongoing migration crisis in Europe featuring high on the agenda at this year’s World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.

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