Europe to lead world’s smart cities by 2040

European smart cities could transform the continent's urban landscape in less than three decades, speakers gathered at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels said on Tuesday.

Jeremy Rifkin, President of The Foundation on Economic Trends, told attendees at a press briefing that Europe's role in history's “third industrial revolution” would see cities transition from fossil fuels to full implementation of the circular economy as early as 2040.

“My belief is that we can move this infrastructure in place in less than three decades," he said. "We laid out the first industrial revolution in Britain in four decades. We laid out the second industrial revolution in the United S...