Photo: Radist | Dreamstime.com

Kids’ guide to smart cities aims to inspire the next generation

26 July 2021

by Sarah Wray

Quality of life requires innovation,
to make cities great in every nation.
With lots of new ideas in the mix,
there are plenty of things a city can fix.

 [Extract from The Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids]

A new book for children co-written by a former city Chief Information Officer (CIO) aims to inspire the next generation of active citizens and civic leaders.

Jonathan Reichental teamed up with Brett Hoffstadt to create the Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids.

Dr Jonathan Reichental

Hoffstadt’s previous books include How to Be a Rocket Scientist, informed by his background in aerospace engineering at Boeing and elsewhere, and he has also worked on titles for children about Tesla cars, cybersecurity and space exploration. He realised smart cities was an important topic for the next generation.

“Our future cannot be a spectator sport for children. They have to get actively engaged with it,” he said.

The rhyming book is interactive to help children learn by doing and includes information as well as puzzles and creative activities.

“We made a conscious effort to inspire their whole brain and personality,” said Hoffstadt.

Reichental, who was formerly the CIO for the City of Palo Alto before going on to teach and write the Smart Cities for Dummies book, said he hadn’t previously considered writing for children but when Hoffstadt got in touch, “it immediately made sense.”

“This is a real opportunity to get in front of kids early in their lives, to expose them to things like solutions for the environment, for energy and waste management, and to talk about things like the limited supply of water,” Reichental said.

The authors worked with teachers in the US and Europe to get feedback and tailor the book to meet their curriculum needs.

It charts the history of cities as well as some of the challenges and opportunities they present before looking ahead to innovations such as flying cars and drones, more Internet of Things sensors and an increase in renewable energy.

Children are invited to draw and colour cities and build them from containers and boxes. They can take quizzes about city problems and share their ideas for improvements they’d like to see in their own cities or how we might move around in the future.

Hoffstadt said: “We have some funny twists and surprises in the book for kids but it’s not all roses and butterflies with the future of cities. We talk about the serious challenges with waste and we mention crime – I think kids will also appreciate that we have a realistic approach.”

Human approach

As well as covering technology, the authors also emphasise the human side, with a cast of international characters to guide children through the book, a focus on people and a look at jobs. There’s even an activity to provide an insight into some of the decisions that mayors need to balance.

Brett Hoffstadt

Hoffstadt commented: “I come to this topic of children’s activity books from an analytical engineering systems perspective.  I’ve always been trying to find the root cause of things throughout my career – why things go wrong, or why they succeed. It always comes down to the people that are involved, not the technology. The more we can unlock the potential of people, the better off we’ll be. And I think children are essential for that.”

Reichental believes cities can do more to engage young people, who are often left out of traditional processes. In his role at Palo Alto, he said he tried to bring younger students into hackathons and visited schools.

He commented: “Teachers welcomed me into their classrooms and students were absolutely thrilled to share their ideas and talk about the city. The comment I got all the time was: ‘You’re the first person to ever ask us’.”

While the main purpose of the book is to spark children’s imaginations about better cities, Reichental said: “Maybe there is a mayor or city manager who says 25 years from now: ‘I was very inspired by a kids’ book on the future of cities’. That would be such an incredible outcome.”

Image: Radist Dreamstime.com

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