Vinayak Chatterjee: Can toll roads be made user-friendly?

September 26, 2014

Vinayak Chatterjee

The Rajasthan High Court, last Monday (September 1), stayed the hike in toll on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway till such time as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the operator file an affidavit confirming that the road is in good condition and that a proper and maintained highway exists that justifies the toll charged.

India has been obsessed historically with asset creation, not effective asset utilisation. Highway build-operate-transfer projects were largely seen as yet another construction project with immediate order-book gains for construction companies. Though the concession agreement specified operations, maintenance and tolling service delivery standards across the life of the project, no one paid much attention to them. Many concessionaires did not have the mindset or the experience to manage long-term assets of this kind, and the attitude was to generally get by NHAI inspections.

The ministry of road transport and highways is now keen to revive road construction activity with a slew of engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contracts – totalling to almost 10,000 km in the here and now. Interestingly, it is understood that these EPC packages are getting bundled with five to 10 years of operation & maintenance (O&M) obligations too. This is an eminently sensible decision. With all this, thankfully, “asset management” is getting the required attention. Increasing road-asset acquisitions by long-term financial investors, pressure for maximising toll revenue, greater oversight from the judiciary, higher focus by NHAI and the ministry, and greater media and activist attention are also adding up. Many myths, hitherto used to justify poor O&M, seem to be getting exposed.

My friend and colleague Vivek Rastogi, who is a well-recognised expert in road operations and maintenance, has over the past few years been dissecting a few myths about highway operations and maintenance.

Myth one: Toll revenue is under pressure, so funds are short for operations and maintenance

Developers have been complaining about lower-than-anticipated traffic on their highways. This is indeed true in some specific cases where local and surrounding issues have lead to reduced movements. However, empirical data from different parts of the country reveal that the actual traffic over the last year, measured as passenger car units has increased by 2 to 12 per cent. This is also borne out by NHAI data. In addition, inflation-indexed toll rates have increased. Better tolling processes, wherever implemented, have boosted revenue, resulting in an overall 12 to 30 per cent increase in toll revenue in rupee terms. Therefore, toll revenue pressure is clearly not the overriding constraint particularly when one factors in that O&M expenses hardly ever exceed 3 to 5 per cent of toll collections. It is often a convenient excuse for complacency and lethargy among highway site-operations teams. Financially, the culprit is over-aggressive bids based on over-optimistic toll projections and under-estimated O&M costs that have not matched real life, thus leading to a “virtual” funds crunch.

Myth two: Lack of support from local administration

The experience on the ground is different, particularly in the bulk of the states where NHAI has the state support agreement in place. Barring sporadic incidents of politically-inspired attacks for media attention, most developers have received reasonable support from the police and district administration. The same holds for media, which has largely been publishing all sides of an “incident” story pretty fairly. This has helped get miscreants arrested at toll plazas. Traffic diversions for escaping tolls have been blocked by the district administration, and elected representatives in most cases, have been supportive of operations according to the concession agreement. Local problems will continue but it has now been seen that solutions can be found with regular and correct liaison with the district authorities.

Myth three: Route operations and route patrolling is an unnecessary spend

The purpose of route operations is to ensure that incidents and accidents on the highway get quick support and attention, and the traffic flows smoothly. Unfortunately, route operations and patrolling are often the first areas where operators try to cut costs with hugely deleterious effects on user satisfaction. It is a rare sight to see regular patrol cars, helpful signage and roadside amenities on Indian highways. Good route operation practices can save precious lives in highway accidents – an area of notoriety for India. This uncaring attitude is primarily based on the fact that road concessionaires still do not see themselves as “service deliverers”, where customer satisfaction and loyalty are necessary for survival as in the case of other businesses where customers have a choice. NHAI clearly needs far higher enforcement of standards in this area.

Myth four: Asset maintenance can be delayed

Roads typically have the following types of maintenance patterns: routine (preventive and reactive) and episodic (say, overlays in five years). In both the categories, the usual business practice is to delay matters till the road surface is either in a shambles or the spectre of penalties looms large. Sadly also, there is minimum use of technical advancements. The net result is a severe deterioration of the life-cycle quality of the asset as well as user-satisfaction. But the concessionaire believes he has “smartly” saved costs.

Myth five: Traffic tail-ending at toll plazas is inevitable

This need not be so. The ease with which cars zip through electronic toll barriers abroad clearly demonstrates the art of the possible. It is surprising that in India, we are not sufficiently agitated with the minutes we are required to wait before passing through a toll barrier. The slow pace of implementing cost-effective electronic tolling and dedicated electronic lanes is a testimony to our collective national lethargy on this aspect. Even without this, hand-held devices with roaming toll-collectors, aggressive marketing of on-board prepaid devices and systematic lane-management, could, if there is a will, actually seek to eliminate tail-ending at toll plazas.

Myth six: Continuing toll-collection during carriageway widening is appropriate

This is clearly addressed to NHAI and the ministry of road transport and highways. The existing model concession agreements, from their lofty perch, clearly did not see the practical problems of allowing toll-collection to continue when carriageway are being widened. It is clearly messy and has a high irritability quotient for all users. Further, it takes away from the spirit of a hassle-free drive questioning the rationale of the toll, and creates a strong negative perception which, as in the case of the Delhi-Jaipur highway, invites the wrath of the judiciary. This should be discontinued in future contracts.

There is clearly a growing need for a new generation of specialised outsourced “asset management partnerships” to manage the operative life-cycle of an asset properly and most importantly, deliver value to the customer. Myths will not do.

Source:Business Standard

Toll plaza vandalised after youth dies in hit-and-run

September 26, 2014

The damaged toll plaza on National Highway 50 in Koppal taluk after the violence on Thursday.

The damaged toll plaza on National Highway 50 in Koppal taluk after the violence on Thursday.

A toll plaza being operated by the GMR Group was vandalised and its staff beaten up by an irate mob on National Highway 50 four-lane road near Hitnal in Koppal taluk on Thursday after a youth was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

According to information reaching here, the youth, Suresh, who was heading towards Koppal on his bicycle, was run over by a heavy vehicle. He died on the spot.

As the news spread, people from Hosahalli and Hitnal started gathering near the accident spot. They started blaming the GMR company, which had taken up the road construction work, for not providing service road and also not laying humps, resulting in the death of the youth. They blocked the highway and burnt tyre to register their protest.

There was a heated argument between the people and the staff of the toll plaza over sharing of the CCTV footage and the mob damaged the windowpanes and also assaulted the staff. A vehicle belonging to National Highways Authority of India was also damaged in the incident.

According to sources, people are agitated over the location of the toll plaza as they have to cough up the fee every time they use the road. They also urged the authorities to shift the toll plaza, but the response was lukewarm. This was another reason for the attack on the toll plaza, according to sources.

The police, on learning about the incident, rushed to the spot and prevented the situation from going out of control. Superintendent of Police T.D. Pawar also visited the spot.

Source:The Hindu

Google to roll out initiatives to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Digital India

September 26, 2014

Google will run a number of campaigns as part of the Government of India’s Digital India program
In support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision towards a Digital India, Google India, is delighted to announce some key initiatives that will help realize this dream of the Prime Minister. Time and again, including his recent speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the Prime Minister has called for moving towards a Digital India, where technology becomes the foundation of good governance and India moves towards a knowledge economy based on the Mantra of ‘IT (Information Technology) + IT (Indian Talent) = IT (India’s Tomorrow). As part of supporting the Prime Minister’s vision, Google will run a number of campaigns as part of the Government of India’s Digital India program.

The highlights are: ● MyGov, the citizen engagement platform of the Government and Google are collaborating to launch a nationwide contest to develop a mobile app for the PM’s Office. The mobile app will bring the PMO to every citizen and the contest will showcase how Indians can build a world class app ● Google India will continue to build a vibrant language ecosystem online and help the Government transition into the increasingly ‘mobile’ India. ● Programs such as Helping Women get Online, getting Indian SMEs Online and showcasing India’s rich heritage and culture online will further promote the digital empowerment of citizens. ● Additionally, to encourage digital literacy and Internet safety, Google is also introducing curriculums for schools, officials and elected representatives. RS Sharma, Secretary of the Department of Information Technology said “The Digital India Program has been launched with the vision of transforming India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. It can truly transform India and bring it on par with other developed countries. I’m happy Google is coming forward to roll out initiatives that will contribute to the Digital India vision. I’m sure others will come forward and join this moment.”

Rajan Anandan, Vice President and Managing Director, Google India said “India is already home to the 3rd largest number of internet users globally with 245 million users as of June 2014.  We are on track to become the 2nd largest user market by 2015 and a 500 million-user market by 2016. Yet, there are more than a billion people who will need to be brought online for India to realize the vision of a digitally connected, knowledge economy. Prime Minister Modi’s Digital India program will play a transformational role in achieving this, and we are excited to be making a meaningful contribution by rolling out several initiatives in collaboration with the Government of India.”

Google is working with the Department of Information Technology and other State Governments to develop these initiatives. The company also welcomes the Prime Minister’s vision of enhancing information highways, as part of the Digital India program. The Prime Minister’s idea of M-Governance for mobile governance has the potential to revolutionize service delivery and provide good governance to people across the length and breadth of India.

Source: Information week

Cisco unveils smart city model for Digital India

September 26, 2014

IOT powered Globalisation East campus shows how citizens can live, work, play and learn in a Digital India

Cisco demonstrated how a future smart city would look like in its campus in Bangalore on Tuesday. Spread over 2.6 million square feet, and designed as a campus-as-a-city for thousands of Cisco employees to work, play and learn, the model city showcased all the possible city utilities which can be availed in a smart city powered by IOT.

As part of the inauguration, Cisco demonstrated the possibilities of the government’s Digital India program where infrastructure would be offered as a utility to every citizen, governance and services would be on demand and citizens would be digitally empowered. Incorporating real time, online and mobile platforms the model illustrated how intelligent networks could digitally enable Indian citizens.

Cisco in association with ELCIA (Electronics City Industry Association) is building the smart city in Bangalore’s Electronic City. The collaboration has already identified 5-km stretch where street lighting, parking, traffic and water management will be controlled centrally through intelligent sensors, information systems and the Internet to improve the quality and efficiency of civic amenities in the area. This project will form the proof-of-concept for a smart city early next year.

Cisco has already built smart cities in Barcelona, Spain and Canberra, Australia. The program highlighted how Cisco and Barcelona council have helped transform the city into a blueprint for sustainable urban development. Canberra, the capital of Australia described the role of Cisco’s technologies in achieving the city’s digital strategy.

Speaking about the hurdles and challenges of building a smart city in India, Srivatsa Krishna, IAS & Secretary to the Government Dept. Of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, said, “Building a smart city in Bangalore is not about selling more routers and switches. Cisco has to come up with economical, cost-effective and affordable smart city concept which can be availed by every Indian.” Cisco initially thought of making the parking lots in Bangalore smart, however the concept did not work out due to several reasons.

Anil Menon, President, Deputy Chief Globalization Officer, Cisco said, “When we build a smart concept for any city we look at five parameters which includes government regulations, cost-effectiveness, scalability, profitability and sustainability.” According to Menon, the absence of these parameters made Cisco not to build the smart parking space in Bangalore. However, with changing times Cisco hopes to be able to build smart city in Bangalore in the coming days

Source:Information week

Automated parking operational in Connaught Place

September 23, 2014

As part of the ‘smart city’ plan of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the automated parking complete with boom barriers and variable signs is ready and functioning at the F Block of Connaught Place.

By the end of the month, the entire area would have automated parking facility. After cracking whip on the parking mafia, the municipal body had handed over the 99 parking lots within its jurisdiction to the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS) for consultancy and for deciding on the technical inputs.

The aim was to put in place a structured system and ensure that all revenues are captured at the back end. The private contractors mafia continued to park cars even when the parking area used to be full. It led to congestion in many areas.

With the new system in place, once the parking area is full the automated computerised board will show the next available spot, indicating the driver to take the car to the next stop. In this case, it will be the next block in CP.

“If the space is full then no car will be allowed to enter that particular parking lot,” an NDMC official said. NDMC hopes to have a proper system ensuring high-tech safety for the cars. “The bollard system has been set up that will be updating the space available for parking and bring in order to the current chaos,” the official added.

“True that people will have to walk a little more than usual. But once the system is in place that habit will be induced among them,” he said.

“Our next endeavour will be to have an online system for reserving parking lots to ease congestion in any area. It will allow people to book parking slots by visiting the NDMC website,” said an NDMC official.

“Numerical analysis and billboard system will bring order in Connaught Place, Janpath, Sarojini Market, Khan Market, Shankar Market over a period of time,” said NDMC chairman Jalaj Srivastava.

Source:India today

France indicates interest to help make Nagpur a smart city

September 23, 2014

France has evinced interest in partnering with Nagpur to make it a ‘smart city’.

This was indicated by French Consul General for Western India Jean Raphael Peytregnet, who is on his two-day visit to Nagpur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced plans to create 100 smart cities across the country and France has offered its expertise, men, and material in urban development to build “new age” cities and plans to send a visiting team of prominent architects to Nagpur to “explore possibilities”.

Accompanied by the French Trade Commissioner of Consulate General Matthieu Lefort, Peytregnet said that the basic objective would be to “explore possibilities” of co-operation in urban development.

Since each city has a different requirement, there is nothing specific in mind, though tailor-made solutions could be offered, he said.

Peytregnet said that New Delhi would host a convention of architects later in November, when a French team would eventually visit Nagpur.

Apart from exploring options in Mumbai and the national capital, they will also be urged to visit other Indian cities, he said.

“There is immense scope for developing modern infrastructure in India. We will be calling on officials of various municipalities and civic bodies across the country to look for tie-ups. Nagpur being in the heart of the country is very much on our mind,” he said.

The Consul General met Nagpur Mayor Pravin Datke, his deputy Munna Pokulwar, Municipal Commissioner Shyam Wardhane and past mayor Anil Sole to discuss issues related to the ‘smart city’ concept.

Lefort said there is also a focus on sectors like consumer goods, agriculture, automobiles, avionics and also tourism.

Current investment by French companies in India stands at 15 billion Euros as against Indian investment in France which is at only 300 million Euros. The French government is keen to increase the figure by promoting Indian business proposals, he said.

Besides developing Nagpur into a ‘smart city’, the diplomats also asserted that they are exploring possibilities of investments in the Multi Modal International Passenger and Cargo Hub (MIHAN) in the city and were satisfied with the availability of space, good connectivity, infrastructure, power, manpower, incentives and industrial environment in MIHAN.

Both the diplomats also met office bearers of two prominent NGOs namely Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA) and Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED) during their two-day stay in the city.

While interactions with VED, the top diplomat said that he would like more Indian students to study in France, especially because universities in France would now teach in English.

Source:India Today

Agra to become smart city with Japanese aid

September 23, 2014

It may not have an influential member of parliament like Narendra Modi in its kitty, but when it comes to reaping the fruits of its decades old relations with Japan, Agra is not willing to fall short of Varanasi in attracting Japanese investments.

The home to the first post-WWII Leprosy research center in Asia established by the Japanese government, Agra also plays a gracious host to over 30 thousand Japanese tourists every year, who come to visit the Taj Mahal and the JALMA institute for Leprosy Research that had been established by a fellow countryman Dr. M Miyazaki.

Now, the Japanese government is preparing a detailed roadmap to invest in Agra, to develop it into a Smart City. A delegation of 100 Japanese experts will be arriving in Agra in December to study the city’s infrastructure and sign the necessary MOUs for the city’s transformation.

Talking to India Today, local industrialist and exporter Puran Dawar, who was a part of the six-member delegation of Agra industrialists who went to Japan with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that the delegation presented a brief outline of the developments that could be made possible in Agra with minimum investment before the Mayor of Kyoto Daisaku Kadokawa.

Upon viewing the presentation, the Mayor agreed to send a delegation of experts to Agra who will prepare a study report on how to develop Agra into a smart city, while preserving its heritage.

He said that the government of Hiroshima has also agreed to develop joint ventures with the industrialists of India and if things kept going the way they were, Agra could soon be on the focal point of pollution-free industrial development as visualized by the Japanese government. Dawar said that the Japanese were made aware of the fact the manpower in India is a lot cheaper to hire than other countries.

The primary target of the Agra Development Foundation, which will be spearheading the developmental agenda of Agra, is to obtain Japanese aid in developing eco-friendly energy solutions for Agra, which could include solar energy as well as other low-carbon emission techniques. Energy conservation and digitalization of the entire city’s infrastructure is another avenue where the Japanese aid will be invaluable.

Source:India Today

Narendra Modi’s imprint on smart city project

September 23, 2014

After the curtains came down on the UPA regime’s JNNURM scheme, the urban development ministry has got a clear message from the PMO that reliable, adequate and utility services would be critical to a ‘smart city’ while the design and creation should be “region-specific and not a generalised concept as practiced earlier.”

“The PM wants to take big city living to a new level where 24/7 utilities services becomes an essential in public service delivery. So, would be technology-based governance and monitoring of services provided to citizens. Not to miss, a high quality social infrastructure including Wi-Fi zones and recreational spaces form core of the new plans for these cities on the anvil,” Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said.

On Wednesday, the ministry unveiled a ‘Concept Note on Smart Cities’ giving broad contours about smart cities and their related aspects like financing and selection criteria. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, which was launched in 2005, had almost 40 per cent of its work incomplete at the time of its closure on March 31 this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“A smart city cannot have only a few hours of water supply a day, or electricity that goes off for several hours, or streets littered with garbage. The general appearance of the city has to be pleasing and clean. In Delhi, it is being proposed that the DDA will develop a new smart city through the land pooling scheme and in that, parts of the NDMC area may also be considered for demonstrating all the components of smart cities,” Naidu added.

Using an average figure of 1 million people in each of the 100 smart cities, the High Power Expert Committee on Investment Estimates in urban infrastructure has assessed investment requirements for the services covered comes to Rs.7 lakh crore over 20 years. This translates into an annual requirement of Rs.35,000 crore. “A large part of the financing for smart cities will have to come from the private sector with the states/cities and central government only supplementing that effort,” the document said.

A senior ministry official said that the ministry is deliberating on new models and various global cities in Korea, Canada, North America and some Nordic countries. The ministry has also started talking to states and asked them for proposals on which city they would nominate for the NDA’s ambitious Smart City project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We’re taking states along on this. A lot of state capitals and a few heritage and historic cities with a high spiritual value and tourism appeal have already made to the list,” the official said. Most of these cities would thrive on high quality information accessible to citizens.

“A very important feature of all smart cities is good citizen access to information. Whether it be regarding city specific data or the measures being taken by municipal bodies or information relating to various service providers such as transport and similar information relevant for potential investors has to be conveniently available. This could be through multiple channels – internet, mobile apps, radio, TV, print media, etc,” the official said.

In the Union Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had promised allocation of a sum ofRs.7,060 crore for the development of the smart cities.

Source:India Today

Smart Cities: Motivations, Misconceptions & Realities

September 23, 2014

A recent GBI Research report claimed that the smart-cities industry will “more than double between 2012 and 2017.” But what’s really going on, and who’s driving it?

A recent GBI Research report claimedthat the smart-cities industry will “more than double between 2012 and 2017.” But what’s really going on, and who’s driving it? The smart cities debate has become muddled: It’s often accompanied by fears about top-down approaches and tech companies controlling the direction. Overall it’s not entirely clear who the stakeholders are. As someone who has worked on different sides of public and private sector fences, I thought I would try to make sense of who the smart cities players are, their roles, the hurdles, and where all of this is headed: Technology companies:Motivated by profit, given capital markets, tech companies always try to pursue the latest new thing with the hope of gaining an advantage on their opposition. So, of course they are in the smart cities space. They often fund the conferences that the public sector and academia cannot afford (or choose not to), and they are developing services and products that they hope will play well. But, also note that most technology “supports” existing city functions, playing an enabling (not standalone) role. Take smart buildings, for example: Most building technology is there to ensure the existing operations work efficiently. Academics, NGOs, and think tanks:These groups (to me) like to be seen as thought leaders in most spaces, and smart cities are no exception. They play a central role in attracting funding for smart cities research. They also give due consideration to the impact the technology will have on cities and are driven by a desire to improve people’s lives and further the discussion. Public sector/governments/specialist agencies:The public sector is a central figure for obvious reasons.

But, in particular, the public sector is involved because of shrinking budgets and the perception (correct, if done wisely) that smart city initiatives can provide “more with less” by incorporating ICT into existing legacy city functions. Of course, the public sector doesn’t control all of cities’ functions or assets — the opposite is often true. But it’s clear, from a political imperative, that cities need to be seen as active and hence take leading roles in this movement. Indeed, some parts of government are tasked specifically to work across the urban space. Private sector: Ironically, the private sector actually owns most of the real assets in cities, not government. For example, real estate owners own the bulk of city assets, and the utilities that service them are becoming more and more privately owned. However, the private sector and asset owners and operators tend to be far less involved in this debate than they should be. Some groups worry too much about tech companies forcing technology into cities. This won’t happen at scale because the profit-motivated private sector and the cash-strapped public sector will predominantly only adopt those goods and services that make sense or are likely to be embraced by citizens. One of the missing discussion points in this whole debate is the distinction between technology innovation and business innovation. So much tech innovation already exists, but the gap lies in the business innovation as both the private and public sectors grapple to understand how to deploy new ideas that cross over existing silos. Cities are still confused over new products and services being offered to them.

New business innovations will provide the answers. At present, too much time is being spent justifying smart cities and rehashing what’s already been discussed. We need to keep the debate not about “why” smart cities are a good idea or “what” technologies we should use but rather discuss “how” to make things happen. We need to work out how to do more with less and how to promote business innovation in smart cities that match the pace of the technology innovations available and allow the use of smart technologies where they make economic sense, are logical, provide benefit to the users, and ultimately improve quality of life. If we don’t do this, I suspect the industry will not double in size by 2017 — and all the advantages that smart cities genuinely bring will not occur.

Source:Information week

10 of the world’s smartest cities

September 23, 2014

Major global metropolitan areas are implementing a vast number of technology, energy, transportation, and Internet projects to make the metropolis a friendlier, greener, safer, and more sustainable place to be

It seems these days that everything is getting smarter, from your phone to your home to your car. Cities are no different, with major global metropolitan areas implementing a vast number of technology, energy, transportation, and Internet projects to make the metropolis a friendlier, greener, safer, and more sustainable place to be. Read on to look at some of the world’s smartest cities, and see what they’re doing to injentelligence into the urban environment

New York

Not to be outdone by its global counterparts, the US cultural capital of New York has been working on smart-city plans for a number of years, particularly with Internet and open-data plans to give residents more online access to city services and information. But perhaps its most ambitious smart-city project to date is the Hudson Yards project (artist’s concept pictured), a 28-acre commercial and residential area on Manhattan’s west side that will be a Utopia of green initiatives and Internet access once it’s finished in 2018. The project will digitally track environmental and lifestyle factors — such as foot traffic, energy consumption, and air quality — to provide an optimal quality of life for Hudson Yards residents and businesses. It will even include a trash-disposal system that will remove waste via underground pneumatic tubes rather than a typical truck-based service.

Amsterdam

One look at Amsterdam’s streets — which nearly all have designated bike paths and more bicycles and pedestrians than car traffic — shows how this city is one of Europe’s leaders in creating smart cities. Aside from its longtime promotion of bicycle commuting, the city also is working with leading technology companies like Cisco and IBM to implement a number of new technologies to create a more sustainable city. One example of this innovation is the Utrechtsestraat Climate street, an effort to make one of the city’s busiest commercial areas greener. The street (pictured) features shops with smart meters to reduce and monitor energy consumption; solar-powered waste bins with garbage compactors to reduce collection by electric-powered trucks; and sustainable street lighting, among other smart technologies.

Barcelona

The Spanish jewel of the Mediterranean, Barcelona also is a leader in smart-city projects, hosting a major annual forum for smart-city technology, the Smart City Expo World Congress. True to form, the city is working on efforts on a number of fronts especially to make Barcelona greener and more energy efficient. To promote the use of hybrid and electric vehicles, the city is deploying electric charging stations as well as using EVs in its own fleet, with more than 500 hybrid taxis and 294 public EVs in use. Smart energy meters, LED lampposts, and remote irrigation control for Barcelona’s numerous green spaces to avoid wasteful use of water are also among the city’s smart-city initiatives, the latter including the use of iPads by city workers to control park sprinkler systems.

Copenhagen

Denmark’s capital aims to become the world’s first carbon-neutral city by 2025. To support this goal, the city already is engaged in numerous smart-city endeavors, including an extensive city bike-rental system and efforts to promote cycling to improve residents’ health and reduce car traffic. As part of this system, there are digital counters around the city with tire pumps for bicyclists and displays that show stats about how many people are biking along a particular bike path daily and annually (pictured). Copenhagen also boasts one of the cleanest harbors in the world and has reduced its landfill waste to 1.8% of total waste from the city.

Hong Kong

It’s little surprise that China’s most sophisticated city is also one of the world’s smartest. Hong Kong has a tech-savvy population that takes advantage of some of the best Internet accessibility and highest Internet bandwidth in the world. Ninety-seven percent of households in the city can access broadband, and Hong Kong boasts 10,000 WiFi hotspots, one of the highest concentrations in the world. Other smart-city efforts include mass transit and healthcare, but the city hasn’t yet achieved intelligence in a number of key areas. To solve this problem, officials are working with a number of partners on the Wisecity Hong Kong Project to improve the city’s air quality, waste management, energy, and other issues that still need work to make the city smarter.

Tokyo

One of the world’s technology capitals, Tokyo is rapidly becoming a proving ground for a number of innovative companies to test out new smart-city strategies. Some of these efforts are due to necessity — the Fukushima nuclear disaster sent Japan into an energy crisis, with residents of Tokyo and other cities enduring rolling blackouts due to lack of nuclear power. To deploy smarter energy solutions, Japanese company Mitsui Fudosan is working on a program to control energy consumption through smart-grid solutions. The plan includes installing 2,500 Tokyo households with smart meters that will show electricity, gas, and water consumption in the home. Tokyo also soon will have a zero-carbon-status eco-village developed by Panasonic, the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (artist’s concept pictured). The concept aims to provide a model for how home automation, renewable energy, and other green technologies can provide a more sustainable and eco-friendly living environment of the future.

San Francisco

With its proximity to Silicon Valley and its concentration of Internet-oriented companies, it seems natural that San Francisco would be a global leader in smart-city projects. But providing residents with Internet connectivity with a number of free WiFi hotspots (including three miles of free WiFi along Market Street, its main downtown artery) is not the only area in which the Bay Area excels. The city is a global recycling leader, with a mandate that all residents separate their garbage into recycling, compostable, and landfill waste. San Francisco also is promoting the use of hybrid and electric vehicles by providing more than 100 charging stations (pictured) throughout the city. Sustainable construction and renewable energy are other areas of investment for the city.

Seattle

Like San Francisco, Seattle is another extremely wired city — on both the Internet and its fabled coffee. The Emerald City is especially friendly to businesses that want to go green, offering substantial tax breaks to businesses and residents that purchase and implement environmentally friendly technologies. Other key areas of smart-city focus include e-government and green construction initiatives. The city was the first to develop an e-gov strategy in 2004 and is using the Internet in a number of creative ways to help residents, such as using Twitter to help spread the word and locate stolen vehicles. Seattle also helps qualified residents make their houses meet more energy-efficient standards, offering services to better weatherize properties against the elements with the installation of insulation.

Singapore

Well known for its cleanliness and efficiency, the city-state of Singapore also aims to be a smart-city leader, with its Infocomm Development Authority unveiling a recent plan to become the world’s first “Smart Nation.” The ambitious project unveiled by officials will begin rolling out its first technology trial in the Jurong Lake District (pictured), where boxes connected to fiber-optic lines will be deployed at street lights or bus stops and connect to sensors detecting pollution, heavy rainfall, or traffic jams. The sensors even can report back how full garbage bins are so they can be emptied, and keep a close eye on littering to keep trash off the streets. Singapore also aims to launch low-power super WiFi networks with unprecedented range to support the Smart Nation project.
Vienna

If Vienna has its way, it will beat Copenhagen to zero-carbon status by 2020. The Austrian capital is another one of Europe’s smart-city leaders, its strategy featuring a unique heating system that uses garbage incinerators to generate 32% of the city’s heat. The project is so renowned that one of the city’s largest incinerators, Spittelau (pictured), is a colorfully painted city landmark. Vienna also is a leader in providing easy and affordable mass transit to reduce traffic congestion; in a city of 1.7 million residents, its transit system handles about 1.3 million passengers per day.

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