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‘Explosion of interest in smart cities’ says report

According to a new tracker report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, the past twelve months have seen an explosion of interest in the smart city concept. Cities around the world have announced new smart city strategies and innovative projects, and many existing programs have been rebranded as smart city initiatives. More than fifty per cent of smart city projects are focused on innovations in transportation and urban mobility. The tracker identifies and details 130 smart city proje
March 5, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
According to a new tracker report from 5644 Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, the past twelve months have seen an explosion of interest in the smart city concept.  Cities around the world have announced new smart city strategies and innovative projects, and many existing programs have been rebranded as smart city initiatives.  More than fifty per cent of smart city projects are focused on innovations in transportation and urban mobility.  The tracker identifies and details 130 smart city projects underway worldwide.

“Smart city initiatives cover a wide range of projects, but urban mobility is becoming a lynchpin issue that ties together energy reduction, sustainability, and technology innovation,” says research director Eric Woods.  “Devising an environmentally friendly, economically efficient, and voter-acceptable mobility strategy for the modern city is at the top of the priority list for many smart city planners.”

The growing interest in smart city programs is creating a global market opportunity that represents billions of dollars in annual revenue.  City officials see sustainability as closely tied to the economic opportunities for their cities.  They understand that the growth industries of the future will be closely linked to the development of information and communication technologies and services, as well as innovative clean technologies, and they see the smart city concept as both a useful marketing tool and a means of coordinating investment and innovation.

The Smart City Tracker report provides a survey of the current state of smart city developments around the globe in all their diversity, and covers five key industry sectors as they relate to smart cities: smart energy, smart water, smart transportation, smart buildings, and smart government.  It also looks across these sectors at projects that address multiple aspects of city operations.  The tracker includes 130 projects, segmented by region and by primary industry sector, more than ninety per cent of which address issues related to energy, transportation, or government.

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