Innovations to usher urban sustainability

Cities worldwide have been at the forefront of generating new ideas, discoveries and inventions. Likewise, blooming innovations have ensured that civil societies become technically efficient, economically prosperous and socially responsible in functioning, thus innately achieving sustainability

Most Indians have been brought up learning the famous saying that necessity is the mother of all inventions. The zeal to innovate has inspired bright individuals and societies for ages, thus nurturing civilizations. In fact, it would not be incorrect to say that in a sense, the act of innovation is synonymous with urbanity.

But what makes innovations most germane and timely is that the World is on a rapid overdrive to urbanize, particularly evident in the developing countries. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision by UN DESA projects that continuing population growth and urbanization would add 2.5 billion people to the world’s urban population by 2050, with nearly 90 per cent of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. By 2050, India is projected to add 404 million urban dwellers, China 292 million and Nigeria 212 million. This would add tremendous pressure on their immediate, national and global resource base for food, energy and materials.

My research in this area at United Nations University, Japan demonstrates that while developing countries like India, China, Brazil, Nigeria, Indonesia and South Africa grow economically and urbanize, they also need to decarbonize their economies. This is plausible only if they become more and more energy efficient for every dollar of GDP generated by them. Appropriately, in the UNFCCC’s recently convened Paris Agreement, the Prime Minister of India has committed to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35% by 2030 from 2005 level. This mandates some serious and creative rethinking in the energy production systems and the way citizens consume energy. But could such a revolution really be achieved in our lifetime? Bill Gates believes that, “Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.” So how are cities across the globe living up to the challenge of innovation?

Disruptive technologies are now becoming the biggest game-changer while dealing with local urban issues. Londoners use a mobile app by the name, Fix my street since 2008 to report municipal problems. This has inspired across different continents various countries like Australia, Korea, Germany, Tunisia and India to start similar mobile apps for some of their cities

Innovations in cities world wide

The World Economic Forum in October 2015 released its report titled, “Top Ten Urban Innovations”. It chronicles ten of the best examples from around the world of how cities are creating innovative solutions to a variety of problems. Many of these solutions are scalable, replicable and can be adapted to a variety of specific urban environments. Some are possible only due to new technologies while others apply technology to ideas that are as old as the city itself. Within these innovations, four principles surface again and again. They can be seen as a core framework to find innovative solutions to complex urban problems:

Unleashing spare capacity: Many innovations cleverly make use of existing yet underutilized resources. Airbnb, for example, enables the renting out of unused private homes; co-locating schools and recreational facilities enables public-private sharing of space; and the circular economy provides opportunities to reuse, recycle and upcycle.
Cutting out the peaks: From electricity and water to roads and public transport, upwards of 20% of capacity sits idle for much of the time ready to cope with demand peaks; cutting out these peaks with technology-enabled demand management or innovative pricing structures can significantly limit the burden on financial and natural resources.

Small-scale infrastructure thinking: Cities will always need large-infrastructure projects, but sometimes small-scale infrastructure – from cycle lanes and bike sharing to the planting of trees for climate change adaptation – can also have a big impact on an urban area. People-centred innovation: The best way to improve a city is by mobilizing its citizens. From smart traffic lights to garbage taxes, innovations in technology, services and governance are not ends in themselves but means to shape the behaviour and improve the lives of the city’s inhabitants. All innovations should be centred on the citizen, adhering to the principles of universal design and usable by people of all ages and abilities. Disruptive technologies are now becoming the biggest game-changer while dealing with local urban issues. Globally, cities are gradually shifting to electronic-governance and even more so to mobile-governance platforms to address public services, information, complaints and emergency situations. Londoners use a mobile app by the name, Fix my street since 2008 to report municipal problems. This has inspired across different continents various countries like Australia, Korea, Germany, Tunisia and India to start similar mobile apps for some of their cities.

In addition, many cities like Bahrain in the Middle-east and Callao in Peru are now using software in geographical information systems to work beyond spatial planning in knowledge creation, management, sharing and decision making. Intelligent tools are being designed or customized to deal with specific urban sector problems like real time management of water supply networks (Bangkok), intelligent public transit (Singapore), planning and building permissions and its execution (Masdar) and even reducing neighbourhood greenhouse gas emissions (San Francisco). Such innovations individually and collectively tend to create highly efficient, economic and sustainable environ.

Indian experiments

Meanwhile, beginnings made by Indian cities in this realm also need to be noted. For instance in Delhi, the municipal corporations have shifted to an online system for birth/ death certificates and to enable people to pay some of their bills and property taxes. In Bangalore, real time technology relays information of bus timings, congested routes and so on. In Indore, the traffic police have installed infrared devices to nab rule violators. Similarly, Lavasa near Pune is repackaging its technical prowess for the coveted ‘smart’ tag. On this front, Government of India has fired all guns to kick start missions like Start Up, Smart Cities and Stand Up that offer a firm opportunity to individuals, groups & institutions, etc.in promoting innovative and sustainable pathways in the way societies function, generate capital, interact and recreate. And there are multiple entry points to target low-hanging fruits or projects that produce co-benefits across different sectors at a minimal investment. It is important to underscore here that ushering innovations for urban sustainability seeks a persistent application by the government, industry, academia and public to work closely, partner in identifying urgent local problems, addressing intermingling issues and eyeing on novel opportunities to deal with them. It also requires a healthy learning and funding ecosystem that promotes lateral thinking, social entrepreneurship, competitions, internships, fellowships, etc. amongst the youth. The future of any city eventually depends upon how open and conducive it is to new ideas, transformations and innovations.