Streetlights that can <a href="https://futurism.com/smart-led-streetlights-watching/">monitor your every move</a>. Crosswalks<a href="https://futurism.com/facial-recognition-china-social-credit/"> that shame you</a> if you jaywalk. <a href="https://futurism.com/combining-ai-cctv-make-easier-police-catch-criminals/">Artificially intelligent CCTV systems</a> that can catch criminals in the act.
The &#8220;smart cities&#8221; of the future seem like places where somebody&#8217;s watching all the time. Smart cities certainly have potential to help keep their residents safe; as the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/specials/connected-world/government.html">BBC points out</a>, cities are booming, and law enforcement often can&#8217;t keep up with the amount of policing needed. AI and smart systems, meanwhile, can watch for crime in action 24/7.
But it comes at a cost: citizen privacy. And several cities in California aren&#8217;t ready to give into this Orwellian fever dream just yet.
On May 1st, the city council of Oakland <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ne98nb/oakland-proposes-strongest-anti-surveillance-regulations-in-the-country">moved a bill forward </a>that would require a specialized council to approve any new surveillance technology that a municipal agency has proposed for the city. The agency interested in that technology will be required to submit a &#8220;technology impacts report&#8221; to the Privacy Advisory Commission, a civilian-led organization, before it can be implemented. If the commission doesn&#8217;t approve the technology, it won&#8217;t be used. Neighboring cities <a href="https://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2018/03/14/berkeley-council-approves-surveillance-technology-oversight-ordinance">Berkeley</a> and <a href="http://www.capradio.org/articles/2018/03/21/davis-to-regulate-hi-tech-surveillance/">Davis</a> already have similar laws, which requires formal reporting of how surveillance technology will be used.
The bill will get an official vote later this month.
Lawmakers and <a href="http://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/03/13/opinion-era-trump-ice-will-berkeley-city-council-right-thing">privacy advocates</a> in all three cities have good reason for limiting how these sorts of technologies are used. They have called out the roles that these surveillance technology plays in perpetrating racism and discrimination, particularly in an era in which raids and arrests <a href="https://psmag.com/social-justice/ice-agents-arrested-over-200-people-in-los-angeles-in-a-five-day-span">targeting undocumented immigrants in California</a> (and elsewhere) are on the rise. This is especially important to Oakland, Berkeley, and Davis since they, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/8/17091984/sanctuary-cities-city-state-illegal-immigration-sessions">along with many other California cities</a>, are declared <a href="https://americasvoice.org/blog/what-is-a-sanctuary-city/">Sanctuary Cities</a>, which offer only limited cooperation with federal authorities to identify and deport undocumented immigrants.
In the current political climate, California privacy advocates say it is &#8220;more critical than ever that the amount of surveillance and personal data collected be the bare minimum, to ensure the safety of our community from unlawful and inhumane targeting,&#8221; as Brian Hofer, a member of the citizen group Oakland Privacy who served on the subcommittee that drafted Berkeley&#8217;s ordinance, wrote<a href="http://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/03/13/opinion-era-trump-ice-will-berkeley-city-council-right-thing"> in a March opinion piece</a>.
Hofer <a href="http://www.capradio.org/articles/2018/03/21/davis-to-regulate-hi-tech-surveillance/">told Capital Public Radio</a>, a Sacramento-based station, that he wasn&#8217;t so much concerned about your &#8220;local chief&#8221; using surveillance technology, but rather was worried that the federal government might gain access.
His worries are not unfounded: in February, several California cities postponed plans for automated license plate reader systems when lawmakers learned the company that makes the tech, Vigilant Solutions, had an contract to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/7/16988058/ice-license-plate-reader-backlash-alameda-deportation-aclu">share data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a> (ICE). Definitely sketchy.
People living in &#8220;smart&#8221; cities have been promised safer, better lives in exchange for their privacy. But it&#8217;s seemed as though governments all over the world have had the liberty to use these technologies unchecked and without oversight.
What&#8217;s happening in California may signal a change, making cities accountable as they become smarter. That seems like a truly smart move.

Berkeley, Davis, and now Oakland have civilian-led committees to approve any new surveillance tech.

California laws seek to keep smart city surveillance tech in check

City Network of Beijing Skyline

Future Society

The city of Oakland is the latest California municipality to enact a law that requires a civilian committee approve any new surveillance technology.

As "Smart Cities" Come Into Focus, California Laws Seek To Limit Surveillance Technology

Oakland is the latest city to give surveillance tech more oversight.

As “Smart Cities” Come Into Focus, California Laws Seek To Limit Surveillance Technology

<h2>The Rise of the Smart City</h2>
The city of Barcelona is a sensory bustle. Elaborate tiled buildings glint beneath swaying palm trees while vendors hawk their goods in Spanish and Catalan. Amid such color and sound, it would be easy to overlook the gray plastic shields that have appeared on lampposts along the city&#8217;s main drag. It&#8217;s even easier to miss what they contain: sensor boxes that collect data on everything around them.
Each is equipped with its own hard drive and a wifi-enabled sensor, which tracks elements of its environment like noise and crowd levels and pollution and traffic congestion, then transmits it to a central data service via a fiberoptic cable. <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/07/29/barcelona-wired-city/">Fortune reports</a> that the sensors can even monitor the number of selfies posted from the area.
Beneath its old-world charm, Barcelona is outfitted with new-world technology, which led digital market research firm Juniper Research to <a href="http://smartcitiescouncil.com/article/juniper-ranks-barcelona-worlds-smartest-city-find-out-why">grant it the title of the world&#8217;s smartest city</a> in 2015. But it didn&#8217;t <a href="https://www.juniperresearch.com/press/press-releases/singapore-named-global-smart-city-2016">retain that superlative for long</a> — Singapore superseded it the following year. Around the world, city government offices are equipping their cities to collect a growing amount of data about residents and their activities. Barcelona, Boston, London, Dubai, and Hamburg have already begun the process; India has ambitious goals to <a href="http://164.100.161.224/upload/uploadfiles/files/SmartCityGuidelines(1).pdf">revamp 100 of its cities by 2022</a>. Singapore plans to become<a href="https://www.smartnation.sg/"> the world&#8217;s first &#8220;Smart Nation.&#8221;</a>
All of these efforts promise to make cities cleaner, safer, more sustainable, and more efficient. But ethicists have a different concern: How can citizens maintain privacy when data is being collected from all around them?
<h2>Somebody&#8217;s Watching</h2>
Smart cities rely primarily on two types of information: aggregated data and real-time data. Sensors aggregate data about a specific place or thing into larger computer networks, which then analyze large quantities of information to spot trends. Some cities have already used aggregated data — to monitor the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/17/are-londons-drivers-ready-for-the-oyster-card-for-cars">most popular parking spaces</a> in central London, to analyze traffic on Boston roads<a href="https://www.boston.gov/innovation-and-technology/smart-streets"> to spot hazards</a>, and to adjust <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/23/barcelonas-street-lamps-w_n_508303.html">the brightness of streetlights</a> depending on the size of crowds in Barcelona parks. Because the data is aggregated, it is effectively anonymized; it can&#8217;t be used to track individuals or gain information about them.
Cities are also gathering real-time data that does focus on individuals. In 2013, a company called Renew London piloted a program in which <a href="https://qz.com/112873/this-recycling-bin-is-following-you/">sensors installed in recycling bins</a> tracked the wifi signals from passing phones. The sensors could then use the phone&#8217;s unique media access control (MAC) address to target advertisements on that bin to the individual, based on his or her movement within the sensor network. For example, if the individual had frequently passed a particular clothing store or restaurant, he or she might see more ads for that establishment.
<figure id="attachment_108623" style="width: 955px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="size-full wp-image-108623" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/10/recycling-bin.png" alt="" width="955" height="601" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A screenshot of marketing materials issued by the now-shuttered Renew London initiative. (Image credit: Quartz)</figcaption></figure>
Renew had attempted to bring the targeted advertisements users see online into the real world. Yet unlike most websites, the company was not legally required to inform citizens that they were being tracked. After details emerged (and outrage ensued), London&#8217;s city government asked Renew <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23665490">to halt its trial</a>.
Despite the backlash, many other cities are still pursuing initiatives that gather real-time data. In Singapore, for example, the government plans to require all cars to have a satellite navigation system that will <a href="http://www.asiaone.com/new-erp-system-be-rolled-out-2020">monitor the location of each vehicle</a> at any given time, plus its speed and direction. This tracking system will allow the government to automatically charge cars for parking fees and tickets, as well as levy a tax based on how much an individual drives.
The island nation is also testing several programs that gather data about <a href="https://futurism.com/smart-city-singapore-going-get-smarter/">city-wide infrastructure issues</a> and the amount of energy used in individual units of government-sponsored housing (80 percent of the population lives in these complexes). Elderly and infirm patients could opt in to a program that monitors movement inside their apartments.
As more objects become connected to the internet, they will gather even more information.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QSIPNhOiMoE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;Every day — just through our smartphones, credit cards, et cetera — we leave behind us lots of digital footprints, which are recorded thousands of times every day and stored somewhere in the Cloud,&#8221; Carlo Ratti, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) <a href="http://senseable.mit.edu/">Senseable City Lab</a>, told Futurism. This deluge of data could enable cities to create new smart city programs, with the intention of making our lives better.
But those programs are not without risk. &#8220;The worrying thing about this is that we live in an asymmetrical world, where just a few companies and public institutions know a lot about us, while we know little about them,&#8221; he said. Cloaked in their black boxes of information, those companies could be <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/03/big-cables-case-selling-data-doesnt-hold/">selling personal information for advertising and marketing</a>, or allow hackers to gain access to information that users didn&#8217;t even know they were giving up.
Ratti believes that the best strategy to combat potential misuse of this data is for future smart city governments and organizations to implement a more transparent and flexible &#8220;data contract&#8221; between individuals, companies, and governments. Some places are already initiating such contracts — the <a href="http://www.eugdpr.org/">General Data Protection Regulation</a> (GDPR), slated to kick in beginning May 2018, will require that all businesses within the European Union share what kind of data they collect from residents and gain individuals&#8217; consent for its use (though interestingly, it does not address data collection by governments).
The law also allows EU citizens to <a href="https://www.techworld.com/data/could-right-be-forgotten-put-people-back-in-control-of-their-data-3663849/">opt out and be &#8220;forgotten,&#8221;</a> or to have personal data — everything <a href="http://privacylawblog.fieldfisher.com/2015/getting-to-know-the-gdpr-part-1-you-may-be-processing-more-personal-information-than-you-think/">from your mobile device ID to your genetic sequence</a> — removed from any database if they no longer feel there is a compelling reason to keep it.
In order to keep future smart city initiatives transparent, Ratti said that &#8220;taking advantage of such new rules that will go into effect soon [will be] a great way to put pressure on companies that collect large amounts of data today.&#8221;
<h2>Hacked City</h2>
Such prodigious and complex data could particularly put individuals at risk if it got into the hands of hackers. At the 2015 Black Hat computer security conference, security experts Greg Conti, Tom Cross, and David Raymond pointed out in a presentation <a href="https://www.blackhat.com/docs/us-15/materials/us-15-Conti-Pen-Testing-A-City-wp.pdf">and subsequent paper</a> that information security in a city is far different from that of a private company:
<blockquote>Cities feature complex interdependencies between agencies and infrastructure that are a combination of federal, state and local government organizations and private industry, all working closely together to keep the city as a whole functioning properly. Preparedness [against hacking] varies widely. Some cities have their act together, but others are a snarl of individual fiefdoms built upon homegrown technological houses of cards.</blockquote>
&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be an ongoing battle between the hackers and defenders, just as is going on right now,&#8221; Christos Cassandras, professor of electrical and computer engineering and head of the division of systems engineering at Boston University, told Futurism. Private companies and city institutions will likely need to be better coordinated in their security efforts.
Hacking is a perpetual threat, and anything connected to the internet is vulnerable. Ratti pointed out that hacking has always been part of the introduction telecommunications technology; in 1903, during an early demonstration of radio transmission technology between Cornwall and London, a music-hall magician <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/12/the-great-wireless-hack-of-1903/250665/">hacked the system</a> to broadcast several lewd messages to the Royal Academy of Sciences&#8217; waiting — and soon scandalized — audience.
The best tool to fight hackers in smart cities, Ratti said, might be the one that many computer security teams use today: &#8220;white hat&#8221; hacking. Engineers try to infiltrate a system as a hacker would in order to identify weaknesses that real hackers could leverage (not to get information, as a real hacker would).
&#8220;[White hat hacking] may become routine practice — a kind of cyber fire drill — for governments and businesses, even as academic and industry research focuses in the coming years on the development of further technical safeguards,&#8221; Ratti said.
Finally, there is the threat that governments themselves will use the data for nefarious purposes. <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/03/singapore-smart-nation-smart-city/">As Engadget points out</a>, democracy watchdog Freedom House ranks Singapore <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2017/singapore">as only &#8220;partly free&#8221;</a> because its leading party has a history of suppressing dissenters.
There are concerns, therefore, that data the government collects could be used against political dissidents. The privacy defense charity Privacy International <a href="https://www.privacyinternational.org/sites/default/files/Singapore_UPR_PI_submission_FINAL.pdf">expressed concerns about Singapore&#8217;s lack of privacy laws</a> in 2015, particularly given that their constitution does not guarantee a right to privacy and that they had not ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which includes a clause that protects privacy. Policy analysts and industry experts have echoed these considerations, both <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-big-challenges-for-smart-cities-and-how-to-solve-them-59191">about Singapore</a> and <a href="https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/data-protection-day-smart-cities">smart cities more generally</a>.
Concerns like these <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/16/world-happiest-city-dubai-happiness-index-report">are amplified</a> in countries with even spottier records for human rights and civil liberties, <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2017/united-arab-emirates">such as the United Arab Emirates</a>.
Singapore has taken steps to mitigate those fears and ensure citizens that their security will be protected. Vivian Balakrishnan, the country&#8217;s minister for foreign affairs and leader of the Smart Nation Initiative, <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/03/singapore-smart-nation-smart-city/">told Engadget</a> that under the Smart Nation Plan, only &#8220;anonymized traffic data will be collected and aggregated&#8221; from toll roads, and that officials will &#8220;engage independent security consultants&#8221; to test the system for weaknesses. He added that Singaporean government is dedicated to building the nation into &#8220;an &#8216;open-source&#8217; society that&#8217;s characterized by high levels of trust, transparency, and openness.&#8221;
In the end, though, it will be up to individual citizens — in Singapore, and in other smart cities around the world — to stay abreast of these new programs as they are implemented.  Citizens can only hold their governments to promises of safety if those citizens know what data is being collected about them.
<h2>At the Speed of Tech</h2>
A few years ago, when Cassandras began giving talks on smart cities, he used to tell his audience that he thought most of the technology he discussed was 10 to 15 years away. Today, he admits that he was wrong — the technology has arrived far sooner. Now he expects progress will move even faster, he said. 
Competition has driven this growth, Cassandras believes. &#8220;The private companies are so under pressure to compete globally,&#8221; Cassandras said. He added that &#8220;all it takes is two or three players who are moving forward faster than other&#8221; to rapidly advance the entire industry.
Cities, similarly, are under pressure to become much more sophisticated in a short timeframe. Many metropolitan areas are expanding very rapidly, so some government officials may choose to use smart technologies to prevent <a href="http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/how-cities-are-using-the-internet-of-things-to-map-air-quality-1025">problems like pollution</a>, <a href="http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/how-can-cities-be-preemptive-and-effective-in-preventing-overcrowding-888">dangerous overcrowding</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/specials/connected-world/government.html">and unsafe streets</a>. A city that fails to address those problems can be plagued with health issues, legal challenges, and a drop in population — citizens and businesses alike could be tempted to relocate to cleaner, more modern centers.
<q class="pullquote">&#8220;More often than not, in this process there are a lot of risks.&#8221;</q>
Cassandras sees dangers in the rapidity of this growth. &#8220;More often than not, in this process there are a lot of risks,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Sometimes commercial development tends to put those risks, those dangers, those concerns on the side, in the effort to be there first, and make a profit first.&#8221;
Yet he also doesn&#8217;t find the data collected by smart cities more worrisome than what&#8217;s collected online already. &#8220;I&#8217;m more concerned about my privacy when I buy something on Amazon or put in my credit card number to find an airline ticket,&#8221; he said. Cassandras, and many experts in this upcoming technology, ultimately sees smart cities as an improvement for human lives. If done right, smart cities promise their residents cleaner, safer, and more efficient lives — as long the data in our lived environment is policed the same way we defend our city&#8217;s homes and streets.

Technology can make cities better, but there's a cost.

Smart cities may be the death of privacy as we know it

Cities like Barcelona, London, Boston, Dubai, Singapore, and Hamburg have already begun to equip their metro areas with technology to collect more data about residents and their activities. How will citizens' privacy be protected in these cities of the future? 

Smart Cities May Be The Death of Privacy As We Know It

Would you trade your privacy for technological progress?

The world is rapidly urbanizing. The United Nations predicts that the number of people living in cities <a href="http://world.time.com/2013/12/09/un-number-city-double/">could double</a> by 2050 — to 6.5 billion.
To accommodate growing populations, cities like Paris, New York, and Tokyo are building more housing and public resources, including parks, schools, and subways, as part of large redevelopment plans.
These cities will likely look very different <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/world/europe/berlin-rent-fight-against-gentrification.html?mcubz=0">(and in some neighborhoods, gentrified)</a> in the coming decades. Take a look at some of the biggest urban projects under construction below.
<h2 class="slide-title">Shanghai, China — Todtown</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98678" style="width: 889px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98678" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/shanghai-china-todtown.jpg" alt="" width="889" height="712" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: Goettsch Partners</figcaption></figure>
Set to be complete by 2020, Todtown is a new mixed-use development in Shanghai&#8217;s Minhang District.
The development will feature 1,000 apartment units, a 1.3 million-square-foot shopping mall, an additional 580,000 square feet of retail, 1.5 million square feet of office space, and a 53,000-square-foot cultural center, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nature-infused-urban-development-will-bring-lush-greenery-to-shanghai/">according to</a> InHabitat. Todtown will also incorporate lots of greenery, from green roofs to mini parks scattered throughout.
The master plan was created by Chicago-based architecture firm Goettsch Partners and Hong Kong-based studio Lead 8.
Construction on <a href="http://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1809443/siud-partnerships-hong-kong-firms-gives-it-competitive-edge">the $1.5 billion project</a> began in 2014.
<h2 class="slide-title">Cairo, Egypt — New Cairo Capital</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98679" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98679" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/cairo-egypt-new-cairo-capital.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="516" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: New Cairo</figcaption></figure>
East of downtown Cairo, New Cairo Capital will be a 270-square-mile hub with 21 new residential districts — enough housing for five million people.
The development is being financed largely by Chinese developers. (The China Fortune Land Development Company, for instance, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/09/africa/egypt-new-capital/index.html">put down</a> $20 billion for the project in late 2016, according to CNN.)
New Cairo Capital will also feature 1,250 mosques and churches, a 5,000-seat conference center, nearly 2,000 schools and colleges, over 600 medical facilities, and what is projected to be the world&#8217;s largest park.
Egypt Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31874886">told</a> the BBC that the project would cost $45 billion and be complete by 2022. Construction began in 2015.
<h2 class="slide-title">Paris, France — Europa City</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98680" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98680" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/paris-france-europa-city.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="660" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: BIG</figcaption></figure>
In 2016, Paris began building an 8.6-million-square-foot mixed-use development, called <a href="http://www.big.dk/#projects-eur">Europa City</a>, north of downtown.
Designed by Danish architecture firm <a href="http://www.big.dk/">Bjarke Ingels Group</a> (the company behind Google&#8217;s California headquarters), Europa City <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/359796/big-design-wins-europe-city-development-in-paris">promises</a> housing, shops, and restaurants, though the exact numbers of each are not confirmed yet. The development is also slated to include plazas, an artificial ski slope, open walkways, a golf system, and a new transit system.
Triangle de Gonesse, the suburb where it will be located, is still largely rural. But according to Europa City&#8217;s developers, the goal of the <a href="https://www.mingtiandi.com/real-estate/outbound-investment/wanda-confirms-investment-in-3-4b-french-leisure-destination/">$3.4 billion</a> project is to connect the area with urban Paris and reduce congestion downtown.
Construction started in 2016 and is expected to wrap up by 2024.
<h2 class="slide-title">Berlin, Germany — Europacity</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98681" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98681" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/berlin-germany-europacity.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="800" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: CA IMMO</figcaption></figure>
Berlin is building a new neighborhood called <a href="http://www.caimmo.com/en/portfolio/project/europacity/">Europacity</a>. Spanning nearly 100 acres, the mixed-use development near the Berlin Central Station is set to become a new commercial and residential hub.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwCl_RuCZu4">The masterplan</a>, which will be complete by 2025, calls for 2,000 apartment units, 4.3 million square feet of office and retail space, a promenade, a school, roads, bridges, and a public square. Construction began in early 2014, though the exact cost of the project has not been announced.
New developments like Europacity have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/apr/30/berlin-clubbers-urban-village-holzmarkt-party-city">a point of contention</a> for some Berliners, who are fighting against <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/world/europe/berlin-rent-fight-against-gentrification.html?mcubz=0">the city&#8217;s recent rapid gentrification</a>.
<h2 class="slide-title">Istanbul, Turkey — New City Istanbul</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98682" style="width: 700px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98682" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/istanbul-turkey-new-city-istanbul.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="390" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: University of Illinois</figcaption></figure>
New City Istanbul is a development that re-imagines the 8,000-year-old river city.
In April 2016, the Metropolitan Municipality Council approved the plan to build approximately 50,000 residences in seven towers on the few remaining large slots of land near Istanbul&#8217;s center, local news outlet The Daily Sabah <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/istanbul/2016/04/13/new-city-project-in-istanbul-envisages-huge-city-park-50000-residences-for-urban-transformation">reported</a>. The 93.6 million-square-foot area was once a military zone.
The development will also feature a shopping center, a 6,200-space underground parking garage, a 26.9-million-square-foot park, a movie theater, an ice rink, and an airport that&#8217;s being billed as <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/13/turkey-on-schedule-to-land-worlds-busiest-airport.html">the world&#8217;s largest</a>.
The exact timeline and cost for the project has not been disclosed yet, but construction began in late 2016. The airport alone, set to open in 2018, has attracted <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/economy/2017/03/20/istanbul-airport-city-to-draw-investments-worth-6-billion-euros">over $6 billion</a> in funding.
<h2 class="slide-title">New York City, USA — The World Trade Center Site</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98685" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98685" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/4802203932_3ab9ce8953_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="425" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: Steven Kelley/ Flickr Commons</figcaption></figure>
Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, New York City has been working to redevelop the 16-acre Manhattan site where the Twin Towers and surrounding buildings stood.
As of July 2017, much of the project has been completed, including 1 World Trade Center (also known as the Freedom Tower, the tallest skyscraper in the city), 4 World Trade Center, 7 World Trade Center, a new transit hub, the 9/11 memorial and museum, a mall, and a park. Three more towers, a small church, and a performing arts center are still in the works. Construction is set to be finished <a href="https://www.wtc.com/about/history">by 2020.</a>
<h2 class="slide-title">Los Angeles, California — Newhall Ranch</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98688" style="width: 1000px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98688" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/los-angeles-california-newhall-ranch.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="513" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: FivePoint</figcaption></figure>
The <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-newhall-ranch-20170718-story.html">Newhall Ranch development</a> in Santa Clarita Valley will bring 21,500 residential units to Los Angeles County by 2035.
It will feature a mix of housing, including single-family homes, condos, and apartments, with about 10% (or more than 2,000 units) priced at below-market rates. Newhall Ranch was originally proposed in 1994, but developers had trouble breaking ground due to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-newhall-ranch-20151130-story.html">legal troubles</a>from environmental groups that said the<a href="http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/19/fivepoints-newhall-ranch-plan-gets-green-light-paving-way-for-thousands-of-new-homes/"> $14 billion project</a> would severely disrupt the local ecosystem.
Newhall Ranch will start out as two villages with 5,500 homes and 2.5 million square feet of retail space between them, <a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/07/24/74018/newhall-ranch-is-building-homes-for-60000-people-w/">according to</a> local radio station KPCC. It will also preserve 10,000 acres of public outdoor space.
While Los Angeles&#8217; pace of housing development is slowing in 2017, the city is still on track to meet Mayor Eric Garcetti’s goal of 100,000 new units by 2021. As Curbed <a href="https://la.curbed.com/2017/5/15/15644558/la-housing-development-apartments-homes-2017">notes</a>, a <a href="http://www.abundanthousingla.org/2017/05/14/los-angeles-housing-development-update-1q-2017/">new report</a>from <a href="http://www.abundanthousingla.org/">Abundant Housing</a> shows that 3,850 units were permitted in the first quarter of 2017, a number slightly smaller than in the first quarter of last year. LA is dealing with an affordable housing shortage of at least 500,000 units, <a href="http://1p08d91kd0c03rlxhmhtydpr.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Los-Angeles-County-2017.pdf">according to</a> the nonprofit California Housing Partnership Corporation.
<h2 class="slide-title">São Paulo, Brazil — The City&#8217;s New Master Plan</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98689" style="width: 800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98689" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/so-paulo-brazil-the-citys-new-master-plan.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">This building complex, planned by Urban Think Tank, began construction in early 2014. Image Source: Urban Think Tank</figcaption></figure>
In 2014, São Paulo unveiled <a href="http://gestaourbana.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Master_plan_english_version.pdf">its new master plan</a>, which will dramatically change the city over the next two decades.
The plan calls for more people-oriented development, including new housing, bike lanes, dedicated bus lanes, and a reduction in the number of existing parking spaces.
As Next City <a href="https://nextcity.org/features/view/sao-paulo-housing-crisis-master-plan-zeis-haddad-habitat-iii">notes</a>, the city currently faces a housing shortage of up to 500,000 units. Approximately 1.2 million São Paulo residents live in favelas — concrete-and-iron shantytowns — or abandoned buildings downtown, called cortices.
According to the new master plan, the city plans to build 717,000 new residential units, 240,000 of which will be designated as affordable, by 2030. The <a href="http://audi-urban-future-initiative.com/location/sao-paulo-751">Centro de Acçao Social por Música</a>, which was completed in 2015, was one of the first buildings included in the plan to open. The four-story community center includes a bus stop, playing field, urban farm, terrace, and performance hall.
<h3 class="slide-title">Tokyo, Japan — Shibuya Station Area Redevelopment</h3>
<figure id="attachment_98691" style="width: 800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98691" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/tokyo-japan-shibuya-station-area-redevelopment.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="472" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: Shibuya Station</figcaption></figure>
Tokyo is preparing for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which has spurred a number of redevelopment projects in the city. Citywide, at least 45 new skyscrapers will be constructed by 2020 — a 50% increase in high-rises over the next three years, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-17/tokyo-s-skyline-set-to-see-45-new-skyscrapers-by-2020-olympics">according to </a>Bloomberg.
Seven skyscrapers will be part of <a href="https://www.shibuyastation.com/shibuya-station-area-redevelopment-plan/">the Shibuya Station Area Redevelopment</a> project: <a href="http://www.realestate-tokyo.com/news/shibuya-redevelopments/">Six</a> will be used for offices and retail, and one will be a 32-story condo building. The plan also calls for a redeveloped &#8220;Shibuya River,&#8221; a narrow pedestrian walkway that will feature new shops and greenery when it opens in early 2018.
The full <a href="http://japanpropertycentral.com/2016/09/jingumae-designer-building-sold-for-9-billion-yen/">multi-billion-dollar</a> project is set to be complete by 2027.
<h2 class="slide-title">London, England — The Battersea Power Station Development</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98693" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98693" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/london-england-the-battersea-power-station-development.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="901" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A rendering of Apple&#8217;s new UK headquarters, part of the Battersea Power Station Development.Image Source: Battersea Power Station</figcaption></figure>
The renovation of the Battersea Power Station — the iconic building featured on <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/building-pink-floyds-animals-album-cover-battersea-power-plant-will-be-268223">the cover of Pink Floyd&#8217;s 1977 album</a> &#8220;Animals&#8221; — is at the center of a larger mega-development in London&#8217;s Nine Elms neighborhood.
The estimated <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/feb/14/battersea-nine-elms-property-development-housing">$16.5 billion</a> (£13 billion) project will include new residential and commercial complexes, including apartments, hotels, and offices. Construction is slated to proceed <a href="http://www.batterseasociety.org.uk/pdf/bpsconsultation-Nov-13.pdf">in seven phases</a> — the first <a href="https://www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk/#!/go/view/app/buildingBattersea?view=construction_timeline">began</a> in 2014 and the last is expected to finish in 2025.
Spanning over 8 million square feet, the construction site for the Battersea Power Station development is the largest in London in 30 years, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-london-hq-battersea-power-station-2016-11">according to Dave Twohig</a>, chief development officer at Battersea Power Station Development Company.
Apple, the complex&#8217;s anchor tenant, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-battersea-power-station-london-2016-10">will move its London headquarters</a> to the former power station in 2021. The company is expected to take up 40% of the building&#8217;s available office space.
<h2 class="slide-title">Madrid, Spain — Castellana Norte Redevelopment</h2>
<figure id="attachment_98695" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-98695" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/madrid-spain-castellana-norte-redevelopment.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="675" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: DCN</figcaption></figure>
In early August, the city of Madrid <a href="http://www.lavanguardia.com/local/madrid/20170802/43279243308/cifuentes-no-se-opondra-al-proyecto-madrid-nuevo-norte.html">approved</a> the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d533701a-fb25-11e5-8f41-df5bda8beb40">$7.1 billion redevelopment project</a>for Castellana Norte, a district north of downtown.
Currently, the site is home to a municipal bus station, a few houses, and a series of half-abandoned industrial buildings and warehouses. The redevelopment will turn Castellana Norte into a new neighborhood with skyscrapers, parks, roads, bridges, and apartments for an estimated 17,000 people, by 2035.

The world's major cities are modernizing the urban landscape.

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To accommodate growing populations, cities like Paris, New York, and Tokyo are building more housing and public resources, including parks, schools, and subways, as part of large redevelopment plans.

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Here’s what tomorrow’s cities are likely going to look like.

Sidewalk Labs is a company that wants to completely reimagine city environments for the internet age.

Part of Toronto Will Become Much, Much Smarter

By 2030, <a href="http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/world-urbanization-prospects-2014.html">60 percent of the world’s population</a> is expected to live in mega-cities. How all those people live, and what their lives are like, will depend on important choices leaders make today and in the coming years.
Technology has the power to help people live in communities that are more responsive to their needs and that can actually improve their lives. For example, Beijing, notorious for air pollution, is testing a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/a-23-foot-tall-air-purifier-gets-a-tryout-in-smoggy-beijing.html?_r=0">23-foot-tall air purifier</a> that vacuums up smog, filters the bad particles and releases clear air.
<figure id="attachment_72413" style="width: 363px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://goo.gl/B3EwBR"><img class="wp-image-72413" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/02/Skyscraper_Concepts_Towers_of_Tomorrow_Home-1.jpg" alt="CLICK TO VIEW ENTIRE INFOGRAPHIC" width="363" height="233" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://goo.gl/B3EwBR">CLICK TO VIEW ENTIRE INFOGRAPHIC</a></figcaption></figure>
This isn’t a vision of life like on “<a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/50-years-of-the-jetsons-why-the-show-still-matters-43459669/?no-ist">The Jetsons</a>.” It’s real urban communities responding in real-time to changing weather, times of day and citizen needs. These efforts can <a href="http://futurecity.glasgow.gov.uk/ops-data/">span entire communities</a>. They can vary from monitoring traffic to keep cars moving efficiently or <a href="http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/monitoring-air-quality-and-the-impacts-of-pollution-679">measuring air quality</a> to warn residents (or turn on massive air purifiers) when pollution levels climb.
Using data and electronic sensors in this way is often referred to as building “smart cities,” which are the subject of a major global push to improve how cities function. In part a response to incoherent infrastructure design and urban planning of the past, smart cities promise real-time monitoring, analysis and improvement of city decision-making. The results, <a href="http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_cities/overview/">proponents say</a>, will improve efficiency, environmental sustainability and citizen engagement.
Smart city projects are big investments that are supposed to drive social transformation. Decisions made early in the process determine what exactly will change. But most research and planning regarding smart cities is driven by the technology, rather than the needs of the citizens. Little attention is given to the social, policy and organizational changes that will be required to ensure smart cities are not just technologically savvy but intelligently adaptive to their residents’ needs. Design will make the difference between smart city projects offering great promise or actually <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2012-01703-3">reinforcing or even widening the existing gaps</a> in unequal ways their cities serve residents.
<h2>City Benefits From Efficiency</h2>
A key feature of smart cities is that they create efficiency. Well-designed technology tools can benefit government agencies, the environment and residents. Smart cities can improve the efficiency of city services by eliminating redundancies, finding ways to save money and streamlining workers’ responsibilities. The results can provide higher-quality services at lower cost.
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<figure style="width: 301px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/143708/area14mp/image-20161028-15788-lbddwj.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/143708/width237/image-20161028-15788-lbddwj.jpg" width="301" height="151" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Tapping a bank card on a bus farebox transfers payment. Transport for London</figcaption></figure>
</figure>
For instance, in 2014, the Transport for London transit agency deployed system that lets residents and London’s 19 million visitors pay for bus and subway fares more quickly and safely than in the past. <a href="https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2016/january/more-than-a-quarter-of-london-pay-as-you-go-customers-now-travel-using-contactless-payments">When riders touch or tap their phone</a> or other mobile device on a reader when entering and exiting the bus and subway system, a wireless transaction deducts the appropriate amount from a user’s bank account.
The city benefits by reducing the cost of administering its fare payment system, including avoiding issuing and distributing special smartcards for use at fareboxes. Transit users benefit from the efficiency through convenience, quick service and <a href="https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/contactless/what-is-capping">capped fares</a> that calculate the best value for their contactless travel in a day or across a seven-day period.
<h2>Environmental Effects</h2>
Another way to save money involves real-time monitoring of energy use, which can also identify opportunities for environmental improvement.
The <a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2016/08/29/chicago-becomes-first-city-launch-array-things">city of Chicago</a> has begun implementing an “<a href="https://arrayofthings.github.io/">Array of Things</a>” initiative by installing boxes on municipal light poles with sensors and cameras that can capture air quality, sound levels, temperature, water levels on streets and gutters, and traffic.
The data collected are expected to serve as a sort of “<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/08/29/chicago-begins-building-fitness-tracker-check-its-vitals/89434620/">fitness tracker for the city</a>,” by identifying ways to save energy, to address urban flooding and improve living conditions.
<h2>Helping Residents</h2>
Perhaps the largest potential benefit from smart cities will come from enhancing residents’ <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/hrqol/concept.htm">quality of life</a>. The opportunities cover a broad range of issues, including housing and transportation, happiness and optimism, educational services, environmental conditions and community relationships.
Efforts along this line can include <a href="https://www.propellerhealth.com/2016/02/04/humana-joins-air-louisville-a-data-driven-community-collaboration-designed-to-reduce-the-burden-of-asthma/">tracking and mapping residents’ health</a>, <a href="http://www.nola.gov/getattachment/Performance-and-Accountability/Initiatives-and-Reports/BlightSTAT/Blight-Report_web.pdf/">using data to fight neighborhood blight</a>, <a href="http://www.citylab.com/crime/2016/10/racial-disparities-in-police-stingray-surveillance-mapped/502715/?utm_source=SFTwitter">identifying instances of discrimination</a> and <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/08/pittsburgh-birthed-age-self-driving-car/">deploying autonomous vehicles</a> to increase residents’ safety and mobility.
<h2>Ensuring Focus on Service, Not Administration</h2>
Many of the efficiencies touted as resulting from smart city efforts relate to government functions. The benefits, therefore, are most immediate for government agencies and employees. The assumption, of course, is that what benefits government will in turn benefit the public.
However, focus on direct improvements for the public can become an afterthought. It can also be subverted for other reasons.
For instance, <a href="http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/smart-cities.asp">global market projections</a> for smart cities are huge. Companies see big opportunities for selling technology to cities, and local leaders are eager to find new investors who will improve their communities. That can make smart cities appear to be a win-win situation.
City leaders may also use smart city discussions as a vague “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13604810802479126">self-congratulatory</a>” method to emphasize their forward thinking, and to reinforce a broadly positive – if undefined – view of the city. By talking about greater connectivity and improved technical capabilities, city leaders can market the city to future residents and businesses alike.
But if leaders focus on smart city projects as helping government, that won’t necessarily improve residents’ lives. In fact, it can reinforce existing problems, or even make them worse.
<h2>Who Wins From Smart City Projects?</h2>
When governments decide on smart city projects, they necessarily <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-big-challenges-for-smart-cities-and-how-to-solve-them-59191">choose whom those efforts will benefit</a> – and whom they will neglect. Even when it’s unintentional – which it often is – the results are the same: Not all areas of a smart city will be exactly equally “smart.” Some neighborhoods will have a greater density of air-quality sensors or traffic cameras, for example.
And not all smart city projects are having completely positive effects. In India, for example, Prime Minister Narendra Modi <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-indias-experiment-with-smart-cities-tackle-poverty-or-make-it-worse-53678">pledged to build 100 smart cities</a> as a way to manage the needs of his country’s rapidly urbanizing population. Yet <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/land-pooling-looks-fertile-but-dholera-farmers-not-reaping-benefits/story-h0jvIaSWO5fklUADQYB9cN.html">the efforts are bumping up against challenges</a> new and old. These include longstanding problems with land ownership documentation, developing policies to accommodate new markets and limit the old, and conflicts with vulnerable populations pushed out to make room for new smart city initiatives.
In Philadelphia, a program intended to provide the city’s low-income, underemployed residents with job training on their smartphones didn’t address widespread socioeconomic inequality, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2015.1016275">among other problems</a>. As one researcher put it, the program was “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02723638.2015.1065686?src=recsys&amp;journalCode=rurb20">empty policy rhetoric</a>” designed to attract business.
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<figure style="width: 237px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/143710/area14mp/image-20161028-15775-bg1ynx.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/143710/width237/image-20161028-15775-bg1ynx.jpg" width="237" height="178" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Songdo City from G-Tower. Fleetham, CC BY-SA</figcaption></figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
The much-ballyhooed Songdo City development in South Korea involved enormous investment from the public and private sectors to create a smart city billed as an urban hub of innovation and commerce. And yet, 10 years after it began, its highest praise has been from those who call it a “<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/09/songdo-south-korea-the-city-of-the-future/380849/">work in progress</a>.” Others, less charitable, have called it an outright <a href="http://www.iftf.org/smartcities/">failure</a>. The reason should give us pause when designing other smart cities: Songdo was designed and built as a top-down, “<a href="http://gjss.org/sites/default/files/issues/chapters/papers/GJSS%20Vol%2012-2%201%20Benedikt_0.pdf">high-tech utopia</a>” with no history and, crucially, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-korea-songdo-snap-story.html">without people at its center</a>.
To avoid these troubled fates, officials, business leaders and residents alike must keep a critical eye on smart city efforts in their communities. Projects must be both transparent and aimed at publicly desirable improvements in society. Technology cannot become the focal point, nor the end goal. Smart city innovation, like all urban development and redevelopment, is a very political process. Residents must hold city leaders accountable for their efforts and their implications – which must be to improve everyone’s lives, not just ease government functions.
<hr />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kendra-l-smith-253093">Kendra L. Smith</a>, Policy Analyst at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/arizona-state-university-730">Arizona State University</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-ensure-smart-cities-benefit-everyone-65447">original article</a>.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/65447/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />

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<h2>Pavegen Steps Into the US</h2>
There was once a time when Pavegen founder, Laurence Kemball-Cook, <a href="https://futurism.com/entrepreneurs-should-know-no-barriers/">had to break into a site to forcibly install his innovative technology</a>. Today, Pavegen tiles, the unique flooring technology capable of converting kinetic energy from people’s footsteps into electricity, are a more than welcome addition to Washington DC’s urban landscape. And this time, the British cleantech company will be working with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the Golden Triangle BID, and ZGF architects to make its pioneer installation in the US.
&#8220;We’ve created a product that can reshape the way people move in our cities, and with current digitization, our ability to connect physical and digital worlds through a single footstep places us at the forefront of the footfall energy-harvesting market,” says founder and CEO of Pavegen, Kemball-Cook.
The Pavegen tiles are located across three sites at the Connecticut Avenue Overlook pocket park and are comprised of 68 generators. V3 arrays are used to provide a more interactive experience to the largest site, while simultaneously providing more visibility to the area. The remaining two sites are used to power LED under granite seating installed by the Golden Triangle BID. This provides round-the-clock lighting that lends itself to accessibility and pedestrian safety.
<figure style="width: 661px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/11/pavegen.jpg" width="661" height="492" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Pavegen</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Commitment to Clean Energy</h2>
According to DDOT, Pavegen’s newest installation stands as a testament to their commitment to innovation and the nation’s continued push toward smart technology.
Not only will DC pedestrians be producing their own clean electricity as they walk across the pavement, they can also generate data by relaying their footsteps via the wireless API embedded in the tiles to the Golden Triangle website as digital currency.
The accumulation of this digital currency is a unique feature inherent to Pavegen’s overall vision. By making the energy they produce sustainable as well interactive, it can become a more vital part of the growth of smart cities. Eventually, this currency can be redeemed via discounts or other tangible items using an app.
Pavegen’s efforts are specifically aimed to ensure that communities start to recognize the potential and importance of renewable energy. Beyond its impact for the environment, innovations such as this can help create a safer and more secure city, thus creating a positive impact in major districts. All things considered, it may be just what the world needs to spur the smart cities revolution.

Robots & Machines

Pavegen, creators of flooring technology that's able to convert kinetic energy from people’s footsteps into electricity, has made its pioneer US installation in Washington DC. 
Pavegen tiles are located across three sites at the Connecticut Avenue Overlook pocket park, and they could be the key to our future smart cities. 

Pedestrians Can Generate Data, Lighting, and Digital Currency With Just a Single Step

Pavegen will make its pioneer US installation on Connecticut Ave. 

<h2>Full Speed Ahead</h2>
A high speed rail network may be coming, and it will connect three major cities, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney– another reason to have a &#8221; g’day down under&#8221; in Australia.
Private company <a href="http://video.heraldsun.com.au/v/477223/The-CLARA-High-Speed-Rail-proposal">Consolidated Land and Rail Australia (CLARA) Pty Ltd released a video</a> for people to visualize its plan to “re-balance the Australian settlement”, build “new, regionally compact, sustainable smart cities, and to connect them by the world’s most advanced high speed rail.” It even showed some footage that suggests trains will be travelling at speeds of up to 430km/h, speeds that just fast enough to put it in competition with <a href="https://futurism.com/japans-invisible-train-will-hit-tracks-2018/">Japan&#8217;s invisible train</a>.
Now, as great as all that sounds, you haven&#8217;t heard the best part: the high speed rail project would not require any government funding. 
The project will get its funding from profits made from the <a style="line-height: 1.42857; background-color: white;" href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/land-deals-sealed-for-200bn-highspeed-eastcoast-rail-link/news-story/4cdc3342ed4edc36912a30dc35f7b81d" target="_blank">transformation of existing farming land</a> into new developments that would benefit from the new infrastructure and increase in value. 
<figure style="width: 650px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="" alt="Image source: News.com.au" width="650" height="380" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image source: News.com.au</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Private Funding</h2>
CLARA’s pre-feasibility business model has the city sites and rail infrastructure being privately funded through the use of land value capture. Unlike other proposals for high speed rail in the past, CLARA’s infrastructure can be paid for from the city development rather than from government coffers.
The company’s chairman Nick Cleary says the profit margin to developers to fund the high speed rail system would mostly fund the project, estimating land bought for $1000 a lot could be sold for up to $150,000 once housing and civil infrastructure is built.
He says the project is a decentralization program, where the new cities and the high speed rail network would be interdependent, making each other viable.
CLARA  says if it receives support from three levels of government, construction could begin within five years. Phase one of the development will involve a $13 billion high speed rail into northern Victoria and the development of two new partner cities in the region over 30 years.
Well, let&#8217;s hope to the proper fruition of such a bold plan.

Consolidated Land and Rail Australia (CLARA) Pty Ltd, is proposing a high-speed train that will connect Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. It's expected to come with a $200 billion price tag, but, the company claims it won't cost taxpayers a cent.

Australia Has a New High Speed Rail Plan and It Would Cost Taxpayers Nothing

The funding for the project will come from turning existing farm lands into new developments.

Michael Green, a wood architect based in Vancouver, shares his ideas on building 30-storey-high wood structures and why we need build with wood again.

Sci-Fi Visions

An argument on why we need build with wood again.

/Smart Cities

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Future Society

Smart Cities May Be The Death of Privacy As We Know It

Future Society

11 Billion-Dollar Mega-Projects That Will Transform the World’s Greatest Cities by 2035

Future Society

Part of Toronto Will Become Much, Much Smarter

Future Society

The Cities of the Future Will Be Efficient, Sustainable, and Smart

Robots & Machines

Pedestrians Can Generate Data, Lighting, and Digital Currency With Just a Single Step

Robots & Machines

Australia Has a New High Speed Rail Plan and It Would Cost Taxpayers Nothing

Sci-Fi Visions

Wood Skyscrapers? Why We Need Get Back to Building With Wood

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