Smart city projects in Asia Pacific will not achieve their full potential, according to new study from global real estate consultant JLL, if they focus on offering cutting-edge technologies without paying enough attention to inhabitants' demands and experiences. rental cars
According to the report, as the real estate industry improves its technological capabilities, it will be able to bridge the gap between smart city solutions and the physical locations where people work, live, and play.
It shows the issues that the expanding number of smart cities in Asia Pacific and around the world confront, based on views from 30 professionals in technology, real estate, and government. The study also identifies the need for a more human-centered approach to smart city development, one that fosters inclusivity, efficiency, sustainability, and transparency.
"Cities are deploying technology like the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence to address some of the city's most urgent issues, such as traffic, waste disposal, and public safety. This has the potential to alter how we live and work, as well as how we interact with our cities' buildings and infrastructure. These developments are especially promising in Asia Pacific, where city populations are fast increasing "JLL's Director of Global Research, Jeremy Kelly, agrees.
The smart city movement in Asia is gaining traction.
China is planning more than 500 smart cities, while India's government has a five-year plan to build 100 smart cities between 2017 and 2022. Singapore is moving forward with its Smart Nation goal, which was unveiled in 2014, and a $23 million ASEAN-Australian investment fund to help smart cities in Southeast Asia was announced in 2018.
Despite the fact that more than 1,000 smart city initiatives have been declared around the world, only 15 have a coherent strategy with specific goals. Only eight of them have actual plans that can be implemented right away. The paper investigates why so many smart city ideas have struggled to gain traction.
One major stumbling point is bureaucracy. Given the size and complexity of cities, smart city programs will only succeed if governments are prepared to experiment and invest time and resources in learning from their mistakes.
"To make smart cities a reality, we need to start focusing less on the technology and more on how to use it to improve people's lives. We believe that real estate may serve as a link between the people who keep cities alive and the technology infrastructure that is increasingly powering our communities. It's past time for the real estate business to rise to the occasion "Mr. Kelly adds.
With the rapid expansion of proptech, or the confluence of property and technology, the real estate industry, which is frequently perceived as a technology laggard, is now approaching a tipping point. Proptech, fueled by the popularity of smart city technologies, provides practical, short-term solutions to urban development issues, enhancing cities' sustainability, decision-making capacities, and transparency. According to the JLL research, there are various areas where proptech can have a significant impact. Proptech delivers concrete benefits in the form of greater efficiency for building occupants and increased value for investors from the construction phase to facility maintenance.
"Our study demonstrates that real estate is a critical component in the development of smart cities, and our clients are asking us how they can ensure that the buildings they occupy or invest in are future-ready," says Dr. Megan Walters, JLL's Asia Pacific Head of Research. "We believe that by combining technology and human experience, precincts can function more efficiently for occupiers while also providing a premium for investors due to decreased operating costs and higher yields."