Cities

WHAT'S NEXT?: Smart cities are the talk of the town right now and so they should be to cope when over 60% of us will live in cities by 2030. E-bikes, Driverless- connected vehicles, buildings that talk to each other will help but many cities are susceptible to climate change and pandemics. Explore the issues faced by cities and the new ideas that will change the way urban dwellers live in the 21st century.

• [New] The economic impact of IoT in industries such as smart cities, smart grid, smart healthcare and so on, is expected to reach $933.62 Billion by 2025.
• [New] New York City has experienced tremendous losses due to flooding, as it is among the top global cities exposed to coastal flood threats; just in Manhattan, there are over $50 billion of assets are currently within the 100-year flood plain.
• [New] In England, the city of York is taking a firmer stance, banning all private cars inside its walled city center by 2023.
• Singapore will continue to remain one of the top investors in smart cities initiatives followed by Tokyo, New York City and London.
• Smart city initiatives will total nearly $124 billion this year, with Singapore, Tokyo, New York and London to be the top smart city investors.
• Neom, Saudi Arabia is expected to be 33 times the size of New York City and has been described as the world's largest and most ambitious infrastructure project - spanning 10,230 square miles and requiring at least US $ 500 billion in investment.
• Manchester is forecasted to have both the highest sales price (17.1%) and rental growth (16.5%) of any UK city over the next five years.
• China will ban plastic bags across all cities and towns from 2022 and restaurants will reduce their consumption of single-use plastics by 30% by 2025.
• The global smart city market will be valued at US$ 1.565 trillion in 2020, and more than 26 global cities are expected to be smart by 2025.
• Because cities are centres of commercial activity, 18 major African cities will have a combined spending power of $1.3 trillion over the next decade.
• NEW BROOK LEISURE CENTRE OFFICIALLY OPENED Brook, which will focus largely on outdoor leisure provision, is the third of seven new centres to open as part of Belfast City Council's £105 million Leisure Transformation Programme - the biggest investment in leisure services in the UK.
• The slowdown in ocean currents will result in sea level rise in cities like New York and Boston, and temperature changes on both sides of the Atlantic.
• Various states and cities in India could order up to 10,000 electric buses this year.
• The smart cities market is expected to grow by 20% per year from over $300 billion in 2015 to over $750 billion in 2020.
• Experts forecast a market volume as early as 2025 of around two trillion US dollars worldwide in connection with smart cities.
• Global energy demand is expected to be 60% higher in 2060, as populations grow, living standards rise and more people live in cities.
• On average, Vulog powers approximately 20 million rides per year in over 30 cities around the globe and is expected to bring its operations to 60 cities by the end of the year.
• Housing prices in most U.S. cities are still rising, and will likely continue to climb through 2019 and into 2020.
• Some US cities could experience blackouts in 10 years if they do not prepare to meet projected increases in electricity and water use due to climate change.
• In the next few decades, the world is expected to be characterized by continued urbanization and population growth, and displacement risk is likely to continue to increase fastest in urban areas, primarily in low- and middle-income countries.
• The Global Resilient Cities Network will drive urban resilience action with an expanded partner base and welcome up to 10 new members in 2020 to protect vulnerable communities from climate change and other urban challenges.
• Latin America and Japan will see fastest growth in smart cities spending in 2020.

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Last updated: 04 April 2020