Smart cities has undoubtedly been one of the more popular traffic and transport related buzz words of the last few years.
With the population in our cities and towns expected to rise dramatically over the next forty of fifty years, it is right that we should be discussing what those communities could and should look like in the future.
The January 2014 edition of Surveyor places an emphasis on the traffic and transport element of smart cities and charts the journey of what local authorities can do now and in the future to become ‘smarter’ in their approach to traffic and transport delivery.
But it isn’t just about creating new smart cities everywhere, that would be impossible anyway. It’s about creating ‘smarter’ transport systems that, by their very nature, deliver cities and towns that are more appealing to live and work in and easier to get around.
So while smart cities won’t be popping up everywhere in the world, existing transport systems will hopefully greatly improve and therefore congestion will be reduced and efficiency increased. But these elements won’t happen overnight and the journey to smarter cities will be a long and winding one.
When we set about planning this supplement and indeed our new conference: The Route to Smarter Cities, taking place in Derby on February 20th 2014, we wanted to ask ourselves two main questions. The first was; what should transport priorities be now and in the future for our cities and towns? The second was; how can we make our transport systems more effective and more efficient?
Taking on these challenges is no easy task especially against a backdrop of uncertainty as cuts to council highways and transport budgets continue. But there is and will be a cocktail of funding opportunities.
So in essence, Surveyor takes you on that route to a smarter city and attempts to tackle the subject from as many elements as possible including business cases, standards, an overview of the technology that can de implemented, funding and other analysis.
