A UK all-party parliamentary group on smart cities has warned that the government needs a new strategy in order to promote smart city concepts to citizens.
In a report entitled ‘Intelligent Leadership: how government strategy can unlock the potential of smart cities in the UK’, the all-party parliamentary group on smart cities warns that the term can be alienating, because ‘smart’ is often equated with expensive gimmicks rather than with a transformative approach to the way cities operate.
Reforming the image of smart cities in the minds of the general public is a vital way of addressing some of the challenges preventing their implementation, the report argues, and a new government strategy could go some way towards achieving this. At the same time, this could create synergies between businesses in this sector.
How would a government strategy unify smart city approaches?
In his introduction to the report, Iain Stewart MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on smart cities, emphasised that the concept of smart cities does not apply to only one sector, but should ‘underpin the way government works at all levels’. Therefore, a ‘coherent strategy from central government is needed ensure a joined-up approach between businesses and those who work most closely with and on behalf of their citizens – local government.’
He stressed that the benefits of smart city innovation could have a vast impact on all areas of life in the UK, and that this value should be better communicated to the public in order to generate greater support for smart city projects.
Stewart explained: ‘I believe that many of the UK’s greatest challenges can be met through embracing a smarter way of life; from increasing our productivity, to improving the air we breathe, to aiding mobility, to reducing the pressures on our National Health Service. In short, the smart cities approach will enhance and enrich the lives of all citizens.’
