The pace of urbanization globally is unprecedented and this trend is expected to continue in the future with nearly 66% of the world’s population predicted to be urban by 2050.
Africa’s urban population has been growing at a very high rate (i.e. from about 27% in 1950 to 40% in 2015 and projected to reach 60% by 2050 according to UN-DESA -2014.
Most Africans have moved to urban centres to enhance their productivity and living standards and by 2019, 40.71 % of Sub Saharan Africa's total population lived in urban areas and cities.
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With the rapid urban growth in Africa, the continent is positioning itself as a hub for smart cities, with ambitious plans like the Konza Technopolis in Kenya to Vision City in Rwanda and Hope City Ghana have proved the same.
Kenya being one of the countries that welcomed the coming into force of the Paris agreement, paved a way to establish sustainable smart cities that will provide the much-needed impetus to address climate change for a safer future.
The country has approved six standards that will guide the development of eco and social-friendly cities that use information and communications technology. The country has also attracted investors from all over the world who intend to make an impact on the African economy.
Kenya has few smart cities on the horizon that are coming up such developing projects are Tatu City, Konza Technopolis, Northlands City, Athi River Smart Green City.
Dr. Bhatia; the chairman of Hilshaw Group believes that smart cities have been more successful in the developed economies than developing ones, but that does mean these countries can't enjoy the same positive impact.
Investing in or trusting another smart city project when other plans in a country have not taken off is not easy. Having said that, just because something did not work in the past does not mean it never will work.
Consequently, Hilshaw group has signed an agreement with Athi river Smart Green city to develop a sustainable smart city and they are looking into partnering with other real estate developers in Africa.
He believes that there are many challenges that developing sustainable smart cities have faced and he thinks he can overcome these challenges to impact the African economy.
Question: Why have Smart cities seemed to have failed and how will Hilshaw Group overcome the challenges?
According to Dr Lal Bhatia there a number of issues to address, the first one being a clear vision, which he believes is key in executing a smart city. “ Vision without action is merely a dream”
Question: Are smart cities a real opportunity for Kenya or just another over-marketed fairytale?
He believes many business minds and visionaries around the world will agree, it most certainly is an opportunity for the economy, citizens, and local government if done right.
Many will argue that smart cities work for countries with an unlimited supply of funds to pump in the money until it works. Funds are imperative for any socio-economic infrastructure to be developed, deployed, and managed.
However, the significant other side of the coin for a smart city to become a reality and success is a reliable and secure system working diligently to make the smart city plan work.
Technology-enabled smart cities in developing countries can only be realized when concurrent socio-economic, human, legal, and regulatory reforms are instituted note Tan SY and Taeihagh A. in Smart City Governance in Developing Countries: A Systematic Literature Review.
But to be fair, it is indeed a mammoth vision. Unfortunately, it does end up as a pipe dream in the absence of appropriate considerations. The loopholes that can get a smart city plan (or any plan for that matter) sidetracked are plenty when it lacks a team that can drive it from document to development. But does that mean that a smart city is just a dream peddled to the gullible? Absolutely not.
Question: Is one failed car design enough to denounce the entire automobile industry?...or automobiles as a concept?...
… just to put things into perspective.
Time is of the essence, and a practical rollout plan that can be executed within realistic timelines is one way of identifying a smart city project that intends to get completed. The ideal way for a smart city to be rolled out is phase by phase, one that does not take 20 – 30 years to see the first light of day.
A well-thought-out smart city roadmap is a responsible plan by ensuring that there is no depletion of natural resources or mindless displacement of ethnic & agrarian populations and the land is ethically acquired.
Successful smart city plans will have a citizen-oriented approach and practical method for the public-private partnerships program. Sourcing capital is a complex task. Many smart cities often get derailed or delayed due to funding issues forcing it to be an empty promise. A smart city plan, serious about being successful, will encourage and facilitate collaboration between the public and private sectors for this reason.
The environmental sustainability of a smart city will have a direct impact on improving the quality of life of its residents. Sustainability looks great on paper, but plans that provide details of how it will be incorporated into the daily life of residents of the city are another indication of the soundness of the plan.
What makes a smart city development actionable, one that works seamlessly for the city's occupants is the room to grow and improve. If something does not go as planned, it is not a dead end.
Not all great plans benefit from seamless execution. The success of a smart city is not in its claims but in its well-timed phasing of the project, judiciously managed funds, post-launch management, to name a few. Many things have to work together as a single unit to make a smart city successful.
