As cities around the world try to be smart, some have become stupid instead.
So, what is a "stupid city"? It is a city that gives in to urban sprawl(扩张), with people moving from central areas to less-crowded communities, said Mr. Nicholas You, a director of the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation in China. Such communities are heavily reliant on cars.
Another problem Mr. You stressed is that public administration bodies in "stupid cities'' tend to work alone, refusing to share data that could help develop solutions to urban problems. He made the point during a discussion on urban transformation in Asia, saying, "A real smart city is one that looks at everything as a whole—you can't look at water issues without looking at energy."
A South Korean member, Mr. Jong Sung Hwang, suggested that some of the biggest barriers to creating a smart city are cultural. South Korean society is less forgiving of mistakes, noted Mr. Jong. For example, some in Seoul tried to push for an intelligent traffic system but were met with resistance from the police. He said, "We have ideas, data and even money, but we could not make it happen."
India, however, is not adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to create smart cities for its 1.3 billion people, said a member from India.
In Singapore, which launched its Smart Nation initiative( 行 动 ) in 2014, the authorities fear that technology can worsen the divide between the haves and the have-nots, said Dr. Limin Hee, director for research at the Centre for Liveable Cities here. "Thankfully, many cities are considering such issues as how to make better use of data and technology to create smart cities," she added.
