Five strategic shifts cities must make to face

Automating the design of urban environments via digital twinning software, moving from sustainable to circular economies and integrating micro-mobility or Mobility 2.0 into the transport mix are among the "strategy shifts" cities need to make, according to ABI Research. The analyst company also warns that a shift from "safe and secure cities" to "resilient cities" and a rethinking of the urban environment through smart spaces will be required. In its new whitepaper, 5 Ways Smart Cities Are Getting Smarter, ABI Research highlights that while smart city tech investments will reach over $61 billion globally in 2026, most of the expenditure will be for incremental improvements. "It is an illusion to believe that adding just a shallow layer of IoT (Internet of Things) technology to legacy urban environments will allow cities to address the urban challenges of the future, ranging from the provision of sustainable energy to the adoption of smart mobility and the construction of resilient cities," says Dominique Bonte, vice president at ABI Research. As they prepare to face new threats such as cyber-attacks and climate change, Bonte said this "new reality" requires new approaches, leveraging a range of new technologies to create true strategy shifts.