Megacities may be congested and complex but they are also among the planet’s most exciting places to live. They have proven effective in stimulating creativity, innovation and economic development; factors that often lead to improved quality of life.
A new report, The Next Age of Megacities takes a closer look at how the largest cities in the world can use ICT to address their evolving challenges in a holistic, proactive and collaborative way, through a city management model.
Last year, Ericsson published a report, The Three Ages of Megacities that looked at how the maturity level of a city can help identify the most appropriate ICT solutions.
Megacities are significant for businesses since they concentrate wealth, income and business opportunities. The trend of global urbanisation is in full swing, with the last 100 years seeing remarkable change in attitudes to city life.
This report offers an overview of the current economic and demographic state and future outlook of the world’s megacities.
Megacities are significant for businesses since they concentrate wealth, income and business opportunities. The trend of global urbanisation is in full swing, with the last 100 years seeing remarkable change in attitudes to city life.
This report offers an overview of the current economic and demographic state and future outlook of the world’s megacities.
Megacities provide some of the world’s most dynamic and stimulating places to live. But they also bring their own specific challenges. The maturity level of a city can help identify the most appropriate ICT solutions.
For more information on the Networked Society visit: http://www.ericsson.com/networkedsociety
This presentation is one of several topics for an Urban Renewal Introductory Course implemented by the Executive Education Program of the Ateneo School of Government, with its tie-up with the DILG -- given to DILG, House of Representatives, and representatives from the various 17 local city governments of Metro Manila assigned to Urban Development and Planning. The end objective is to be able to identify, plan, and implement an Urban Renewal Project in each city, taking into account lessons and principles learned from the overall course.
Oxford "Future of Cities" @ the Harvard GSDNoah Raford
This is a summary of three global scenarios for the future of cities, completed at the University of Oxford’s "Future of Cities" program.
I worked extensively on these scenarios and then presented an early draft of them at the Harvard Graduate School of Design last year.
This presentation is only a draft and may not reflect the final versions of the completed project.
More detail on the project can be found at the official website, here:
http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/centres/insis/research/Pages/future-cities.aspx
Cities have long birthed advances in the sciences, arts, human rights, business and government. Millions of people have moved to cities for better lives or services unavailable elsewhere.
But as cities grow, so are problems stemming from stretched transportation, energy and water infrastructure.
Strategy and Options for Planning Inclusive CitiesJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation looks at the context of inclusive cities, its relevance in the Indian context, problems faced by Indian cities and what are the options to make cities inclusive, and sustainable
Towards resource efficient and zero waste societies sitecmy
Keynote Presentation by Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, Environment Programme Coordinator, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)-DSD/UN DESA at the Selangor Smart City & Future Commerce Convention 2017. He presented on the topic titled 'Towards resource efficient and zero waste societies'.
My presentation on Urban Sprawl for Sustainability Information Solutions weekly call.
Urban Sprawl is a situation where large stores, groups of houses, etc. are built in an area around a city that formerly had a few people living in it.
9 May 2012
Presentation by Riley Duren
Chief Systems Engineer
Earth Science & Technology
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Copyright Caltech
How cities can accurately measure greenhouse gases
How has Innovation helped Urbanization and Population Growth Happen for Mega ...Paul Schulte
A slide show about how innovation has affected the urbanization and population growth of the Rhine-Ruhr area, and how innovation has pros and cons to the area of Rhine Ruhr
Megacities provide some of the world’s most dynamic and stimulating places to live. But they also bring their own specific challenges. The maturity level of a city can help identify the most appropriate ICT solutions.
For more information on the Networked Society visit: http://www.ericsson.com/networkedsociety
This presentation is one of several topics for an Urban Renewal Introductory Course implemented by the Executive Education Program of the Ateneo School of Government, with its tie-up with the DILG -- given to DILG, House of Representatives, and representatives from the various 17 local city governments of Metro Manila assigned to Urban Development and Planning. The end objective is to be able to identify, plan, and implement an Urban Renewal Project in each city, taking into account lessons and principles learned from the overall course.
Oxford "Future of Cities" @ the Harvard GSDNoah Raford
This is a summary of three global scenarios for the future of cities, completed at the University of Oxford’s "Future of Cities" program.
I worked extensively on these scenarios and then presented an early draft of them at the Harvard Graduate School of Design last year.
This presentation is only a draft and may not reflect the final versions of the completed project.
More detail on the project can be found at the official website, here:
http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/centres/insis/research/Pages/future-cities.aspx
Cities have long birthed advances in the sciences, arts, human rights, business and government. Millions of people have moved to cities for better lives or services unavailable elsewhere.
But as cities grow, so are problems stemming from stretched transportation, energy and water infrastructure.
Strategy and Options for Planning Inclusive CitiesJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation looks at the context of inclusive cities, its relevance in the Indian context, problems faced by Indian cities and what are the options to make cities inclusive, and sustainable
Towards resource efficient and zero waste societies sitecmy
Keynote Presentation by Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, Environment Programme Coordinator, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)-DSD/UN DESA at the Selangor Smart City & Future Commerce Convention 2017. He presented on the topic titled 'Towards resource efficient and zero waste societies'.
My presentation on Urban Sprawl for Sustainability Information Solutions weekly call.
Urban Sprawl is a situation where large stores, groups of houses, etc. are built in an area around a city that formerly had a few people living in it.
9 May 2012
Presentation by Riley Duren
Chief Systems Engineer
Earth Science & Technology
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Copyright Caltech
How cities can accurately measure greenhouse gases
How has Innovation helped Urbanization and Population Growth Happen for Mega ...Paul Schulte
A slide show about how innovation has affected the urbanization and population growth of the Rhine-Ruhr area, and how innovation has pros and cons to the area of Rhine Ruhr
The three major legal systems of the world today consist of civil law, common law and religious law. However, each country often develops variations on each system or incorporates many other features into the system.
http://www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/networked_society/city-life
The Networked Society City Index report continues to explore the correlation between cities’ ICT maturity and their triple bottom line development.
As with the previous studies, this index continues to show a strong correlation between ICT maturity of the city and their social, economic and environmental progress. In this report, New York City tops the overall ranking followed by Stockholm, London and Singapore.
The Networked Society City Index aims to develop a comprehensive evaluation of cities’ ICT maturity and their triple bottom line development. Through a series of reports we have analyzed 25 urban areas around the world from a city, citizen, and now, business perspective.
Patrik Regårdh from Ericsson’s Networked Society Lab says: "We see the individual – rather than city institutions or businesses – as the drivers of development resulting from ICT maturity. Governments follow by adapting to citizens’ changing behavior, while businesses primarily adopt ICT innovations to increase internal efficiency. More importantly, government decisions help steer the business sector’s ICT development. Therefore, changes in policy, regulation and planning, paired with research and support for taking risks and funding, are some of the key factors for driving progress. These factors are crucial in helping organizations of all sizes to connect, collaborate and compete more effectively."
Redefining urban life - Ericsson Business ReviewEricsson France
Adding mobility, broadband and the cloud to connectivity makes ideas affordable and accessible for anyone, anywhere, anytime.
The Networked Society will fuel a creative explosion, and that explosion will start in the cities.
Leading cities are using technology to evolve their transport systems from single modes to integrated ones, improve transport services and provide an improved value proposition to customers.
1. Letter to all state governments to shortlist potential Smart Cities based on Stage-I criteria according to a number of Smart Cities distributed across states /UTs by the MoUD. This is the first stage of the Intra-State competition.
2. On the basis of response from States/UTs, the list of potential 100 Smart Cities is announced. The second stage of the All India competition begins.
3. Each potential Smart City prepares its proposal assisted by a consultant (from a panel prepared by MoUD) and a hand-holding External Agency (various offers received such as World Bank, ADB, GEF, USTDA, JICA, DFID, AFD, KfW, UN-Habitat)
4. By stipulated date, Stage 2 proposals submitted. Evaluation by a panel of experts.
5. Selected cities declared – Round 1 Smart Cities
6. Selected cities set up SPV and start the implementation of their SCP. Preparation of DPRs, tenders, etc. and Other cities prepare to improve their proposal for the next round of the Challenge
2020 forecasT: the future of cities, information, and inclusionFernando Holanda
over the next decade, cities will continue to grow larger at a rapid pace. at the same time, new technologies will unlock massive streams of data about cities and their residents. as these forces collide, they will turn every city into a unique civic laboratory— a place where technology is adapted in novel ways to meet local needs. This ten-year forecast map charts the important intersections between urbanization and digitalization that will shape this global urban experiment, and the key tensions that will arise.
The future of cities is rapidly taking shape—with vast disruptions and innovations prior to COVID-19 now accelerated mightily due to the pandemic. Where we live, what work looks like, and how we shop have all changed, with a people-centered focus at the forefront.
This is a Report by the National League of Cities.
https://www.nlc.org/resource/future-of-cities-reenvisioning-retail-for-recovery-and-resilience/
We are delighted to share our insights to date on the Future of Cities. This is being released before our upcoming event in Singapore on 14 July 2016, to be led by Anupam Yog and Patrick Harris.
Future Agenda would like to thank Haworth for their kind hosting of the event on the 14th and The Partners who are kindly helping us with logistics in advance. Material here is from an initial perspective written by Harry Rich, CEO RIBA and which has been built upon subsequently with conversations in Dubai, Christchurch NZ, Singapore and Beiruit.
More Future of Cities workshops are planned throughout 2016 for Los Angeles, Shanghai, London and Dubai.
Comments very welcome.
Megacities provide some of the world’s most dynamic and stimulating places to live. But they also bring their own specific challenges. The maturity level of a city can help identify the most appropriate ICT solutions.
For more information on the Networked Society visit: http://www.ericsson.com/networkedsociety
Megacities provide some of the world’s most dynamic and stimulating places to live. But they also bring their own specific challenges. The maturity level of a city can help identify the most appropriate ICT solutions.
For more information on the Networked Society visit: http://www.ericsson.com/networkedsociety
Digital Twin Cities are advanced urban areas where physical and digital realms are integrated, allowing for data-driven management, intelligent services, and interactive systems. READ MORE
Planning for a Smarter Society - Ericsson Business Review #1 2010Giorgio Andreoli
The digital revolution is deeply influencing the way new cities are designed. But the impact so far on existing cities has been limited. What is needed is one common, comprehensive model to help planners agree on priorities for
new infrastructures and new services. Adding the dynamics of ICT to present models is a necessary first step.
Ericsson Distributed Cloud goes beyond NFV and Edge Computing. It brings to operators the best of telecom and cloud capabilities, placing the application where it’s needed the most (centrally, distributed or at the edge). It’s an open platform, with end-to-end orchestration, that allows operators to prepare their infrastructure to unlock at least 25% of the business potential of 5G use cases. Visit our page: www.ericsson.com/distributed-cloud
Requiring only half the bitrate of its predecessor, the new standard – HEVC or H.265 – will significantly reduce the need for bandwidth and expensive, limited spectrum. HEVC (H.265) will enable the launch of new video services and in particular ultra HD television (UHDTV).
State-of-the-art video compression techniques – HEVC/H.265 – can reduce the size of raw video by a factor of about 100 without any noticeable reduction in visual quality. With estimates indicating that compressed real-time video accounts for more than 50 percent of current network traffic, and this figure is set to rise to 90 percent within a few years, HEVC/H.265 will be a welcome relief for network operators.
New services, devices and changing viewing patterns are among the factors contributing to the growth in video traffic as people watch more and more traditional TV and video-streaming services on their mobile devices.
Ericsson has been heavily involved in the standardization of HEVC since it began in 2010, and this Ericsson Review article highlights some of the contributions that have led to the compression efficiency offered by HEVC.
.
Media processing in the cloud- what, where and howEricsson Slides
The evolution to IP technology, VoLTE and new video services will have a profound
impact on the way person-to-person media processing will be performed in the
networks of the future. This evolution raises some questions: what processing will be
needed, where will it take place and how will it be implemented?
Read more from the Ericsson Review here: http://www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/technology_insights
Service Provider SDN Meets Operator ChallengesEricsson Slides
Ericsson’s Head of Product Area IP & Broadband (PAIB) Jan Häglund and Emerging Technology Manager for Fixed Network Technologies in Telstra's Chief Technology Office & Innovation group Frank Ruhl gave a joint presentation on service chaining before about 1,500 people Tuesday in the Santa Clara Convention Center’s main hall. Together, they showed Ericsson Service Provider SDN in action in a major operator setting, sending a message that the company has moved into the implementation phase of SDN for Tier 1 operator networks.
We believe that connectivity is the starting point for economic growth and increased quality of life. Find out more about how we try and enable communication for all here: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/sustainability_corporateresponsibility/enabling_communication_for_all
ConsumerLab Young Professionals at Work Report Ericsson Slides
For more from the ConsumerLab visit: http://www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/consumerlab
In this report Ericsson ConsumerLab looks at the latest generation to enter the workforce– the Millennials. In particular, we focus on those aged 22-29 who are currently in employment.
Ericsson Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Report 2012Ericsson Slides
http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/sustainability_corporateresponsibility
"Many of the world's major challenges - such as urbanization, climate change, and poverty - could benefit from solutions offered by mobile broadband. Sustainability is a competitive differentiator and is high on our agenda, as well as that of our customers. Throughout the value chain and wherever we do business, we are creating value for ourselves and for our stakeholders by striving to be sustainable and responsible in all that we do."Hans Vestberg, President and CEO.
Creating freedom, empowerment and opportunity to transform industries and society while helping find solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing our planet. Get to know the Networked Society essentials.
http://www.ericsson.com/unplug/growth/
How operators turn data growth into profitable revenue growth.
Over the past year, we’ve talked to customers all over the world about our UNPLUG! Logics – smart ways of creating mobile broadband value that are inspired by models from other industries. We started UNPLUG! by discussing business before moving onto technology – and we’ve had a great response. Now it’s time for the third phase of the campaign – it’s time to focus on growth.
Growth Codes: How do operators turn data growth into profitable revenue growth?Ericsson Slides
Growth Codes show how rethinking both mobile broadband and the role of operators can translate into profitable growth. Operators driven by bold, visionary and explorative mobile broadband strategies are turning data growth into revenue growth. These operators differentiate themselves by balancing superior network performance and an innovative go-to-market strategy. We believe the industry can learn from these examples and that more operators can find success by adapting some of their approaches to these codes.
A holistic approach to assessing the climate-positive effects of ICT.
A holistic methodology is necessary for assessing the potential reduction of CO2
e emissions. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a well-established method and can be used for comparing emissions created in different scenarios. Standardized LCA methods can be used to identify solutions with the lowest CO2e emissions.
They provide society as a whole with the methods to assess a large number of possible solutions, to quantify the magnitude of potential reductions, and to show where these reductions could take place.
Ericsson ConsumerLab: Personal Information Economy Ericsson Slides
In today’s society, companies and organizations have unprecedented possibilities to collect and use people’s personal information. Using this information in the right way enables new revenue streams and increased profit.
But do consumers understand and perceive the value of their personal information? What are the sensitivity involved with an increased use of personal information by enterprises, governments and consumers? The purpose of the Personal Information Economy report by ConsumerLab has been to describe consumers’ understanding, needs, behaviors and attitudes with respect to personal information as an asset.
For more research from the Ericsson ConsumerLab visit: http://www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/consumerlab
This paper looks at copyright, which is possibly one of the most controversial policy topics to have been talked about, lobbied and contested by various stakeholders for a very long time.
Some would say that the controversy already started at the very beginning of the birth of the world’s first copyright statute and it has never stopped since.
Skeptics on both sides of the debate would say that not much has really changed since the genesis of the controversy, as the debate has always come down to two things. The first is the tension between insiders benefiting from the prevailing copyright regime pushing back outsiders – in other words, the innovators who are barred from benefitting from the established status quo and are therefore demanding a change.
There will be more change in the next 10 years than there has been in the previous 100. This paper describes these expected foundational shifts and explains how we can manage them to our advantage.
In their latest discussion presentation "Winning the Game", Geoff Hollingworth, Ericsson North America Evangelist, in collaboration with Jason Hoffman, founder and CTO of Joyent, discuss what these changes will mean for devices, the cloud and the network.
This interactive presentation is supported by 8 videos. It describes the foundational changes that will occur across industries and networks, and attempts to explain how we can manage them to our advantage. The target audience of this paper is those who are involved in planning, building and profitably operating digital networks.
Ericsson Mobility Report, November 2012 Slide KitEricsson Slides
A slide presentation of the Ericsson Mobility Report November 2012. Ericsson has performed in-depth data traffic measurements since the early days of mobile broadband from a large base of live networks covering all regions of the world.
http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson-mobility-report
http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson-mobility-report
We have performed in-depth data traffic measurements since the early days of mobile broadband from a large base of live networks covering all regions of the world.
The aim of this report is to share analysis based on these measurements, internal forecasts and other relevant studies to provide insights into the current traffic and market trends.
We will continue to share traffic and market data, along with our analysis, on a regular basis. We hope you find it engaging and valuable.
Ericsson Mobility Report is the new name for the Ericsson Traffic and Market Report, copies of which can be downloaded on this page.
Extensive study across 16 cities in India reveals the digital lives of kids (9-11 years), tweens (12-15 years) and teens (16-18 years) in India, a group called Generation Z
Around 30 million of 69 million urban Generation Z consumers own mobile phones, and 3 million of these use mobile broadband on their phones
Kids explore new technology and use the mobile phone in the same way as their older counterparts
Parents using mobile broadband are more likely to introduce their children to the technology. For more reports from the ConsumerLab visit: http://www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/consumerlab
Learning and Education in the Networked SocietyEricsson Slides
It took 100 years to connect 1 billion places and 25 years to connect 5 billion people. Today, 85 percent of the world’s population has access to mobile communications, and by 2020 we expect there to be 50 billion connected devices.
Mobile phones, tablets and laptops are making the school desk as we know it obsolete. Today’s progressive schools are having their classrooms rebuilt to turn them into multifunctional spaces to enable new ways of learning. A new Ericsson Networked Society report, "Learning and Educations in the Networked Society" , shows that introducing ICT in schools affects six principal areas.
For more information on ICT & Education visit: http://www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/networked_society/learning_education
2. ContEnts
>> Introductionp3
Megacity challenges
and opportunities p4
Megacity management p6
Functional components p8
Scenarios p10
Conclusionsp14
Sourcesp15
Networked Society – The next age of megacities
The next age of megacities 2
3. Introduction
Megacities may be congested and complex but they are also among the planet’s most
exciting places to live. They have proven effective in stimulating creativity, innovation and
economic development; factors that often lead to improved quality of life.
It’s a diverse matrix that needs to balance social, A knowledge and reasoning layer – the intelligence
economic and environmental pressures in a sustainable of the system, which gathers information from
way, while providing everything from essential services various sources in the city, and then searches for
such as water, food and electricity, to public safety, job meaning in the large amount of data.
creation and better use of resources. Sustainable city models – functions and methods
that can plan, track and assess the potential of ICT
Realizing this potential requires a holistic, proactive solutions for sustainable development.
and collaborative approach at all levels of society,
Community and business participation – enabling
from city planners, businesses and citizens, using a
a dialog between the city, people and businesses
city management system to achieve a common vision.
and to allow collaborative bottom-up creativity.
This is where ICT can play an important role. By Dynamic city operations centers – for dynamic
mining the vast amount of data produced by the responses and the daily management of complex
array of connected things within any megacity, ICT city systems.
is instrumental in the efficient day-to-day
management of the city, but perhaps more This model of city management, and its usefulness in
importantly, provides the mechanisms to support addressing the complexity of megacities today while
balanced views when implementing solutions that preparing decision-makers for the future, is
affect several interconnected challenges and exemplified in two scenarios: dynamic response to
opportunities. an event and using the findings to mitigate future
events; and a hub concept that gives citizens the
Of course, no two cities are the same. While there is kind of opportunities that can really transform life.
some commonality in terms of underlying challenges,
the needs of citizens not government or technology
– must dictate the way megacities evolve. In a
previous report, we highlighted the need for new
urban models to tackle social, economic and What defines
environmental pressures sustainably as megacities
evolve. Here we discussed the strong parallels
a megacity?
between the challenges and opportunities of
A megacity is a metropolitan area with a total
megacities at key stages in their development – or in
population in excess of 10 million. It can be a
other words as they mature in terms of
single metropolitan area or two or more
socioeconomic status and infrastructure. The
metropolitan areas that converge. It is difficult
maturity level of a megacity will therefore, to a
to define the outer limits and accurately
degree, determine the type of ICT solutions that can
estimate the population of megacities. Even if
be beneficial at each particular stage of
the rise of the megacity has made a significant
development.
contribution to the development of society,
there is a desperate need for new urban
This second report takes a closer look at how the largest
models to tackle the social, economic and
cities in the world can use ICT to address their evolving
environmental pressure in a sustainable way.
challenges in a holistic, proactive and collaborative way,
through a city management model comprising:
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 3
4. Megacity
challenges and
opportunities
Today, 50 percent of the world’s population lives in opportunities, freedom and a sense of belonging.
cities – a figure set to increase to 70 percent by This urbanization trend is reinforced by pull and push
2050. For individuals, it is about improving quality of factors alike. Economic opportunities, better schools
life for themselves and their families – seeking and hospitals, and things to experience – made
MATURITY LEVEL LOW MEDIUM HIGH
High growth rate due Declining growth rate Slow growth rate
to migration and birth Increased demands as Infrastructure built one
rates a result of increasing or two generations ago
CHARACTERISTICS
Large population living wealth A significantly aging
in informal settlements First signs of an aging population
Young population population
Empower and Create growth and Optimize the efficiency
recognize people in inclusivity of aging infrastructure
poor areas Promote the efficient and systems
Meet basic use of resources when Balance workforce
infrastructure and trying to meet demand and supply to
CHALLENGES public service needs increasing demands tackle unemployment
Reduce corruption Have a people-centric Incentivize behaviors
and increase view on urban planning that increase
transparency to sustainability
improve trust in city
leaders
Increase inclusion Make public services Build on the significant
through access to efficient and accessible role ICT already plays
information Take opportunities to Retrofit and prolong the
Bypass traditional transform when new life of existing systems
ICT OPPORTUNITIES development systems are introduced Use ICT to help people
processes Connect citizens and to make more informed
Enable more collective businesses to support decisions
forms of urban innovation
development
Dhaka, Lagos, Karachi Istanbul, São Paolo London, Tokyo,
CITY EXAMPLES
and Delhi and Shanghai New York and Paris
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 4
5. possible by the economies of scale not seen in rural In this sense, the countless connections in a megacity
settings – pull people to the cities, while poverty, low provide the basis for both broad-brush solutions
standards of infrastructure, and climate change push applicable to the common challenges faced in any
people out of the countryside. compact urban setting and specific answers to a
population’s unique concerns.
The flow-on effect of more compact living is more
efficient use of resources. There is, however, a Maturity level as a guide to ICT solutions
worldwide awareness that urbanization and economic We looked closely at the connection between ICT
growth come at a cost in terms of wealth distribution and megacity maturity in our previous report (see
and environmental impact. table on page 4).
Harmonizing the needs of people and organizations,
and their respective activities, may be one of the most
important considerations in future megacities.
of the world’s
Diverse megacity challenges
Megacity challenges can be loosely categorized population
as practical or subjective, based on the underlying lives in cities
need.
today – a figure set to increase to
Practical matters, most commonly associated with 70 percent by 2050. For individuals,
smart cities, cover transportation, carbon emissions,
energy, water, unemployment and segregation, and it is about improving quality of life
have traditionally been driven top down by the need for themselves and their families –
for efficiency and productivity. While each megacity
will need a customized solution for its practical seeking opportunities, freedom and
challenges, based on culture, location and the like, a sense of belonging.
common challenges and ICT opportunities become
apparent based on the megacity’s socioeconomic and
infrastructure development – its maturity.
The needs of city dwellers are not always as easy to In summary, in low-maturity megacities a large
categorize. The definition of what constitutes a good proportion of inhabitants are focused on securing an
quality of life is subjective depending on individual income, somewhere to live, and access to basic
perceptions, attitudes, aspirations and value systems utilities such as water and electricity. In high-maturity
resulting in different priorities and attitudes not only megacities, these fundamentals are most likely
between cities but within populations. Subjective already in place, leaving residents to focus on issues
challenges often require more complex cross-service such as gaining transparency in terms of their rights,
solutions, which by their nature are hard to define and participating in activities that give them a
and measure, and therefore have generally received sense of belonging, increased convenience and
less attention. self-fulfillment.
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 5
6. Megacity
management
While maturity level provides a guide as to how ICT tools and desire to identify and resolve root causes of
can be utilized to solve megacity challenges, long- problems, not merely react to the symptoms.
term success will only come from taking a holistic,
proactive and collaborative approach at all levels of A model of city management
society – from city planners, businesses and citizens For the difficult choices that inevitably lie ahead of
– using a city management system to achieve a megacities, it is crucial that city leaders find a balance
common vision. between environmental care, economic growth and
quality of life. Different aspects of city development
long term approach need to be addressed and, if they contradict each
Historically, megacity challenges have been dealt with other, be prioritized or renegotiated according to the
reactively, with the focus on solving existing problems. holistic vision. Here, ICT can provide mechanisms to
Consequently, change can lag behind shifts in the way support balanced views when implementing solutions
people live and work. Ideally, megacities should be that affect several interconnected challenges and
developed so they can respond dynamically to events opportunities.
as they occur and prepare for future scenarios, while
taking into account the relationships between diverse In the model of city management presented here, four
stakeholders. areas interplay using the data available, to address both
challenges and opportunities in terms of the underlying
This requires a long-term vision, shared by the city drivers and activities encountered in megacity society,
and its citizens, and proactive approaches to reach be it health, energy, the environment or food.
that vision. Sustainable living conditions, housing,
employment, effective infrastructure, public safety, Knowledge and reasoning layer: This set of functions
inclusive growth and giving citizens the chance to can be likened to the intelligence of the system,
have an active dialog with local government are all gathering information from various sources in the city,
part of the equation. It is also essential for city leaders and then searching for meaning in the large amount
to understand how solutions affect citizens, of data. The knowledge that is gained through this
businesses and organizations, and how these groups reasoning is collected in a knowledge base and
can be part of shaping the future vision. made available to the other functions to support
a holistic view.
Such a harmonized approach can only be achieved
when all parties have the information needed and Sustainable city models: Here we see functions and
willingness to take a holistic view. ICT can contribute methods that can plan, track and assess the potential
to both factors. From the information perspective, ICT of ICT solutions for sustainable development. These
systems acquire, integrate and analyze information functions use data from public services, regulations
from diverse sources and present this according to and other cities as input to proactive analytic tools.
the needs and context of the involved parties. From From a day-to-day management perspective, these
the second perspective, ICT can increase functions give other systems in the city, such as waste
transparency by bridging cognitive gaps and thereby management, guidance and feedback in order
present opportunities and alternatives for people to to respond to situations in line with the long-
explore. In this way, megacities are armed with the term vision.
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 6
7. Community and business participation: This part Dynamic city operations centers: These functions
enables dialog between people, businesses and support resilient responses and target the daily
organizations, either implicitly through sensors or management of complex city systems.They offer
explicitly through active feedback and social decision support, efficient use of available
networks. Citizens, organizations and businesses resources and optimization of systems. These
must be given a platform that allows access to city functions are more reactive in nature and are
data and knowledge to allow collaborative bottom-up supported by connected objects, sensors,
creativity. This is one way to ensure wide participation actuators, services and so on. It is important that all
in development towards a shared vision. Furthermore, city data is presented in context, for example
the functions could provide interfaces for incentives through visualizations that give a snapshot of the
and rewards to citizens and businesses that support current situation, to give meaning to abstract and
sustainable development. scattered information.
Sustainable city models
Community and
business participation Dynamic city
operations centers
Crowdsourcing Update
and support algorithms
Event Respond
information to events
Knowledge and
reasoning layer
Update
Contextual and Shared preferences Status
personal information data informaton
Public safety Education Jobs
Health
Food Energy Water
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 7
8. Functional
components
The model for megacity management that we have
described requires smarter networks that are better Sharing data
suited to different types of services, a secure high- between systems
speed backbone and cloud infrastructure, and
interconnected objects, sensors and organizations. In
all this, the management of various data flows, Knowledge
sometimes in real-time, will be central to give people, representation
businesses and society access to information at any and reasoning
time and in any place. This will not be an easy task,
but Ericsson’s solutions for handling large amounts of Acting upon and
complex data in telecom networks are a solid visualizing data
foundation to build upon. The functionality of our
operational and business support systems provides
the backbone of a city management system.
Connecting objects,
services, and users
Basic functional building blocks
The following section outlines some of the functional
components that serve as basic building blocks when Accessing
creating ICT solutions for megacity challenges. These the data
building blocks form the base of a system that can be
tailored to local requirements.
Connecting objects, services and users: There will be
a multitude of service needs requiring everything from
high-speed to low-speed connections, different traffic
delay requirements from best-effort to low-delay or
real-time, and different needs for service prioritization Objects and services Users and actors
and QoS.
Many types of networks – fixed-line, short-range and
mobile – will be needed to accommodate the
numerous types of solution designs. Networks will
also have to be smarter and adapt to different needs
based on the requirements of the services using them.
This necessitates attention to data security and
appropriate levels of data integrity.
Accessing the data: Cities have an array of objects
and services that collect data – ranging from different
types of sensors to advanced video cameras – with
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 8
9. varying levels of intelligence; some can only send data
updates to the system while others can process the
data before forwarding it. These objects reside on There will be a multitude of service
both public and private networks and use different needs requiring everything from high-
access technologies for connecting to their network
and different protocols for communication. Resource speed to low-speed connections,
management – keeping track of where resources are different traffic delay requirements
hosted and providing information about how to
access them – is an important part of a successful from best-effort to low-delay or real-
city operations solution or other systems (waste time, and different needs for service
management, traffic control, energy supply and so on)
for city management. prioritization and QoS.
Knowledge representation and reasoning: Real-world
objects need to be modeled and represented in a
database (often referred to as a knowledge base) preserve the privacy of various actors and therefore
along with the data they produce. This data is then their trust in the system.
analyzed as input to decision making and guiding
actions. Different types of reasoning or analysis Acting upon and visualizing data: City management
mechanisms, such as logical reasoning, are applied systems must support all types of users by presenting
to data in the knowledge base to infer new data in a way that simplifies decision making. Effective
knowledge and make decisions. Many city systems data visualization and presentation is critical, as it
may have low-latency requirements, meaning data allows city operations centers and public authorities to
processing may need to work in real-time and make informed decisions. But it is equally important
methods such as Complex Event Processing can be that citizens and businesses are able to use this data to
used to filter large amounts of data on the fly. understand alternatives and the long-term effects of
However, this does not imply that all data processing actions. Hence, ways need to be identified to represent
must be performed in a centralized location. It could city data, and the knowledge stemming from it, to
also be done further out in network nodes, such as a people in a way that makes sense given their current
radio base station, so that only relevant data is context.
pushed to the cloud.
Sharing data between systems: Many of the systems
operated by the city, government and businesses
could benefit from being connected. A data broker
component can enable data sharing between systems
and can apply rules on what data is shared. This is a
key aspect for citizen participation and stimulation of
innovative and sustainable business practices. But,
this openness presents a technical challenge – how to
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 9
11. contextual information, such as speed of impact, the
truck’s load, location, traffic status and so on. It then
forwards the recommended actions to the relevant city
operations centers as the basis for decision making,
and where relevant, completes actions autonomously, If you can do so safely, please
enhancing efficiency. One example is automatically send photos or video of the
allocating the nearest and most appropriate accident near you on Rue de
Lagny so we can send the right
emergency services and informing them about the
emergency services.
situation. After this initial action, the component
continues to search for and analyze data streams to
build on the understanding of the situation before
emergency services arrive on scene, and if necessary
request additional types of support.
Asking the community for support: In some cases,
only limited information from the nearby connected
things will be available to the knowledge-reasoning
engine. In this case, a community interface is critical
to a successful outcome. The knowledge and
reasoning component can advise the operator to ask
people near the accident for help, for example, by
submitting live video. The system can also notify
people traveling in the vicinity of the accident to take
alternative routes or use other means of transport.
This has the dual benefit of clearing traffic that would
otherwise hinder the emergency response and helping
citizens carry out their activities with limited delay.
Citizens who provide support can be rewarded by the
city with, for example, a free public transport trip or
free data usage corresponding to a suitable multiple
The bus stop on Rue de
of the data used for the video feed. Lagny is closed due to an
accident. Continue to Square
This scenario shows how a collaborative and cross- Got and take bus 59.
domain effort from an intelligent city management
system, public services and citizens limits the impact
of an unexpected event. In addition, the effectiveness
with which the event was handled can be added to Local community service hubs
the knowledge base. Collected data can be used to The first scenario, with an advanced city operations
give feedback to city operations centers, as well as center, is more oriented towards a high- or medium-
input for handling future scenarios – not only in this maturity megacity. ICT solutions for megacity
particular megacity but in other cities. The analysis management can, however, take many shapes. In
can also be used to avoid similar events altogether by, low-maturity megacities where digital literacy is low
for example, changing traffic routes or traffic light and technical infrastructure less developed, the vast
settings to reduce traffic in that area. These proactive amount of city data can be a starting point for more
plans should, of course, be aligned with the transformational changes to optimize resource use.
sustainable city models. Information about how people and businesses utilize
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 11
14. Conclusions
Citizens should define life in megacities together with governments, and with the support from
ICT solutions and technology. We therefore need to create functional building blocks that equip
communities to drive change in a direction that suits both their immediate and long-term needs,
in a proactive, holistic and collaborative way.
As no two cities are the same, the fundamental long-term visions and incentives for behavioral change.
building blocks we create for city management Ericsson provides a number of telecom-grade ICT
systems must have the flexibility to be tailored and technologies and enablers that will play an important
applied in megacities around the world. The purpose role in addressing these megacity challenges. Our
is to solve problems and support all types of actors in experience of integration and implementation of
the community to grasp the opportunities ICT advanced systems is backed by best-practices gained
presents in terms of improving quality of life, from our global operations. Our solutions include
increasing socioeconomic development and reducing smart networks for connected city objects and
environmental impact. services, secure high-speed backbone and cloud
infrastructure, and the facilitation of services based on
At the same time, systems need to build on common components to handle data flows.
components, for efficiency and cost-effectiveness,
taking into account the uniform, but differing, needs These examples of functional components will enable
presented at each stage of megacity maturity. For a holistic understanding, more informed citizens and
instance, the lack of infrastructure in low-maturity cross-domain reasoning for city governance –
megacities may increase the need for citizen action and aspects that can contribute to balanced views of
innovations, while the wasteful use of resources in development, and in the end improve quality of life
high-maturity megacities may require strong for people.
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 14
15. Sources
This report contains a summary of collected information about megacities and the ICT solutions
already in use. Sources include publicly available material from international organizations,
academic studies and business papers from management consultants. In-house research
conducted by the User Experience Lab and Sustainability Solutions and Assessments at Ericsson
Research, Ericsson Networked Society Lab and Ericsson ConsumerLab are also key sources.
According to the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2012). World
Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision the following 37 cities will be megacities in the year 2025. Population in
millions and current within parenthesis:
Tokyo, Japan, 39 (37) Kinshasa, DR Congo, 15 (8)
Delhi, India, 33 (22) Chongqing, China, 14 (10)
Shanghai, China, 28 (20) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 14 (12)
Mumbai, India, 27 (19) Bangalore, India, 13 (8)
Mexico City, Mexico, 25 (20) Jakarta, Indonesia, 13 (10)
New York, USA, 24 (20) Chennai, India, 13 (9)
São Paulo, Brazil, 23 (20) Wuhan, China, 13 (9)
Dhaka, Bangladesh, 23 (15) Moscow, Russia, 13 (11)
Beijing, China, 23 (15) Paris, France, 12 (11)
Karachi, Pakistan, 20 (14) Osaka-Kobe, Japan, 12 (11)
Lagos, Nigeria, 19 (11) Tianjin, China, 12 (9)
Kolkata, India, 19 (14) Hyderabad, India, 12 (8)
Manila, Philippines, 16 (12) Lima, Peru, 12 (9)
Los Angeles, USA, 16 (13) Chicago, USA, 11 (10)
Shenzhen, China, 16 (10) Bogotá, Colombia, 11 (9)
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 16 (13) Bangkok, Thailand, 11 (8)
Guangzhou, China, 15 (10) Lahore, Pakistan, 11 (7)
Istanbul, Turkey, 15 (11) London, UK, 10 (9)
Cairo, Egypt, 15 (11)
More information about Ericsson’s activities within the two areas of city Life and sustainability:
http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/sustainability_corporateresponsibility/enabling_a_low_carbon_economy
http://www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/networked_society/city-life/
Networked Society – The next age of megacities 15