Sidewalk Toronto, the vision behind Google’s failed city
Author | M. Martínez Euklidiadas A few years before the pandemic, Toronto attempted, with the help of Google and local business owners, to create the ideal city. It never materialized, but it moved thousands of people and helped us imagine a future that may have been better, but which was finally abandoned. What was Toronto’s […]
Could AI and IoT be the solution to traffic congestion?
Author | Lucía Burbano Traffic jams not only cause fatigue, desperation and delays among drivers. While most vehicles continue to use fossil fuels, traffic congestion is co-responsible for air (and noise) pollution in cities, and also has a negative impact on people’s quality of life. Having a better understanding of urban traffic and finding solutions […]
Japan’s smart city renaissance: building futuristic urban havens from scratch
Author | M. Martínez Euklidiadas During the past decade, Japan has been demolishing entire neighborhoods to rebuild them. With a focus on enhancing the quality of life of residents, improving public transport systems and the city’s efficiency as an organism; it aims, with the help of technology, to be at the forefront of a silent […]
Quiet champions: cities still embracing the Hyperloop dream
Author | Lucía Burbano At first glance, Hyperloop has all the qualities needed to become the mass transportation mode of the future; it is extremely fast, sustainable and technologically exceptional. But high R&D costs and competition with existing and widely operational railway networks have dampened the idea. However, numerous cities are still willing to invest […]
Sweden’s district heating, a heating system based on reusing resources
Author | Lucía Burbano Sweden has an ambitious plan to totally decarbonize its heating and hot water system by 2030. It is achieving this thanks to district heating, which recycles water, the energy generated by data centers and non-recyclable waste to heat the entire country. What is district heating? District heating uses residual heat from […]
How and why are some cities challenging ghost kitchens
Author | Lucía Burbano They arrived in cities during the COVID-19 pandemic and it seems like they are here to stay. The closure of restaurants saw an increase in food delivery services and this food went on to be prepared in ghost kitchens. However, some cities are now starting to legislate a sector which, to […]
Circle House: Denmark’s first circular social housing project
Author | Lucía Burbano When completed, Circle House will represent a before and after in sustainable architecture. The project comprises 60 social housing units built in Aarhus, Denmark, based on the principles of a circular economy. This means, among others, it can be disassembled and its elements can be recycled without losing their integrity. Circle […]
What has to happen for 5G to be deployed in smart cities
Author | M. Martínez Euklidiadas The fifth generation of telecommunication systems was going to drastically change cities. Thanks to 5G we were going to see smart energy networks and more responsible distribution, remote medicine with remote monitoring, immersive media, smart transportation systems, or improved manufacturing processes. What has happened with 5G? Has it broken its […]
Europe is advancing towards its common digital identity project: What is it and how will it change relations between citizens and governments?
Author | M. Martínez Euklidiadas The European digital identity technology aims to create digital wallets with which citizens can link their respective national digital identities, their different licenses, bank accounts, academic diplomas or others. Among other possibilities, they will enable unequivocal identification or digital form, although existing European pilot projects go one step further: they […]
After the rise comes resistance: these cities are standing up to electric scooters
Author | Lucía Burbano Micromobility is characterized by great instability marked by the financing of companies and certain plans that do not always take into account regulatory setbacks. Madrid, for example, is just one of the cities that has implemented measures in recent months to restrict the use of e-scooters, the sudden emergence of which […]