Innovation is key to moving forward
Some principles of good innovation
Innovation is more than ideas; it is about how ideas – new ones and those that already exist and are tested – are applied. Cities and towns are centres of innovation (rural areas also have a valuable role to play). Innovation thrives when we make the time to explore and understand examples and ideas from different places, and each other. Context is always key – with context we can work out whether ideas from elsewhere can work in our environment with or without changes.
Our urban places are melting pots where people can exchange ideas. With the right conditions, we can create opportunities of all kinds, shapes and forms. Creative destruction can happen as old activities give way to new ones. New businesses create a large proportion of new jobs, and urban environments are where most of them are based. Urban environments are experiencing change, as this book repeatedly points out, to tackle climate change and other sustainability issues. Governments, at the national, state and local levels are innovating and trying new approaches of engagement and delivery, a process that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the private sector, businesses and jobs come and go as a natural part of an ever-changing rhythm (visit any dynamic urban environment a year or two after your last trip, and you will see a lot of change to it). For an example of innovation at work by the private sector, consider what took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses quickly changed their business models and retooled themselves at speed to help society deal with challenges.
Applying innovation to urban environments
Statistical analysis indicates that the more intense the Darwinian process of survival and adaptation in urban environments, the faster an urban economy grows. The bond between capitalism and growth is strong, and if we are to have a greater focus on sustainable lifestyles, the question of how we define value in our urban environments is key to achieving a sustainable present and future. Cities and towns, their citizens and workers are engaged in a continual experiment of change. Much uncertainty about the future exists. The innovation we will see up to 2030, and whether we have a big enough catalyst for a bold new era of strong green innovation, remains to be seen.
Government at the national / federal, state and local level promotes innovation by overseeing macroeconomic principles, ensuring good education and social and health care, subsidising scientific research and technology research and development, backing risky new technologies, and promoting free competition. In the last few years, the focus of government-backed scientific research has expanded. Take robotics. The use of robotics for delivery drones, agriculture “robot workers” and care home assistants (for example, in Japan, to help deal with an ageing population) is just one of many examples of how government-assisted innovation can respond to urban socio-economic changes. Do authorities in cities and towns do enough to promote innovation and spur investment in R&D? A UNESCO report on R&D investment published in 2021 recommends that governments should do more to encourage R&D. In parts of the world where the level of research is low, can they do more to encourage it?
Governments need to continue to invest and encourage research and innovation in the private sector. Markets and the private sector provide many examples of innovation that urban planners and policy makers can learn from. Agile working methods used in the private sector may provide ideas for municipal management teams.
Innovation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Innovation is mentioned in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - for example, in the following SDG global indicators:
- Goal 8 > 8.2 Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors
- Goal 9 > 9.5 Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending
The idea of a draft set of linked urban indicators places more focus on innovation, since this is an important area for cities and towns.
The UN reported in 2021 that the world was not on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030 (the date when they expire, to be replaced by new global goals, just as the SDGs took over from the Millennium Development Goals in 2015). Can innovation help to achieve the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda?
The potential for using AI to improve urban environments
Tied to the urban model put forward in the Overview of this website is the potential to harness AI for the benefit of designing better cities and towns.
What if AI was used to help urban planners, and others, to consider how best to modify the urban environments that they oversee, taking into account the many interlinkages and complexities that exist? Generative AI continues to evolve. By structuring AI queries in an appropriate way, some surprising and valuable results could be derived.
An example of a service that exists is CITYDAT.ai, powered by Google. As their website describes, CITYDATA.ai uses Google Cloud and partner 66degrees to provide municipalities with insights about population density and movement patterns for informed decision-making.
A few examples of urban innovation
Tomorrow.City
Imagined by Smart City Expo World Congress, Tomorrow.City is a global digital platform devoted to creating and spreading content about cities and innovation.
Food waste innovation with Too Good to Go
The Too Good to Go solution (currently available across much of Europe, the US and Canada) inspires individuals / families and food sellers to make use of their food and avoid food waste.
Ecological innovation in Almere (the Netherlands)
With a range of neighbourhoods focused on innovative architecture, sustainability and social enrichment, can Almere give us a glimpse of what living in cities could be like in years to come?
Ecological and social innovation in Leeuwarden (the Netherlands)
In mid 2022, for one hundred days the city centre of Leeuwarden was treated to one thousand large and small trees being walking around the city, as a 'walking forest'. This innovative art and ecology project can teach us a lot about the value of nature.
Sustainable mobility in Utrecht (the Netherlands)
The Dutch city of Utrecht has been successful in promoting the use of sustainable means of transport over recent years, and this case study looks at the city’s mobility policy and plans in its latest Sustainable Mobility Plan...
Societal innovation in San Francisco
An initiative by the nonprofit Downtown Community Benefit District (Downtown CBD) in San Francisco is focused on putting together an action plan to "reimagine" 43 blocks of downtown neighbourhoods in the city, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic...
Societal innovation in Yerevan
Work by UNDP in Yerevan has incorporated the use of The Doughnut Model as a way of capturing society's views, and to creating a "Yerevan Selfie" and ensuring that community needs are being properly identified for urban solutions...
Transport innovation in Taiwan
Across Asia, the most popular form of personal transport is the motor scooter. They are cheap and convenient - but polluting. Can a clean scooter change things? A Taiwanese company, which has already built the world’s largest battery-swapping network, might have the answer...
The Copenhagen Wheel
The Copenhagen Wheel is an emblem for urban mobility. It transforms ordinary bicycles quickly into hybrid e-bikes that also function as mobile sensing units...
The First Movers Coalition
The First Movers Coalition is a collection of businesses to advance critical and emerging climate technologies, by leveraging their collective purchasing power.
Built environment innovation with Cambridge Electric Cement
One of the most difficult challenges in climate mitigation is cement. Its production releases a large amount of emissions, there are currently no alternative options available at scale and we don’t know how to install new renewables or make new energy efficient buildings without it. Cambridge Electric Cement is working on a way to solve this problem.
LA Lights the Way - a design competition for smart streetlighting
A competition to find the best type of streetlight for the city of Los Angeles...