We’ve all imagined the future: one day, our seemingly normal cities transform into advanced hubs of technology-centric living. Recently, we have witnessed small steps towards these “smart cities,” with Uber’s self-driving cars and Amazon’s check-out free convenience store. It should come to no surprise, then, to hear that Bill Gates plans to build an $80-million dollar smart city in Belmont, Arizona in just a few years.
Why southern Arizona you ask? The area’s land is of low value, making it more affordable for future residents than say, a location like San Francisco or Chicago. Gates and his investment strategists purchased 24,800 acres worth of land to construct this city on outside of Buckeye, Arizona. In addition, Business Insider stated that the state has ideal autonomous vehicle policies for a launch this of this scale. This smart city will feature innovations like high-speed public Internet connection, driverless cars, manufacturing facilities, logistics hubs, and space for millennials to raise their family in a smart environment. As urban developers look forward with the plans, they have determined that Belmont must have a 100-year assured water supply, which is a major obstacle for desert lands, as we all know too well.
While we may believe that Gates has an innovative eye here in the U.S., India already has plans to build hundreds of smart cities. But they’ve also taken it one step further: “city as a service." With a predicted population boom of 63%, India must act fast to provide a decent standard of living for its citizens while simultaneously keeping up with the tech curve. They are hoping to build these cities with a philanthropic lense: to provide an opportunity to build a life for those currently living in poverty. The country plans on using public-private partnerships (or PPPs), in order to create large projects that are socially sustainable. PPP’s are constructed when governments or corporations are join in partnership on a joint venture with the understanding that they do not possess the resources nor the funds as individual entities. Looking forward, the definition of "smart" isn’t necessarily defined by how technologically innovative the city is, but rather how basic intelligence through things like traffic light patterns or pollution monitors can help improve the standard of living of the citizens and is easily changeable as innovations are discovered.
I am interested in this subject because this forward-thinking style of living is on the horizon in many different aspects of our current cities. However, I think it is important to acknowledge the charitable vision that some city builders have in mind: to create a sustainable and fair way of living for those in India currently dwelling in what we would label “third-world conditions.” In the United States, it's often easy for us to ignore the different standards of living from country to country, let alone city to city. To me, these smart cities are a noble thought that could give rise to an overall improved quality of life for everyone. However, I am hesitant how much this can really improve certain aspects of society like pollution, crime rates, and overall per capita earnings.I am excited to see how Belmont launches, and being a native Arizonan, what it adds to our state-wide economy.
Questions:
- What do you think is the future of these “smart cities?”
- Do you think Bill Gates’ Belmont will be a success?
- How do you foresee smart cities in the United States varying from those of India and other foreign nations?
- Smart Cities Are Changing, Huffington Post, 1/5/18
- Bill Gates' investment group spent $80 million to build a 'smart city' in the desert — and urban planners are divided, Business Insider, 11/22/17
