Snapshot
We are selecting 10 Cities across North America that are facing the rapid changes of our world. We bring together leadership, citizens, technologists, designers, entrepreneurs, planners, and scientists. They then work through two days of rapid problem identification, exploration and solving. By creating an environment of rapid solving and accountability where we can help cities move more quickly and thoughtfully toward equality, we can expect a thriving future.
Overview:
With 55% of the global population living in cities, the “Smart City” phenomenon is continuing to gaining momentum, from neighborhoods to entire regions. It lags behind the growing needs of climate adaptation. Driven by the urgency to make communities safer and accessible, leaders with foresight are striving to address the stresses of urbanization, compounded by climate change, to become more efficient, more sustainable, resilient, and livable.
Modernizing and coordinating digital, physical and social infrastructure can make delivery and use of public, private and hybrid services more efficient, cost-effective and socially beneficial. Bringing together the leaders of municipal government, businesses, innovators, and stakeholders, we help communities craft innovative solutions that integrate the legal, regulatory, and policy issues to societal challenges in an era of accelerating technological change.
The challenge is creating alignment around a defined plan and turning ideas into actionable solutions. There is a maze of challenges to navigate and many stakeholders to consider.
The Mayor’s Playbook for Smart & Resilient Cities
The New Bureau is developing the first of a kind an open-source Mayors’ Playbook for Smart and Resilient Cities to speed the understanding and actionable engagement from local leaders, private sector partners, academics, municipalities, and their citizens. This publication is not just for Mayors, but for those who are interested in working, investing, and building the cites they want to live in.
This digital and physical publication will provide short- and long-term recommendations with specific actions that city problem solvers can act upon to create responsible, resilient, productive, and smart communities. The Playbook is filled with the rich stories, case studies challenges, solutions, and the best practices that the SRCS generates. These initiatives will have equally strong applications in both Civic and Corporate settings.
“The New Bureau team created a vibrant collaborative atmosphere that resulted in a Smart Cities and Communities blueprint that would be beneficial for many of our national campuses. I view this as an important national initiative where technology delivers great experiences and business outcomes.”
Past Partners
“Thanks for working with us on this terrific project. I hope communities everywhere will emulate!”
Why?
Cities face the daunting challenge of COVID-19, social unrest and justice, population health, economics, policy, education, and resilience. Yet the risk of consistent flooding, increased global heating, and higher impact storms, climate adaptation is imperative.
As climate related issues arise, cities who are resilient will rebound faster, and at a lower cost, while providing a better standard of living for all citizens. COVID-19 is a small test case of what cities will have to prepare for in a world undergoing climate change.
Cities and communities face many other challenges as well. These include issues such as transportation, food, housing, safety, communications, water, energy, waste management, social inclusion, and equality. Many of these are similar across all cities.
Yet most communities are burdened with obstacles impeding opportunities to create smart city solutions – a lack of financial resources, too many misaligned stakeholders, unwieldy infrastructure, and a jumbled regulatory framework. In order to move toward successfully becoming a smart city, a more informed and decisive decision-making process is required. The Smart City OS platform allows for faster prototyping and application development that can lead to more rapid strategy direction, testing, validation, and deployment. Add a programmatic approach that engages participant's natural curiosity, predisposition toward invention and ideation, and the Smart City OS is the ideal platform from which to generate actionable strategies that will positively transform communities.
Smart & Resilient City Issues
Leadership & Social Justice
Climate Adaptation
Technology & Innovation
Economic Development
Security, Health, & Privacy
Housing, Buildings & Land
Transport & Mobility
Entrepreneurship
Education
Infrastructure & Utilities
Energy & Renewables
Livability & Urban Planning
