Asia-Pacific cities: smart, but also sustainable?

Asia-Pacific Cities: Smart, But Also Sustainable?
by Grace Chua

The need for smarter cities is especially pressing in Asia, which is home to over half of the world’s urban population, and together with Africa, will account for 90 percent of the world’s urban population growth by 2050, according to United Nations’ figures.

As one of the fastest urbanising regions in the world, Asia faces two key challenges: First, high-growth cities in developing nations need to raise their citizens’ standard of living while expanding sustainably. At the same time, maturing cities such as Seoul and Singapore are dealing with greying populations, traffic congestion, and energy-hungry building and industrial infrastructure. Across the board, cities need to build resilience against the impacts of climate change.