Anatomy of a Smart City [INFOGRAPHIC]

on 1st Nov 2011

The 19th century was a century of empires, 20th century was a century of nation states and the 21st century will be a century of cities.” – Former Denver Mayor W.Webb

Just yesterday on 31st October 2011, the world’s population hit seven billion. Actually this is just a symbolic date, set by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. No one can prove exact population figures. But the meaning behind this human achievement stands firm – it is a testament to our brilliance, our ingenuity and of course our love of copulation. Working hand in hand with our population growth has been the dramatic living shift we’ve made from rural areas to cities. ”In 2008, for the first time ever, more of us lived in cities than in rural areas.” (National Geographic Video)

These are urban times. It was this very notion that led us to our name, in the first place.

Our archive of content since our inception has echoed the brave mission that is to educate, inform and drive solutions on all things urban. We have been grateful to the wide array of planners, architects, techies, entrepreneurs and students of the built environment who have joined us on this journey. And the ‘Smart City‘ has featured again and again, whether it be a futurologist’s insights into the bionic, nature-centric adaptable cities of the future, or an economist’s keen ideas on instilling happiness in the built environment.

The outstanding infographic below (courtesy of postscapes.com) begins with some information about our current state of urbanization. Did you know that 1.3 million people are moving to cities each week?! It shifts to explain the need for smart cities and then delves into what is required to established these intelligent connected environments, how the smart city may take various forms in the developing worlds and what specific technologies are necessary to achieve such grand goals in practice.

Enjoy!