Smart Cities

26 Cities Awarded Arts Grants to Transform Blighted Areas

Bloomberg Philanthropies is partnering with the cities to help them revitalize streets and public spaces and make them safer through its Asphalt Art Initiative.

  • By Andre Claudio

Renters Now Majority in 100+ Suburbs

Residents in major metropolitan areas are renting more than buying homes as compared with 10 years ago, according to a report.

  • By Andre Claudio

Transition to Permanent Remote Work Will Disrupt High-Cost Urban Areas

Cities will need to show residents who can do their jobs from most anywhere why they should continue living in densely packed places, according to new research.

  • By Andre Claudio

There’s One Surefire Way to End Big Sewage Spills: End Big Sewage

COMMENTARY | To ‘futureproof’ wastewater treatment against the rising threats of climate change, sewage should go local.

  • By Chelsea Wald, Undark

Best and Worst Cities to Rent in America

Cedar Rapids, Iowa tops the list for most affordable rental housing while two cities in Florida and one in New Jersey tied for last place, according to a recent report.

  • By Andre Claudio
Sponsor Content

Eliminate Manual Processes Route and Approve Invoices from Anywhere

Today’s finance teams carry a heavy burden, supporting everything from growth strategies to long-term planning – all while continuously delivering monthly and quarterly numbers and keeping cash flowing. But even as demands on finance departments grow, many still spend excessive time using paper, spreadsheets, and e-mails to process vendor invoices, approvals, and payments.

  • Presented by SAP Concur

Cities Embraced Technology During Covid But Still Lack Comprehensive Digital Policies

A white paper identifies gaps in technology governance in cities, including problems with accessibility, digital infrastructure and cybersecurity.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Reimagining Street Parking to Improve Traffic Flow, Business Opportunities

COMMENTARY | The pandemic has created a unique opportunity for forward-thinking municipalities to fundamentally change transit and mobility.

  • By Jeremy Zuker, co-founder, WhereiPark

The Riskiest ‘Smart City’ Technologies, According to Cybersecurity Experts

Technology like sensors built into infrastructure and emergency alerts has possible benefits, but in a new study dozens of experts weigh in on where some of the more significant pitfalls may lie.

  • By Bill Lucia

Tech Alone Isn’t Enough to Create a Successful Smart City

COMMENTARY | Technological investments aren’t enough to create successful smart cities. Cities must also deploy initiatives to navigate complex social and organizational processes.

  • By Jared Mondschein, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg and Andreas Kuehn

How Downtowns Can Rebound After the Pandemic

They have to offer more than office space.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

The Smart City Journey: 5 Key Steps to Success

COMMENTARY | The path to becoming a smart city is eased by incorporating a few important steps into your planning.

  • By Patti Zullo

Want to Solve Society’s Most Urgent Problems? Cash Prizes Can Spur Breakthroughs

COMMENTARY | Big cash prizes can be big motivators for people to get involved in developing innovative ideas.

  • By Luciano Kay, The Conversation
Featured eBooks
Economic Recovery in America's Cities
Workforce Development
The New World of Work

Report: The Country's Top Cities for Clean Energy Policy

New York City, Boston and Seattle top the 2020 Clean Energy Scorecard, which ranks 100 cities on local efforts to implement clean energy policy. But only 20 cities are on track to meet their own community climate goals.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

In Santa Monica, City Hall Makes its Own Water, Power—and Goodwill

COMMENTARY | Municipal leaders can build new facilities that recycle water and generate power, as well as uplift staff and citizens.

  • By Heidi Creighton

Pandemic May Alter Big Cities, But Won’t Kill Them, Experts Say

The possibility that mid-sized cities could benefit from shifts in how and where people are working also came up during Route Fifty’s Future Cities event on Monday.

  • By Bill Lucia

The Urban Future is Carless

COMMENTARY | As cities consider what a post-pandemic environment looks like, micromobility devices can help reduce reliance on cars, make streets safer and be more environmentally friendly.

  • By Maurice Henderson

The Nation's Marquee 'Smart City' Program Continues to Evolve

Experts and people involved in the Columbus, Ohio project say it provides a chance for the city and others to learn more about what works and what doesn't with emerging transportation technology.

  • By Bill Lucia

Word Count Program Helps Expand Early Childhood Language Exposure

The Providence Talks program expanded to five cities, where educators are working with parents to increase the number of words per day that their children hear.

  • By Andrea Noble

Cities Will Save Democracy, but Only If We Measure It

COMMENTARY | Cities have become the gatekeepers of democracy. Creating a new index to measure democracy in cities may help save the institution globally.

  • By Steven Bosacker

Why We Should Stop Conflating Cities With Innovation and Creativity

COMMENTARY | The language we use to discuss innovation and creativity has such a pro-urban bias that we’ve forgotten these qualities flourish outside of cities, too.

  • By Richard Shearmur, CityLab

When Street Lights Do More Than Illuminate a City

New York cities plan to deploy smart technology, from optic scanners to weather sensors, when they retrofit street lights to make them more energy efficient.

  • By Andrea Noble