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The Future Of Cities report published by PSFK Labs investigates the key trends and pressing issues that will play a role in shaping the evolution of urban environments over the next decade.
A major theme identified in the report is Sensible Cities, which is bringing intelligence to the city and its citizens through the free flow of information and data, helping improve both immediate and long term decision making. This theme consists of six key trends: Citizen Sensor Networks, Hyperlocal Reporting, Just-In-Time Alerts, Proximity Services, Data Transparency, and Intelligent Transport.
- The Citizen Sensor Networks trend described in the Future Of Cities report highlights how sensor-laden personal electronics are enabling everyday people to passive collect environmental data and other information about their communities.
- The Hyperlocal Reporting trend describes how crowdsourced information platforms are changing the top-down nature of how news is gathered and disseminated by placing reporting tools in the hands of citizens, allowing any individual to instantly broadcast about what is important to them.
- The Just-In-Time Alerts trend describes an increasing number of city services that are being networked with the cloud, allowing the management and flow of information between various agencies, officials and citizens to become more responsive, quickly disseminating important messages and alerts throughout a population using a combination of phone calls, SMS texts or emails.
- Proximity Services looks at mobile technology platforms that are leveraging location as a key metric for helping citizens seamlessly access a host of services to help them better navigate their urban environments.
- Data Transparency is a trend that examines how city administrators, institutions, and companies are publicly sharing data generated within their systems to add new levels of openness and accountability. Availability of this information not only strengthens civic engagement, but also establishes a collaborative agenda at all levels of government that empowers citizens through greater access and agency.
- The Intelligent Transport trend describes how the continuous flow of information being gathered by a network of sensors coupled with seamless communication platforms and sophisticated, autonomous systems is streamlining the movement of people and things across cities. This data is being leveraged to solve any number of transportation challenges from real-time traffic management to the creation of less dangerous roadways for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Summary Presentation
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