“‘Smart’ may not be the smartest of monikers but it has seen itself attached to some of the latest developments in the design, construction and working of the built environment in recent years. First we had ‘Smart Buildings’ now we have ‘smart cities’.”

Hurley Palmer Flatt‘s Group Chairman & CEO, Paul Flatt wrote a piece for Building Magazine all about ‘Why we should be taking ‘smart cities’ seriously’. To see the full post follow click here

But first, what are smart cities?

Smart cities endorse well-being and performance through the use of information and communication technologies. The evolution of smart cities through digital technology increases the capability of cities to respond to challenges either locally or globally.

Further parts of smart cities are energy, transportation and utilities and are prominent due to the need for these urban sectors to reduce resource consumption, overall costs and wastage.

For example, in words of Paul Flatt:

“By harnessing the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) companies can plot which areas of their office is used more often and by whom, enabling them to tailor resources such as janitorial, cleaning and identify areas where it can specifically match areas of an office to the requirements of each member of staff.”