Researchers with the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) recently published a report examining existing smart cities in order to develop a framework that identifies strategies to transform transportation in cities.
MTI explored the question of how a city achieves smart status in “A Framework for Integrating Transportation into Smart Cities.” It defines a smart city as an ecosystem of innovations and stakeholders working together at different city scales, from neighborhoods to regions to enhance quality of life.
The three-phase smart city framework identified in the report includes issuing an initial assessment based on expert interviews and city demographics, design-thinking workshops, and problem statement development to better understand community concerns; implementing a refinement and prioritization process, while making use of communities of practice to collaboratively advance institutional capabilities; and executing pilot implementation and evaluation.
This study examined smart cities by employing a multi-method approach to research and develop a framework for smart cities. This approach employed a literature review of North American and international literature on smart city strategies; expert interviews representing community stakeholder engagement processes and stakeholder organizations engaged in smart city policymaking; development of a smart city framework based on firsthand experience with the U.S. DOT’s Smart City Challenge and collaboration with the Smart City Lab and the Texas Innovation Alliance; and two deepdive assessments of issues confronting smart cities, including the role of big data and shared micromobility.
While various innovations and interconnectedness of systems appear to be propelling cities into the future, the report makes note of concerns about how equitable these technology-based changes are. The report’s policy recommendations emphasize the need to ensure smart cities are accessible to everyone through proactive legislation and regulations.
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SOURCE: Mineta Transportation Institute
