Cities in the Context of Global Change: Challenges and the Need for Smart and Resilient Cities

Abstract

Cities are now home to over 4.3 billion people, more than 56% of world population, and further growth in urbanization trends is projected for the coming decades. According to United Nations, 68% of world population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050. Traditionally, people have migrated to cities in search for better livelihood opportunities, better access to services and amenities, and enhanced quality of life. These aspirations may not always be fully realized due to various factors such as ineffective urban development and management policies and practices. As a result, externalities and problems such as social inequality, crime, environmental pollution, and traffic jam are common in many urban areas, especially those in developing countries. Climate change and the recent COVID-19 pandemic have reignited the debates over cities and their future. On the one hand, there are many concerns over the vulnerability of cities to the impacts of climate change and other stressors and extreme events such as pandemics. On the other hand, it is argued that effective urban management policies and practices can provide solutions for addressing the increasing challenges that cities are facing and contribute to mitigating global climate change. Reliance on conventional approaches and strategies may, however, not be sufficient if cities want to be part of the solution to climate change and other challenges. Therefore, there has been increasing emphasis on adopting innovative and disruptive solutions that are transformative and can accelerate transition toward creating cities that are more resilient and sustainable. This has led to growing interest and investment in smart solutions and technologies enabled by advances in information and communication technologies. Based on an overview of the existing literature, in this chapter, I first discuss some of the major challenges that cities are now facing. Results show that major challenges are related to ecological degradation, unregulated urban expansion, climate change adaptation and mitigation, resource management, fragmented urban management, air pollution, housing, and transportation. Next, I briefly discuss potential contributions of smart city solutions and technologies to overcoming these challenges. Finally, I provide a summary of this edited volume and its contributions to advancing knowledge on smart and resilient cities.