Our Cities, Our Future

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According to the European Commission, smart cities are places “where traditional networks and services are made more efficient with the use of digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and business”. Smart cities use information and communication technologies (ICT) to “share information with the public and provide a better quality of government service and citizen welfare”, according to TWI Global. Smart cities utilize technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), application programming interfaces (APIs), machine learning, lights, and meters. They rely on the Internet of Things (IoT) to collect and analyze data. One benefit of smart cities is that they can implement smart grids, like Amsterdam does, that can aid in resource conservation. 

It might sound good on paper, and there are certainly some potentially great things that smart cities and grids can provide such as consumption to help the environment which is vital as we are starting to see the effects of climate change, this is not to say that smart cities are without fault. For example, there are major privacy concerns with smart cities. CCTV cameras, the security cameras in public spaces, were put in place to prevent crime and “antisocial behaviour”, according to the London City Government, who has one CCTV camera for every ten people in London. There have been cases where security cameras have helped police catch terrorists such as the Boston Marathon bombers in April 2013, however, preventative policing procedures such as stop-and-frisk and “quality-of-life” policing in New York City have been found to be oppressive, unconstitutional, and are a method of racial profiling. 

Further, smart cities have been critiqued as a Trojan Horse for Big Tech. For example, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, created a company called Sidewalk Labs that developed a plan to work with Waterfront Toronto, a government agency, to redo Toronto’s waterfront. The project was later cancelled because of COVID-related economic issues, but many were concerned with data privacy concerns. It was also critiqued in that it did not put the needs of citizens at the center of the design process, a key pillar in good urban planning and design. 

Another concern with smart cities and infrastructure is cybersecurity. Smart cities and smart technology are a prime target for cyberattacks. Technologies such as emergency alert systems, video surveillance, and traffic signals are more vulnerable to a cyberattack. In 2021, hackers gained control of Colonial Pipeline’s oil network through an employee’s virtual private network (VPN) and effectively shut down the largest oil pipeline in the United States. Oil pipelines are not the only infrastructure that is now vulnerable to cyberattack and hacking because of smart technology. Things such as hospitals, energy grids, water treatments, and more are all susceptible. Not only would a power grid failure cause many people reliant on technology for healthcare such as hospital patients, but there would be huge devastation and economic losses. 

As previously discussed, good urban planning and design needs to take into account community needs to best serve its population and should be able to anticipate future problems. Climate change is evidently one of those problems. 

The good news is that urban planning and design are two of some of the most effective tools to combat the threats that climate change poses. Urban planning and design has the ability to influence behavior; if cities are built in a more walkable way, rather than built for cars and demolishing historic neighborhoods for airports or freeways, people will walk more. It has been found that car pollution is a significant contribution to CO2 emissions, as each passenger emits 4.6 metric tons of CO2 annually. 

Further, cities can become more sustainable by allocating more space for parks. Rather than rolling out grass lawns, cities can opt out of mowing or choose to xeriscape—a type of landscape maintenance that saves water, does not use fertilizers or pesticides, and is pollution free. Along with being better for the environment and more sustainable, parks have been found to improve the mental health of residents. 

Urban planners can also work to improve water conservation of cities. Cities like Las Vegas, Nevada already do not have a choice in the matter; Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States and what once served as the source of water to millions, is no longer able to draw water because of the drought in the American West that is the worst in centuries. Manmade climate change has made the megadrought 72% worse than it would have been otherwise. This could result in the Hoover Dam no longer being able to produce hydroelectricity and the price of water would skyrocket. However, urban planners can work to improve the water availability, infrastructure, and land use in order to make water planning more effective. This is not to say that urban planning will solve climate change and the West’s megadrought, but it can surely help.

There are many other things that urban planners and developers can do to try to combat climate change. Things such as urban farming have already been implemented and should continue to do so. Projects such as Pariscultuers in Paris have been estimated to produce over 1,200 tons of food to urban populations that can improve food security worldwide.

Like the urban development of many other cities, thousands were displaced when Phoenix was expanded on and developed. According to AZ Central, over nine thousand people were displaced by the construction of the Papago Freeway in 1990. Other freeways, such as the I-17 and I-10, predominantly Black and Latino residential neighborhoods were demolished. At the time, the neighborhoods were not annexed within Phoenix city limits, and these communities had nowhere near the political clout needed to fight these developments. 

Further construction, such as the building of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, demolished Latino neighborhoods such as the Golden Gate barrio. Organizations such as Chicanos por la Causa tried to fight the development and destruction of these neighborhoods, but the airport was built regardless. Today, Chicanos por la Causa fight structural inequities and have offices across the southwestern U.S., in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas.

Many white residents in Scottsdale were concerned about the air quality changing in their neighborhoods because of the airport construction. As a result, the Phoenix Environmental Quality Commission re-routed planes so they would not fly over these neighborhoods but did not do the same to Black and Latino neighborhoods. It has been found that airports produce copious amounts of air pollution, putting carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and non-methane hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. Additionally, freeways expose surrounding neighborhoods levels of air pollution that are anywhere from five to ten times higher than other areas. People who experience long-term exposure to air pollution can suffer from a wide-range of health issues, such as stroke, lung cancers, aggravated asthma, and more. All of these can cause early death. Additionally, urban development in central Arizona displaced the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), cutting off their water supply. This change in agriculture and diet has resulted in the GRIC having the highest rate of diabetes in the world. 

Modern urban planning prevents large-scale mobilization. As seen with Haussmann and the Paris Commune, modern cities such as Paris have rebuilt themselves in such a way that promotes parades rather than protests. Long, central boulevards and curated perfectly for military parading rather than community organization. Other cities such as Los Angeles or Phoenix are not conducive to protests, as they prevent the gathering of large groups of people, are not walkable, and there is no clear city center to serve as a point of assembly. 

Protest organizers typically have two goals in mind: a target which protesters can confront tto enhance the impact of their message, and an internal purpose that can intensity solidarity. Where participants are protesting and the planning of these cities and spaces is vital for organizing a successful protest. Plazas in cities may serve as an assembly spot, such as Place de la République in Paris, Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, Trafalgar Square in London, and Tahrir Square in Cairo. 

Georges-Eugène Haussmann became Prefect of the Seine in 1853 under Napoléon III. He began by expanding upon and building new grand boulevards, such as Sébastopol in the Third Arrondissement and the completion of Rue de Rivoli, the project that Emperor Napoléon had originally started. Haussmann had more power than any Parisian urban planner before him. He employed over three thousand workers to work on Rue de Rivoli for over twenty-four hours a day until it was completed. When he added the boulevards Sébastopol and Strasbourg to the Third Arrondissement, he cut through a few of the overcrowded neighborhoods in the city center where the cholera epidemic had hit the hardest. 

Haussmann renovated parks, such as Parc Monceau in the 17th Arrondissement; he redesigned the Étoile surrounding l’Arc de Triomphe; built two new government buildings on the oldest part of the city, Île de la Cité, the Prefecture de Police and the Tribunal de Commerce. He annexed surrounding neighborhoods such as Montmartre, Bercy, and Belleville to make them part of Paris. 

As Haussmann’s projects grew, so did the bill, and criticism of his work mounted. Finally, in 1870, Haussmann was fired by Napoleon III just before the Franco-Prussian War. In 1871, the Prussians defeated the French army and signed an armistice agreement, effectively creating the Third Republic, and the French National Guard took control of the city. This Commune governed the city, installing many policies that were extremely progressive for the era, aligned with the goals of the International Workingmen’s Organization. The Commune organized democratic elections for councilors that would represent the majority working-class population of Paris. Additionally, they abolished the death penalty, military conscription, changed the working hours for bakeries, and instituted the separation of church and state.

Obviously, this did not sit with Versailles and the Third Republic. Because of the new Haussmannian boulevards, the Army was able to take back control of the city. Eventually, they succeeded and overthrew the Commune and reinstated their control of Paris, and in the process, killed 20,000 Communards in the Bloody Week. 

Haussmann’s significance to modern Paris cannot be understated, as his work in urban planning and design changed all forms of Parisian life. The boulevards and building of new parks, even though enjoyed by many, displaced thousands; the new city streets were built for parades rather than protests; and his work still wasn’t completed until long after his firing. The last project—Boulevard Haussmann—wasn’t completed until 1927.