EDGcompany’s Managing Director Brian Kou was invited to participate in the 9th Annual City Development: Human-Centric Digital Cities event in Singapore. The summit, held from the 13th through 15th of November, is a meeting ground for global leaders in urban development sectors to share ideas and work towards mutual progress around the world and tackle the growing need of incorporating new technologies into urban settings.
This is especially important when looking to create a consistent story or theme that can envelop all of a city’s residents and visitors in one unique experience. Joining other leaders in their field, Brian Kou was able to share his own thoughts and experiences working with EDGcompany on how to achieve the goal of bringing a city’s theme to life and engage the discussion on an international scale.
Leaders In Their Field
Global attendees partook in brainstorming sessions and presented in-depth analysis on their fields of expertise. Notable presenters include Mark Thomas of the Smart City Council (Australia-New Zealand) with his “Cities 4.0: Building a Strong Foundation for Sustainable Smart Cities” that delved into the 6 current leading “smart cities”: Seattle (USA), Helsinki (Finland), Milton Keynes (UK), Barcelona (Spain) Singapore, and Songdo (Korea).
Hector Rodal from the Barcelona City Council (Spain) also expanded on his experience developing Barcelona into a “self-sufficient city of productive neighborhoods at a human speed, within a hyper-connected and zero emissions metropolis.”
Karthik Karkal and Andrew Brahney of Ramboll (Denmark) further showcased their own “Inclusive City” ideas as well, expanding on their operations in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park (Singapore), Cambridge (USA), and Nordhavn (Denmark).
Developing Together
Gabriel Metcalf (SPUR, Australia) also shared his thoughts on the 7 developing “super cities” that are attracting more and more people each year: London, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Seoul. These cities in particular need to focus on sustainable growth and development strategies, including developing mass transit lines, local shopping streets, variable housing and other sustainable infrastructure to meet the demands of the varying (and expanding) residents within their borders.
With coastal cities facing new challenges each year Jason Pomeroy of Pomeroy Studio (Singapore) also compared Singapore and Venice, two waterborne cities with distinct development histories and perspectives, and offered solutions on how to tackle rapid urbanization and development in waterborne communities.
Development projects, though, come with failures as well as successes. Dr. Chen Yu Lee (Taiwan) shared his own experience and hardships in Taipei’s smart city projects, expanding on how bureaucracy can be one of the largest obstacles to overcome and how convincing a city governor to encourage a trial and error approach can be a major game changer.
Sushma Goh of Singapore’s Land Transport Authority further expanded on this and their own government’s ongoing endeavors to promote metro stations as community centers.
Pursuing the Dream
Throughout the 3 day event great ideas were shared and discussed all in the pursuit of the ideal “smart city” – a metropolis seamlessly blending modern technology with the day to day needs of the people while maintaining a unique theme or atmosphere that can be identified the world over. As technology continues to grow and become an increasingly important aspect of our lives being able to bridge the gap between traditional urban development and modern needs is becoming more important with each passing day.
By working with urban planners we can better anticipate customer needs and incorporate leading edge technology into our projects. Together, we can work on making dreams into realities for millions of people across the globe and help bring the best possible life to residents and attendees everywhere.
Brian Kou, Managing Director at EDGcompany
“The future is coming, whether we like it or not. We believe we have no better choice but to embrace the challenges that technology and science, machines and algorithms, [and] platforms and crowds are bringing to our daily life and business. Any corporation embracing new concepts and incorporating them into their business will be a winner. Business winners are those who are comfortable dancing with uncertainties and disruptions”.
For further information please contact,
Praveen Rao
Regional Marketing Director
EDGcompany
Tel: +86 (21) 6103 6718
Email: praveen.rao@edgasiapacific.com
Web: www.edgcompany.com
