DIGITAL DIVIDE

Only 50% of world population have access to the internet.

LIMITED CAPACITY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

to make effective use of new technologies for the benefit of all.

LACK OF PUBLIC OVERSIGHT

In the absence of national and local regulation, data on individuals and communities is extensively recorded.

TECH-CENTERED

Weak inclusion of human rights and sustainable development aspects in smart city programmes.

A)

A case that shows the potential of the use of technologies for bottom-up, inclusive urban development is UN-Habitat’s longstanding Block by Block programme. In collaboration with Mojang Studios, UN-Habitat has developed an innovative approach to public participation, collaboration and crowdsourcing of urban design which used Minecraft, the world’s most popular video game. In Minecraft, players can create structures, buildings and public spaces in a 3-D “digital Lego” world – essentially a simple 3-dimensional sketching tool. UN-Habitat and its partners have engaged more than 25,000 people in participatory processes, improving the quality of life for 1.5 million people through regenerating public spaces in nearly 100 projects in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

In Kim Chung, a marginalized district of Hanoi, local girls walk long distances through a dangerous neighbourhood to reach their school. The Block by Block programme engaged the girls in redesigning the public spaces in their neighbourhood to make their daily commute safer. One particularly unsafe area was a tunnel under a five-lane highway where the girls could not be seen or heard if something went wrong.

Using Minecraft, forty-five girls redesigned the neighbourhood around their school into a safer, more functional neighbourhood by incorporating a series of physical improvements. To improve their safety and create social space for themselves, they proposed women-only coffee shops and shelters, as well as security fencing and lighting in and around the tunnel. Their suggestions were taken up by local authorities and have been incorporated in plans for future urban regeneration.

The project provided local policy makers with practical ways of improving the Kim Chung neighbourhood and empowered the girls who realized that their views matter and can be a catalyst for change.

B)

A case which shows the importance of taking a strategic and long-term approach to digital transition is the Rwanda Smart City Masterplan, developed in 2017 by UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Rwanda Ministry for Youth and ICT and the Smart Africa Alliance. The Masterplan provides a framework to guide Rwandan cities and towns in their efforts to undergo digital transition in order to become more inclusive and sustainable. The Smart City Masterplan is intended as a guide to help Mayors and urban managers go through the process of developing their own smart city strategies and masterplans, as well as providing a strategy for the government to promote the development of smart cities in Rwanda on a national level.

The Masterplan was developed in consultation from a wide range of Rwandan stakeholders, including national and local governments, private sector, civil society and academia. It contains 27 action-oriented smart city initiatives that Rwandan national and local governments can implement in order to use digital technologies to achieve sustainable urban development outcomes; including smart urban governance and planning, efficient services and utilities and localized innovation for social and economic development.

The completed Rwanda Smart City Masterplan was presented by Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, at the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali in May 2017. Following its adoption, the Masterplan has initiated the process for the implementation of concrete initiatives linked to sustainable urban development and technology and Rwanda and is quickly becoming a regional leader when it comes to implementing smart city technology in Africa. The Masterplan has helped Rwanda attract foreign direct investment into urban technologies, including $50 million from the Cheikh Rakadh Group for the implementation of the Masterplan. Inmarsat, a global mobile satellite communications service company, has installed sensor networks and smart street lighting in Kigali. Nokia and SRG are investing in urban technology that will provide services in public safety, waste management, utility applications and healthcare.

While supporting the Government of Rwanda, UN-Habitat has continued to work regionally with the Smart Africa Alliance, for example supporting a comprehensive indexing project and feasibility study, mapping out over 80 different smart city projects that African countries can choose depending on their priorities.