Colleges and Smart City Movement
With our last class discussion on Innovation districts, I thought it would be interesting to blog something about the much talk about smart city development and its connection and impact on existing universities. In this blog, I introduce smart cities briefly, next discuss the relationship between a university and its host city (town) and conclude with how this relationship can be further strengthened.
There are a number of smart city definitions, most of them focus on integrating technology, research and data in unique and useful ways in order to boost economic growth, efficiency, sustainability, and quality of life. Sometimes this can be as simple as offering hot spots and online tools to help users to easily pay utility bills, find restaurants or look up transportation schedules. To work well, smart cities really need only three things; a smart and innovative population – that’s where higher education comes in; a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, i.e. businesses, and smart government and infrastructure.
The relationship between universities and their host cities (towns) is fundamentally symbiotic. It is mutually enriching, along multiple dimensions. In other words, a strong university helps build a strong city, and a strong city helps build a strong university. Colleges and universities are essentially mini cities. They may have their own transportation systems, housing developments and perhaps even their own electricity and water systems. Therefore they are perfect testing grounds for larger-scale initiatives. Universities should take advantage of these opportunities. This will help the cities and provide students with valuable skills.
The literature on smart cities shows that 'smart cities' in particular are privileged sites for innovation, entrepreneurship, and the flourishing of ideas and opportunities. For instance, universities and research institutes thrive in part by solving problems brought to them by demanding customers – who become partners in an interactive innovation process. This symbiotic relationship is a win-win situation for both cities and universities.
Further, smart cities and universities or research institutions thrive in the same environments and fuel the same outcomes. As most creative, energetic, and entrepreneurial people, who can choose where they want to live, often decide to live where there are good schools and hospitals, vibrant neighbourhoods, stable property values, and so on… and all of these features are more likely to be present when one of your neighbours is a research-intensive institution or educational centre. Thus it is important for the city and the university to collaborate and develop as a smart community, mutually benefiting each other.
References:
http://www.president.utoronto.ca/secure-content/uploads/2015/02/Universities_and_Smart_Cities_ORF_January_2015_Full_Text_and_Slides.pdf
https://universitybusiness.co.uk/Article/how-will-higher-education-help-to-make-our-cities-smart-1513790042
https://mytechdecisions.com/it-infrastructure/universities-can-play-key-role-creating-smart-cities/
