Digital Cities: Social Media and Urbanization

Rob — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:50:00 GMT

[this is a cross-post of the introduction to my "Big Report" featured at Internet Evolution this week)

The future of the world is urban, and the future of cities is digital -- Internet technology is transforming the urban experience in new, unexpected, and increasingly important ways.

According to theUnited Nations forecast, as much as 70 percent of the world's estimated population of 8.5 billion will live in cities by 2030.

If that's true, then cities need to get a lot better at things like transportation, affordable housing, business incubation, and education, or we'll all be living in conditions that make the dystopian future Los Angeles depicted inBlade Runnerlook like a garden of earthly delights.

As daunting as the urban problems of New York, Paris, and Moscow are today, the vast majority of urban growth is projected to occur in developing countries such as India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Indonesia, and Pakistan. Already, megacities like Mumbai, Cairo, Mexico City, and Sao Paolo are groaning under the weight of tens of millions of migrants who arrive seeking better opportunities, but wind up in ramshackle shanty towns of almost unimaginable squalor.

Neither the physical nor the civic infrastructure of these cities is up to the challenge in the here and now, much less the prospect of even greater density as cities push toward populations of 25 million or 30 million and more.

The Internet and shared information systems play a pivotal role in promoting the livability of cities, both today and in the future. Some successful e-government initiatives piloted over the last few years are providing replicable models for municipal governments around the world. E-learning and distance learning are opening a window of opportunity for populations ill-served by traditional city school systems.

But the digital future of cities is bigger than even the best e-government and e-learning solutions. Where the Internet is really having an effect is in the empowerment of entrepreneurial, community-based organizations that creatively align public, private, and non-government organization (NGO) resources to solve problems using business models that are much closer to for-profit enterprises than traditional government or service organizations.

This report looks at some of the most promising developments in four key areas of urban policy, allowing us to glimpse the problems and potential of tomorrow's cities:

Contents of the Report:

Page 2:Business Promotion & Workforce Development
Page 3:Housing & Land Use
Page 4:Transportation
Page 5:Bridging Urban Social Gaps
Page 6:Summary

Emphasis Added : Infrastructure, Social Trends

Digital Cities: Social Media and Urbanization