Smart City Development: Transit, Environment, Governance and People

This report analyzes smart city initiatives in New Zealand, addressing key areas like transit, environmental quality, smart living, governance, and the development of smart people. It examines how technology can improve traffic flow, reduce pollution, enhance safety and quality of life, promote transparency and convenience in governance, and support education and training. The report highlights projects like the Sensing City initiative in Christchurch, the use of real-time data in Auckland, and the implementation of smart sensors and grids for monitoring and optimizing resources. It also explores e-governance initiatives and the use of technology in education. The author reflects on the potential of smart city development in New Zealand, emphasizing the importance of project implementation, attracting foreign investment, and integrating data from various sources to achieve the goals of smart city initiatives. The report underscores the importance of innovation and training to create sustainable and efficient urban environments.

Smart Transit idea: saving time and resources
Questions:
• How much fuel is lost in daily journeys due to traffic congestion?
• How many people may be at risk due to poor road conditions or construction activities
happening during their road journey?
• Is it possible to provide real-time data to motorists as well as tourists so as to avoid
inconvenience and save time?
Findings:
• The 2011 earthquake that devastated central Christchurch, created a very big opportunity
for New Zealand to develop a real “smart city”. After a few years of this earthquake, the
Sensing City project was coined. The aim of this project was to rebuild Christchurch into
a world class state-of-the-art smart city. However this project did not see the light of the
day as stakeholders were more focussed only on restoring basic infrastructure.
• Roger Dennis, Head of the Sensing City Project, said that the project failed as there was
lack of movement and the respective authorities were unable to cash on the opportunity.
However, under the management of the University of Canterbury, the air pollution
monitoring project was launched and is running as on today.
• In spite of the implementation problems faced by the government, city councils along
with tech companies like HMI and NEC have undertaken smaller test projects in smaller
cities. On a trial basis, Hi- technology beacons have been installed between Christchurch
and Queenstown which provide information to motorists about road safety , traffic

congestion ,road condition ,journey time etc. Although results of this pilot project are not
yet declared, this type of smart initiative can help to eradicate transit woes for
commuters.
• Such type of real time data can also be made available to tourists which will help them
better navigate their places of interest; this can help improve tourist influx thereby
helping the economy as well.
• In Auckland, the transport authorities are able to plan better routes and analyze
congestion reducing ideas like constructive pricing with the help of real time data
procured from buses and sales at ticket counters.

Smart environment: optimum utilisation and improving quality
Questions:
Questions:
• How is the pollution in the country impacting the lives of its citizens?
• What can be done to optimize the use of available natural resources and can alternative
resources be put to use?
Findings:
• Former IBM and Siemens executive Steffen Schaefer has been a part of various smart
city ideas around the world. According to him, there are various other areas where
technology can have a big impact on efficiency. Areas like water and air quality
monitoring(green gas emissions) energy (microgrids, alternative power sources like
geothermal, wind solar etc.) and defense against natural disasters are very integral parts
of any smart city project.
• At the time of upgrading its water filter system, The Oamaru Water Treatment Plant of
Waitaki District installed intelligent sensors that will help authorities monitor the impact
of the efforts taken to supply clean drinking water.
• KITE Smart City Platform was developed by NEC to collect sensor data on water and air
quality, quality of street lights efficiency of waste management etc.
• In order to maximize energy generation from renewable resources, Unison Networks has
devised a Smart Grid Network.It involves building of hi-tech communication systems.

This Network will facilitate reduction of capital costs by 30 percent along a 10-year
time frame, while upholding network performance and quality and also reducing costs to
end users.
Smart living-safety and quality of life
Questions:
• Can a person live in constant fear of his and his family’s safety?
• A person paying 15-25% of his income as taxes, doesn't he expect better and convenient
health services?

• Can increasing incidences of violence in schools and public places be monitored and
controlled?
• Shouldn’t children have access to more open spaces?
Findings
• Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) in collaboration with Auckland, Wellington and
Christchurch city councils has been working too help make cities of New Zealand, safe
and smart neighborhoods to work, study, play and live in. The aim of this collaboration
is to ascertain whether the local authorities and central government should join hands
with private establishments on sensor technologies and real-time supervision of incidents
such as vandalism, crime, robberies etc. among others so that it is possible to handle the
situation as quickly as possible. With the rising number of violent attacks in schools and
public places , there is a need to put in place monitoring systems that can provide real-
time data to law enforcement authorities so that timely action is taken and people feel a
sense of security when they move out of their houses or when they send their kids to
school.
• Waikato Health Board devised a health app called the SmartHealth. It is a free online
service wherein patients can connect with professionals in the field of healthcare through
video or voice links. Patients have access to doctor verified health-related information
and can also book appointments online. People residing in rural places and those who
have limited access to hospitals etc. can greatly benefit from such innovations
• Apart from good quality education, children need to participate in outdoor activities as
well which is important for their mental and physical health. However, cities have

become concrete jungles and coming across parks and open spaces is becoming rare.
Hence it is important to preserve playgrounds ,parks , recreational areas and also efforts
should be made to add new open spaces so as to improve quality of living for citizens and
this also helps in minimizing the effects of high temperatures in urban areas thereby
encouraging eco-balance.
•
Smart governance-transparency and convenience
Questions
• Is it possible to provide a paper-free, hassle free and convenient administrative
environment to the people?
• Complete transparency and severe punishment for red tape incidences. Isn’t this what
every citizen desires?

• Tourism is one of the biggest contributor to the economy of the country. Can the
authorities provide more support to tourists thereby helping local businesses as well?
Findings:
• If it was possible for citizens to pay bills, register for schools, get driving permits, send
information to the authorities about potholes, report any crime or violence ; all of this
sitting in the comfort of their homes, doing away with the trail of paperwork ,things
would become very convenient and save a lot of time and resources.Citizens should have
a medium to report incidences of red-tapism and corruption that they have encountered
during their dealings with bureaucratic system .It should then be the responsibility of the
respective authorities to investigate and award appropriate punishment to such officials.
This will boost the confidence and trust level of citizens towards their government
• Realising the power of Information Communication and Technology (ICT), the New
Zealand government launched its e-governance vision in 2000 and established an ‘E-
Governance Unit’. Sixteen million dollars were reserved for this four-year initiative .
The main objective of this initiative was to make the internet the most dominantly
available tool for the citizens to easily government data, processes and services.The
government also aimed at creating an image of a modern country as well as a lucarative
location for business and people.This was also going to be a means which would enable
citizens to participate in the decision making processes related to their cities. Most of the
objectives of this initiative have already been fulfilled, the most important one being the
development of the web site www.govt.nz providing citizens with the opputunity to
access government information.This initiative is upgraded periodically so as to include

the latest advancements in technology and also to accommodate the suggestions and
requirements of the citizens.
• New Zealands Smart city ideas were shortlisted in six catergories at the IDC’s Smart
City Asia Pacific Awards 2017. One of these was for the Tourism, Arts, Libraries,
Culture, Open Spaces category. Qrious, a software arm developed by Spark, designed the
Voyager portal which makes use of big data and analytical software to analyze
unidentified mobile location information and supplies tourism as well as events
managers with details about tourist activity.
Smart people: Training from grass root levels
Questions
Questions
• Can technology be made available to students in the classroom to support day to day
learning?
• Every smart city needs skilled professionals. It is the need of the hour. Can we train our
youth from an early age so that they can contribute to building and sustaining smart city
ideas?
• Is it possible to launch an institute with the sole aim of training students about the
concepts of a smart city right from elementary to senior grades?

Findings
• The Ministry of Education in collaboration with Waikato University and Vodafone New
Zealand, launched a project to test the use of mobiles in the classroom as a tool to aide
students learning process. Students could capture material on their phones during
classroom sessions, field trips and also self study. This enabled students to recall and
review their study material whenever it was required. This move also encouraged
students to support their own learning through further research on any topic beyond what
has been taught in class and without any time limitations
• Apart from getting students acquainted with technology and digitalization like robotics,
smart grids etc. from an early, they must also be made part of real-world situations so that
they can identify opportunities and analyze their pros and cons. This will not only benefit
local students, but will also attract students from around the world who wish to learn and
understand the process of designing and implementing smart city ideas. Increase in
foreign students will thereby help the economy as well. Innovation is the beginning of
ideas. Students should be encouraged and subsequently rewarded for coming up with
innovative smart city ideas through assignments and projects.
• An example of how the above can be seen in some diddle schools in New York. Students
utilized their summer break constructing models of sustainable smart cities, including
futuristic vehicles, infrastructure powered by alternative energy sources sensor enabled
traffic management systems etc. Students were encouraged to start off with basic
experiments using strings and balloons. Slowly they graduated onto making solar charges
and generators. Students were put into real-life life situations and encouraged to tackle

problems like a project manager would need to do, like facing opposition from various
authorities, funding problems, approval problems etc.
Reflective Summary
I and my colleagues have often discussed the amount of time and money that is wasted while
traveling due to heavy traffic congestion. This opinion was shared by other working members of
the family and neighborhood as well who thought that this was also affecting productivity, hence
the idea that a smarter way to travel is essential. Though a lot of work has been done by
authorities in various smart city ideas, it is being implemented at a slow pace. This may be
because it a quite a complex structure and needs to bring together lots of subsystems. Also, large-
scale funding is required to test and then implement such smart city ideas. In other countries like
Norway and Singapore, smart city ideas have been developed and the same is running smoothly,
so there should be no reason for New Zealand not to be doing the same. One of the main
aspects that need to be looked at strongly is the project implementation and the rest will fall into
place. Also, project leaders should be able to design the project in such a way so as to attract
foreign investment to New Zealand, which will help with the funding problem to a great extent.

As a project manager, my role will be to try and figure out how Smart technology can be used to
design and implement my client’s smart city ideas. Another important aspect of this role is to be
able to collect required data from various sources like transport authorities, healthcare officials,
administrative officials, individuals etc. and then integrate this data for the end goal. Problem
solving ability during any stage of the project demonstrates leadership qualities.Also, it is
important for the client to be convinced that his time and resources are not being used on a trial
and error basis, but in fact, the project is moving in the right direction and will be performing as
per the expectation of both the parties involved.