What if smart cities of the future are chock full of bugs

Posted on: 24 October 2013
By: mackene
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The author of this essay investigates a largely unconsidered aspect of smart cities: what happens if (or perhaps when) they malfunction?

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The spatial effects of high speed rail: Capturing the opportunity

Posted on: 22 October 2013
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This study paper provides an overview of the activities conducted so far on the project, including a Scoping Paper, a Call for Evidence, a series of workshops in a variety of city-regions in order to explore local and regional issues, and a concluding Symposium in London. It reviews these activities and outlines the messages emerging from them for policy-makers and the Government. The Commission claims HS2 can be a catalyst for regional development only if accompanied by smaller transport-improvement schemes.

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Better regulation of Public-Private Partnerships for transport infrastructure

Posted on: 16 October 2013
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The report examines the nature of risks and uncertainty associated with different types of PPP project and the practical consequences of transferring risks to private partners. It assesses the fiscal impact of PPPs and discusses budget procedures and accounting rules to limit the public liabilities they can create. The report also reviews the relative merits of tolls, availability payments and regulated asset base models for attracting finance for public infrastructure from private investors on a sustainable basis.

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Smart cities: Opportunities for the UK

Posted on: 15 October 2013
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This report was commissioned by The Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and considers global market opportunities for UK industry in smart city technology across five urban market verticals: energy management, water management, transport management, waste management, and assisted living services. The study explores the market structure and size, the trends in the market, and global regional highlights. The UK’s strengths, barriers, and opportunities are identified and the role of Government in strengthening UK capability in global markets is considered, taking into account the Governments previous and existing activity on these topics.  This report has been written in tandem with the Global market smart cities study: Case studies report which reports on the experiences and identifies lessons learnt from six leading cities around the world. These are Chicago, Boston, Rio de Janeiro, Stockholm, Barcelona and Hong Kong.

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Infrastructure policy

Posted on: 14 October 2013
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This note, from the House of Commons Library, provides background information on UK infrastructure, including recent research and opinion on the subject, and a summary of the National Infrastructure Plan 2011, subsequent updates and Investing in Britain’s Future. It also provides statistics and forecasts for government investment, including international comparisons.

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Planning and design for sustainable urban mobility: Global Report on Human Settlements 2013

Posted on: 8 October 2013
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This report, from UN Urban Habitat, argues that the development of sustainable urban transport systems requires a conceptual leap. The purpose of ‘transportation’ and ‘mobility’ is to gain access to destinations, activities, services and goods. Thus, access is the ultimate objective of transportation. As a result, urban planning and design should focus on how to bring people and places together, by creating cities that focus on accessibility, rather than simply increasing the length of urban transport infrastructure or increasing the movement of people or goods. Urban form and the functionality of the city are therefore a major focus of this report, which highlights the importance of integrated land-use and transport planning. This report provides some thought-provoking insights and policy recommendations on how to plan and design sustainable urban mobility systems. Links are also provided to background studies, including case studies, regional studies and thematic studies.

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Government construction and infrastructure pipelines

Posted on: 1 October 2013
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The Government has launched a new online portal providing information on opportunities to win future government construction contracts worth more than £109 billion. It is hopes that industry will use the forward-looking information to plan for the future based on what government proposes to build, construct or renovate in the coming years. The Government Construction Pipeline is reviewed every six months to ensure new opportunities are reflected and more details are provided as they emerge. It has now been updated following the Spending Round for 2015 to 2016 to include further programmes and projects up to 2020 and beyond. This version of the pipeline contains the largest amount of proposed construction projects ever published and includes opportunities related to investment in infrastructure across government as set out in Investing in Britain’s Future.

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National Infrastructure Plan

Posted on: 27 September 2013
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This article, from Public Finance, considers whether the government’s National Infrastructure Plan, which promises much, can deliver.

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Mega projects. Lessons for decision-makers: An analysis of selected international large-scale transport infrastructure projects

Posted on: 20 September 2013
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This Executive Summary presents a selection of key findings from a five-year research study of Decision-Making in the Planning, Appraisal and Delivery of Mega Transport Projects (MTPs): Lessons for Decision-makers (OMEGA 2 Study) carried out at University College London.. For the purposes of this research, MTPs are defined as land-based transport infrastructure investments within and connecting major urban areas and metropolitan regions in the form of bridges, tunnels, road and rail links, or combinations of these. The OMEGA Centre contends that judgements of project ‘success’ also require consideration of a wider range of matters including: the projects’ ability to meet objectives that emerge over time and which ultimately impact on project outcomes; changing societal, political and environmental values and priorities that evolve over time which further alter expectations of MTPs; changing ‘visions’ among different stakeholders involved in MTP development; and different values, priorities and expectations that prevail in different development and cultural contexts.

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Connect more: CBI/KPMG infrastructure survey 2013

Posted on: 17 September 2013
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This third annual survey of 526 business leaders shows an improving UK infrastructure investment environment, but finds that two out of three firms (65%) believe that government policies will have no tangible impact, or even a negative one. With only a third of businesses (35%) believing that they will make a difference on the ground. The report highlights the importance of infrastructure to sustainable UK growth, yet with many outstanding issues such as the future funding of the road network, aviation capacity and clarity over the costs of HS2, businesses expect things to get worse over the next five years.

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