9 July 2018: On Monday, 9 July, on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Permanent Mission of Singapore to the UN organized an event themed, ‘The Future of Cities: Leveraging Frontier Technologies for Sustainable Development.’

Addressing the event, Ambassador Burhan Gafoor, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the UN, described factors that enable sustainable urbanization, such as integrated and coordinated policies at the subnational and national levels, and creating smart cities to enhance inclusion. He highlighted the creation of 3D master plans in Singapore that enable agencies and developers to visualize whether proposed buildings fit into the environment.

Data collection on daily water use helped Kenyan cities understand household water consumption patterns.

Other speakers highlighted:

• the rapid growth of emerging cities and the need to address technological development, including artificial intelligence (AI) and bioengineering;
• opportunities emerging from technological innovation such as creating jobs;
• Mexico’s call for an analysis and a resolution on potential public policies to address technological changes at the upcoming UN General Assembly (UNGA);
• gaps in access to technology and to information about prices and supplies; and
• that many people still live in informal settlements without clean water, sanitation, electricity or a roof over their heads.

Purnima Kapur, New York City Department of City Planning, cited: the need to harness technology to address inequities in housing affordability; a community information portal to enhance inclusive planning; and a tracking system to monitor and report on progress for “smart city” goals.

Kala Fleming, IBM Watson, noted that IBM’s Nairobi THINKlab enables communication with communities in Africa using big data analytics and mobile technologies in education, healthcare and water management. She said data collection on daily water use helped Kenyan cities understand household water consumption patterns. [ENBOTS Coverage of Side Event on the Future of Cities and Leveraging Frontier Technologies for Sustainable Development] [Localizing the SDGs Website]

IISD Reporting Services will be providing coverage of selected side events during the HLPF, which is meeting through 18 July. [ENBOTS Coverage of Selected HLPF Side Events]