Smart cities series: Letter from Singapore
In this series, three Primafila Correspondents report on what makes Singapore, New York, and Amsterdam smart. Read the first personal letter from Singapore here.
Last year, 55 percent of all people worldwide lived in cities, and it is estimated that this figure will rise to 70 percent by 2050, as the summer issue of the American Express member magazines Platinum and Centurion reveal. Intelligent solutions are needed in order to deal with this growth along with the challenges global climate change presents. Enter the “smart city”, which combines the highest possible quality of life with the least possible resource consumption by using the latest technologies.
In this series of letters, first published in Platinum and Centurion, three Primafila Correspondents report on their smart cities from Singapore, New York, and Amsterdam.
Hey there!
Walking along Singapore’s Marina Bay district, I am being watched. The island of 5.5 million souls is recorder by over one million CCTV cameras connect to vital services; a special smart algorithm “sees” when something isn’t right: an accident at a traffic junction, for example, automatically notifies emergency services.
Singapore is densely-populated, and its vertical skyline and labyrinth of underground metro lines keep – and me– moving. As I continue on my stroll, there is eye-candy to be had everywhere. From modern, award-winning architecture, celebrity restaurants, and five-star hotels to Colonial-era buildings and monuments – with well-healed tourists from every part of the globe parading past them.
The ever-evolving landscape meets current needs and anticipates the future. Ninety-nine percent of this tech-savvy city is wired for high-speed fiber internet and the government is pushing business and industry to make Singapore an innovation hub. One cool app for both Android and Apple phones is called OneService. Here, the public can give feedback on dozens of local issues like animals, cleanliness, roads, footpaths, and more. Take a photo of a broken streetlight, for example, and the geotagging function sends the exact location to the relevant department for a quick fix, with the sender receiving a reply when it’s done.
Sipping my iced coffee in the tropical heat, I see many faces of the city-state: modern metropolis thriving on banking, shipping and oil; hot money flowing in for tech and other startups; and 700 years of local history including ruthless pirates, Malay Kings, and British Colonizers.
Glenn van Zutphen has worked as a journalist for 29 years for the likes of CNN International, CNBC Asia,and ABC News Radio. He has lived in Asia for 25 years and is based in Singapore.
