{"593622":{"#nid":"593622","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Interdisciplinary Approaches to Urban Challenges are Creating Smart Cities","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECities have been around for thousands of years, so urbanization is hardly a new phenomenon \u0026mdash; but it\u0026rsquo;s happening now at an unprecedented pace.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 1950 about 30 percent of the world\u0026rsquo;s population lived in cities, a number that shot up to nearly 55 percent by 2016 and is expected to hit 60 percent by 2030, according to United Nations statistics. This dramatic growth brings challenges on a variety of fronts, transforming \u0026ldquo;smart cities\u0026rdquo; from a catchy phrase into a critical endeavor.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has been intensifying its smart cities initiative, including membership in the national MetroLab Network and the launch of a new faculty council with members from more than a dozen university units.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Smart cities is a highly complex area, encompassing everything from resiliency and environmental sustainability to wellness and quality of life,\u0026rdquo; said Elizabeth Mynatt, executive director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) and distinguished professor in the College of Computing, who is co-chairing the new council. \u0026ldquo;Although Georgia Tech has been working in this area for some time, we\u0026rsquo;re organizing research so we can be more holistic and have combined impact.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Instead of discrete projects, we\u0026rsquo;re moving into a programmatic approach,\u0026rdquo; agreed Jennifer Clark, associate professor of public policy and director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Center for Urban Innovation. \u0026ldquo;Smart cities research touches on everything from computing and engineering to the social sciences. It\u0026rsquo;s a different way of thinking about technology \u0026mdash; not just in the private sector but also the public sector \u0026mdash; so we make cities more efficient and economically competitive places.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAuthor of an upcoming book on smart cities, Clark notes that metro areas generated nearly 91 percent of the U.S. gross national product in 2015. \u0026ldquo;Technology and economic growth are interlinked,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;Just like a world-class airport, you need a world-class IT infrastructure, and it has to be deployed in such a way that people can access it for their own economic activities, whether it\u0026rsquo;s large or small companies. We need a technological infrastructure that will work for the 21st-century economy and the centuries beyond.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EComplete article in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/smart-cities\u0022\u003EResearch Horizons magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECities have been around for thousands of years, so urbanization is hardly a new phenomenon \u0026mdash; but it\u0026rsquo;s happening now at an unprecedented pace.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Innovative approaches combining engineering, technology and the social sciences are boosting the urban IQ."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-07-20 19:13:25","changed_gmt":"2017-07-20 19:23:46","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"593620":{"id":"593620","type":"image","title":"Bright Lights, Big Technology","body":null,"created":"1500577311","gmt_created":"2017-07-20 19:01:51","changed":"1500577311","gmt_changed":"2017-07-20 19:01:51","alt":"Atlanta skyline photo","file":{"fid":"226287","name":"atlanta-skyline.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atlanta-skyline.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atlanta-skyline.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2452558,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/atlanta-skyline.jpg?itok=O_UvXGR7"}},"593623":{"id":"593623","type":"image","title":"Bright Lights, Big Technology2","body":null,"created":"1500578588","gmt_created":"2017-07-20 19:23:08","changed":"1500578588","gmt_changed":"2017-07-20 19:23:08","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226289","name":"atlanta-skyline.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atlanta-skyline_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atlanta-skyline_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2452558,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/atlanta-skyline_1.jpg?itok=qOywjbJa"}}},"media_ids":["593620","593623"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"167987","name":"smart cities"},{"id":"1695","name":"Urban"},{"id":"807","name":"environment"},{"id":"169638","name":"sensing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}