Egbert van Keulen

As revenues from oil are declining, Dubai wants to be less dependent on it. That is why Dubai is very ambitious to become leader of new transport technologies. The goal is both to improve connectivity and boost the emirate’s growing reputation as a global trade and tourism hub. A great example is the fact that Dubai hopes to have driverless taxi drones flying through its skies as soon as this summer.

Its transport authorities plan to have the Chinese-made Ehang 184 ferry individual passengers around the city by July. The drone can carry one person and a suitcase. The drone will have a range of 50 kilometres and a top speed of 100 miles per hour. Overweight people will have trouble using the drone, because it can carry a maximum of 100 kilograms.

Read more and see a video in this article.

The city of Helsinki releases all of its data as open data for anyone to use. What is special? Open data is more than public data. Open data is public data which has been been released for anyone to use freely as machine-readable, structured format, with open license and free of charge.

The city government has already released hundreds of public data sets via Helsinki Region Infoshare (HRI) service. Data which is constantly collected all around the city. Think of data about the urban environment, the use of public services, traffic noise levels, population projections etcetera.

Helsinki wants to make this data available to people, other than civil servants. They are making it freely available to the public, for everyone to use. Entrepreneurs, application developers, residents, journalists etc. Open data makes the government more transparent and promotes democracy. And it enables the creation of new services that make life easier for the citizens of Helsinki.

Read more about these services in the article below:

Why invent the smart city wheel by yourself, if others have already successfully done so? India has asked the South Korean Land & Housing corporation (LH) to build a brand new smart city in the state of Maharashtra. On April 6, the plans for this project were approved by the Indian local assembly. The name of the city will be New Kalyan Smart City.

The city will arise about 30 kilometres east of Mumbai, on land that is offered by the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. 2.5 square kilometres will contain 15.000 houses. Building is aimed to start end of 2017, and the total worth of the project is 350 million dollars.

India is serious about smart city initiatives, as also in India, more and more people are moving into the city. Therefore, India is planning to build 100 similar smart cities.

Read more in the article below.

America is lagging behind on infrastructure. People are being priced out of the cities in which they want to live, employers have problems to find talent in the area, road congestions are a daily problem. There is an enormous need for fast, clean and efficient transportation. Hyperloop One wants to tackle this problem. They have a vision. And if the vision is there, the means will follow. The Hyperloop is real, and it is becoming a reality soon.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) rated US infrastructure with a D+, stating that surface transportation is the sector with the largest gap. The government understands that change is needed. In just a few months a ten year, 1 trillion dollar infrastructure plan will be launched by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. This plan will be a combination of public and private investments.

But what are the solutions of Hyperloop One? As said, Hyperloop has a vision. A vision with concrete solutions. Please read them in the article below.

Wen we talk about drones, people think about flying objects. But since April 5, small boats are floating through the Port of Amsterdam. Aquatic drones, which are able to film under water. Port of Amsterdam seeks to drive innovation, as aquatic drones may contribute to a safer, smarter, more efficient and cleaner Port in the future. These types of drones could be used, for example, for inspections of ships or piers below the waterline.

Read full article and see an explanatory video in the article below.

In designing the city of the future, why not start building one from scratch, instead of dealing with the legacy of an ‘unsmart city’. And why not copy a smart city that is already in operation successfully. That is what Kuwait thought when it hired a South Korean consortium to build Kuwaits newest smart city from scratch. A four billion dollar project. The name of the city will be South Saad Al-Abdullah and will provide accommodations for between 25,000 — 40,000 families. The new city will be 15,913 acres in size. Construction will start in 2019.

Read more in the article below.