Smart Cities in Africa
The urbanization rate of the African continent has increased from 15% to 40% between 1960 and 2010 and is expected to reach 60% in 2050. The urban population in Africa will triple over the next 50 years. Africa must take advantage of this rapid growth of urban citizens to overcome its difficulties through better management of its cities.
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The concept of the smart city is to better manage African cities and meet the challenges of exponential urbanization. Smart Villages in Africa is a relatively new concept, which looks to address complex problems of continuing poverty, inequality, and marginalization through fresh approaches and digital transformation in rural villages. For the digital transformation to be effective, there is a need to shift from traditional technology-centric, siloed, supply-side approaches, to demand-driven approaches.
Ideas we are looking for:
- Water conservation and quality.
- Controlling and reducing air pollution.
- Waste management solutions.
- Traffic congestion and pollution, route planners for public transportation.
- Creating urban green spaces and gardens.
- Remaining biodiversity.
- Planning city’s infrastructure.
- Involving residents- sharing the smart city initiatives with the people, who live in the city so they are more aware of what’s happening and could be involved in some of the activities.
- The use of data from all the local stakeholders- governments, residents and businesses for better decision making.
- Smart Villages – step by step guide to designing an SDG-smart rural village, creating SDG related services, which citizens can have access anytime, anywhere via mobile devices.
