Build Smartly; Build Sustainably

While building cities according to the new age tech is becoming more and more imperative today, it’s also essential to create eco-friendly spaces. Deepak NG, Founder, Dassault Systèmes shares his views with us.

- Dr. Archana Verma

How are cities of future evolving with technological innovation in architecture, engineering and construction space – can you give some examples from India and other countries?

The notion of smart cities is always perceived as what the future will look like, but it is not the sole purpose for the inception of smart cities. Rather requirement of sufficient water resources, universal access to clean energy, adequate transportation facilities and sense of security are some of the major reasons behind the emergence of smart cities in India. With rapid increase in urbanisation, it is expected that by 2050, 66% of the world’s population will move into urban areas, thus posing a serious challenge for city planners to make available the basic amenities and resources to the population.

Smart Cities coupled with the latest technology innovations have been heralded as the key to tackle the challenges posed by rapid urbanisation. Smart cities create a place where everything is connected and technology operates behind the scenes to ensure that all the elements of daily life run smoothly. Smart technologies such as a municipal network of optical fibre, free Wi-Fi, routed street lighting and sensors to monitor air quality would help smart cities evolve more and serve the society as a whole. Technology innovations in the engineering and construction space provide an extra mile for the successful establishment of a smart city. 3D modelling, data analytics and simulation have helped the smart city project managers in collaboration and management of the complex projects. One of the major contribution of technology to the cities of the future is the relevance of the bundles of data that needs to be analysed for customisation and more viability of smart cities.