8 Clichés on Accessibility for Blind and Visually Impaired People

What do people with a visual impairment need? Why are accessibility regulations so strict regarding visual and tactile contrasts, fall prevention and signage? You’ll discover in this article a few answers to give meaning to your accessibility projects. Let’s not forget that beyond being ADA-compliant, what’s really at...

City of Philadelphia Announces SmartCityPHL Augmented Reality Challenge to Support Public Transit Accessibility

PHILADELPHIA—The City of Philadelphia today announced SmartCityPHL’s new challenge, SEPTA for All: Augmenting Transit with Augmented Reality. The challenge invites innovators to submit ideas...

New Smart Tech Helps Visually Impaired South Koreans Increase Mobility

South Korea’s second largest city is using new, inclusive technology to bring down barriers to mobility for people who are blind.

How Can Cities Improve the Quality of Life of Disabled People?

The need to design inclusive cities is becoming increasingly clear across the globe. However, not all urban models being designed today meet this objective,...

The Importance of Human-Centered Design in Smart Cities

How Human-Centered Design Helps Smart Cities Reach Their Goals Smart cities are becoming increasingly popular across the globe, with many cities introducing technology-driven initiatives to improve the standard of living for its citizens. As technology is becoming an ever-growing part of our daily lives, cities are turning to...

Smart City Development and the Needs of the Elderly

As cities around the world move into an era of Smart city planning and implementation, one of the key challenges is meeting the needs...

How Can Cities Improve the Quality of Life of Disabled People?

The need to design inclusive cities is becoming increasingly clear across the globe. However, not all urban models being designed today meet this objective,...

Urban Air Mobility Must Incorporate The Needs Of Disabled Citizens

Urban Air Mobility must incorporate the needs of disabled citizens if the promise – and full market value – of advanced air mobility and...

The Importance of Human-Centered Design in Smart Cities

New Smart Tech Helps Visually Impaired South Koreans Increase Mobility

South Korea’s second largest city is using new, inclusive technology to bring down barriers to mobility for people who are blind.

Creating an Accessible Society Thanks to Inclusive Design

What’s better than a society which caters to the needs of all its citizens? Inclusive design offers a wide range of possibilities for cities...

4 Urban Planning Fails We Need to Correct

When urban planners envision their work for the 21st century, many often say it'll begin with fixing the shortcomings put in place in the...

Urban Air Mobility Must Incorporate The Needs Of Disabled Citizens

Urban Air Mobility must incorporate the needs of disabled citizens if the promise – and full market value – of advanced air mobility and urban air mobility systems are to be fully realized.

4 Urban Planning Fails We Need to Correct

When urban planners envision their work for the 21st century, many often say it'll begin with fixing the shortcomings put in place in the...

A Functional and Inclusive City’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Simultaneously a health crisis, social crisis, and economic crisis, COVID-19 is laying bare how well cities are planned and managed. Its impact is showing...

Innovations for a People-Centric, Happy City

Citizen participation throughout the urban planning process can lead to the development of spaces and buildings that enable cities to develop urban environments that...

How We Made GOV.UK More Accessible

It’s not just about meeting the regulations, it's about making GOV.UK accessible for everyone. It’s important to us that we do not stop at meeting the standards. GOV.UK should be accessible for everyone so we’re aiming to fix the other accessibility issues we found, even if they’re not...

How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone?

How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone? Considering equity and accessibility issues from the beginning will help...

Age-Friendly Smart Cities

As many city environments are still designed to support an able-bodied working population, older people risk being excluded from the social and economic life...

How Smart Cities Can Make Seniors Independent?

To ensure #SmartCities are correctly constructed for the elderly, it is necessary to include them in the planning phase. Young people cannot understand the...

Smart City Development and the Needs of the Elderly

As cities around the world move into an era of Smart city planning and implementation, one of the key challenges is meeting the needs of an increasingly aging population.

Railways Adopt Apps To Improve Accessibility For Wheelchair Users

Railway operators in and outside Tokyo are turning to smartphone apps to make their services more accessible and convenient for passengers that use wheelchairs....

City of Philadelphia Announces SmartCityPHL Augmented Reality Challenge to Support Public Transit Accessibility

PHILADELPHIA—The City of Philadelphia today announced SmartCityPHL’s new challenge, SEPTA for All: Augmenting Transit with Augmented Reality. The challenge invites innovators to submit ideas...

How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone?

How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone? Considering equity and accessibility issues from the beginning will help...

Urban Air Mobility Must Incorporate The Needs Of Disabled Citizens

Urban Air Mobility must incorporate the needs of disabled citizens if the promise – and full market value – of advanced air mobility and urban air mobility systems are to be fully realized.

4 Urban Planning Fails We Need to Correct

When urban planners envision their work for the 21st century, many often say it'll begin with fixing the shortcomings put in place in the...

Aging Population Needs Walkable, Bikeable Cities

Seniors have the most to gain from pedestrian and cycling improvements—yet they often feel threatened by changes that provide alternatives to driving. Here are...

Projects in Chicago and St. Louis Show How Technology Can Support Inclusion

One of the principles we lift up in our report is to “build with, not for” affected communities. For technology to deliver on the...

Carlo Ratti: the Unconventional ‘Smart City’ Philosopher

Carlo Ratti evangelizes the concept of a “real-time city,” where physical and social networks are in constant interplay, knitted together by a layer of digital sensors. Daniele Ratti The Sensory City Philosopher Architect, engineer, and inventor Carlo Ratti envisions a future for urban design that’s interactive. If you...

Cary, N.C., Turns Existing Government Campus into a Simulated Smart City

As cities around the globe adopt new smart cities road maps and strategic plans for new technology implementations, the town of Cary, N.C., has taken...

Innovations For Building Smart Cities as Living Labs

Cities are complex, networked and continuously changing social ecosystems, shaped and transformed through the interaction of different interests and ambitions. Ensuring employment, sustainable development,...

We’d Like To Partner with Other Smart City Living Labs | @openlivinglabs

We would like to partner with other regions and cities regarding exchange of ideas and learning about Living Labs and Smart Cities. We would...

City of Seattle Invests $320K to Improve Digital Literacy, Access to Tech

Eleven Technology Matching Fund recipients aim to close digital divide The Seattle City Council approved $320,000 in funding for community-led projects that increase digital literacy. The Technology Matching Fund grants were awarded to 11 projects that will reach an estimated 3,000 residents, increasing their access to technology and...

Artificial Intelligence Must Serve Everyone

Tech companies and persons with disabilities gathered on the 16th November in Vienna to debate how not to leave persons with disabilities behind technological...

Fostering a Smart City Society of Smart People

Former Mayor Megan Barry in the spring of 2016 convened a working group to outline and coordinate Nashville’s efforts to better integrate technology with...

The Smart City As An Inclusive City: Seven Steps To Tackling Digital Exclusion

Although the quantity of people using technology in their everyday lives is constantly rising, a relatively high percentage of the world’s population remains digitally...

Reinventing Obsolete Urban Spaces As Smart Cities Of The Future: Key Steps To Succes

A renewal of public spaces is underway and underpinning this is new technology. Throughout history, public spaces have enjoyed many different roles in social, political and economic life, changing to suit the needs of the time. We know the ancient Greek agora and Roman Forum as the primary...

Accessible Mobility for All | Smart Cities Listen-Up

Accessible mobility—public transportation that can be used by anyone—is a critical component of future urban development. The New Urban Agenda calls for a significant...

Will Smart Cities Precipitate an “Efficiency Trap”?

Technological fixes such as smart cities make a system more complex, resulting in “wicked problems” that require ever more extensive technological remedies. In October...

Local Leadership and Citizens: Keys to Sustainable Smart Cities

The spread of urbanisation is inexorable. In 1800, just two percent of the world’s population was urbanised, in 2000 the figure reached 47 percent,...

How We Made GOV.UK More Accessible

Projects in Chicago and St. Louis Show How Technology Can Support Inclusion

One of the principles we lift up in our report is to “build with, not for” affected communities. For technology to deliver on the...

City of Seattle Invests $320K to Improve Digital Literacy, Access to Tech

Eleven Technology Matching Fund recipients aim to close digital divide The Seattle City Council approved $320,000 in funding for community-led projects that increase digital...

The Importance of Inclusive Tech for Seniors: A Conversation with the CTA Foundation

Whether for work or personal enjoyment, reading has long-lasting social and cognitive benefits. However, for seniors experiencing barriers to reading such as low vision...

Smart Cities Maturity Model and Self-Assessment Tool

Smart cities embrace ideas that have been proven elsewhere and customise them to meet genuine local needs. In turn, these efforts serve as exemplars, showing the way for others to follow.’ We love this quote taken from India Smart Cities Challenge because we believe that one important trait...

Smart Cities For All Digital Inclusion Maturity Model launch

Atlanta: On Tuesday the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict) and World Enabled announced that their Smart Cities for All (SC4A) global initiative will...

As Global City Teams Challenge Expo |Smart cities reflect on evolving maturity

In the the following year in the White House’s Smart Cities Initiative. As it prepares for its upcoming August 2017 Expo, GCTC and its...

How Smart-City-Ready is Your City?

December 21, 2016 By Alex Jablokow Cities—and this term can actually cover smaller urban areas, and other local administrations—are anxious to provide improved services...

4 Urban Planning Fails We Need to Correct

When urban planners envision their work for the 21st century, many often say it'll begin with fixing the shortcomings put in place in the 20th century. However, the question remains whether professionals can make those changes quickly enough to avoid the worst consequences of their mistakes. Here are...

Designing Accessible Government Websites

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 56.7 million people — nearly one in five Americans — have a disability, such as vision loss, hearing...

Washington Group on Disability Statistics

About The Washington Group The Washington Group is a United Nations Statistics Commission City Group formed of representatives of national statistical offices working on developing methods...

Web Standards to Enable an Accessible and Inclusive Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to have an unprecedented impact on our daily lives. In particular, “smart environments” will change how we...

Smart Cities for All – New Inclusive Innovation Playbook

Cities around the world are undergoing a dramatic digital transformation. They are using technology products and smart solutions in creative ways: to allow people to report issues like potholes and broken traffic lights; to create direct and personalized communication channels with residents; to facilitate digital or contactless payments...

Philadelphia Launches Smart City Roadmap

The city government said this roadmap will serve as a guide on how Philadelphia can adopt smart city solutions to better serve residents and...

Smart City Progress in 2018: 4 Strategies to Deliver on the Promise

Almost five years ago, amidst the initial hype of the technology-driven “smart city,” we published a report urging cities to take a step back....

Towards a Sustainable Smart City: The Case of Aizawl

India’s hill cities are unique poles of development. While they have managed to record some degree of economic growth, increasing urban population and unfavourable...

Railways Adopt Apps To Improve Accessibility For Wheelchair Users

Railway operators in and outside Tokyo are turning to smartphone apps to make their services more accessible and convenient for passengers that use wheelchairs. Under one new system, an app allows station staff to internally share the information of where passengers board trains and at what time they...