The University of Miami School of Architecture and the Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing hosted the ninth annual Smart Cities Miami Conference on April 3-4. The two-day event, held on the university's Coral Gables campus, brought together leading scholars, designers, and policymakers to explore how urban technology, data, and design can be combined to create more agile, human-centered, and sustainable cities.
The conference began with opening remarks from Rodolphe el-Khoury, Dean of the School of Architecture, and Dr. Sarbeswar Praharaj, Conference Chair and Director of UM's Urban Sustainability and Resilience Program.
The opening keynotes were delivered by Jennifer Clark, professor and head of the City and Regional Planning Section at the Knowlton School of Ohio State University, and Nathalie Crutzen, a professor of Management Science and director of Smart City Institute at the University of Liège in Belgium.
Clark urged attendees to rethink their approach to smart cities, asking, "Why the city?" instead of "Why the technology?" Drawing on over two decades of research practice, she unveiled a model for cities as platforms for technology diffusion and experimentation. She also invited the participants to reflect on five key premises behind contemporary urban innovation processes based on her award-winning book, "Uneven Innovation: The Work of Smart Cities."
Crutzen, while arguing, "What is a Smart City?" submitted that smart cities are multi-stakeholder ecosystems involving local governments, citizen associations, businesses, universities, and international organizations—all working together and using digital technologies as tools to achieve sustainable economic, social, and environmental outcomes. Crutzen promoted vital lessons for urban practitioners for shaping context-specific smart city strategies that can boost entrepreneurial ecosystems.
The conference attendees also enjoyed captivating talks by Fabio Duarte from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Anthony Townsend from the Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech. Duarte demonstrated how urban data science can be leveraged to tap into cell phone data for mapping social behavior and uncovering the spatial structures of human mobility, thereby optimizing municipal services and infrastructure.
Townsend elevated the discussions with solutions to "how AI can build a brighter urban future", examining community resilience and autonomous decision-making with AI. He forecasts that the generative design tools will enable the public to craft their own visions of urban resilience.
The conference hosted panel discussions with local government and industry leaders in South Florida. The City of Coral Gables Chief Innovation Officer, home to the UM, and Paula Christina Viala, City of Pompano Beach Sustainability Coordinator and a UM alumnus, discussed ways that city councils are engaging with urban technologies to enhance quality of life. Industry veterans such as NVIDIA were also involved in grounding the conversations in impactful ways.
The second day of the conference brought together a select group of international experts for a scientific workshop. Participants engaged in collaborative brainstorming to develop a special issue of the Journal of Urban Technology, furthering the conference's mission of linking research, practice, and policy to build smarter and more sustainable cities.
Reflecting on the conference, Martin de Jong, a professor and visiting delegate from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, says: "Engaging with cross-cutting scholars and professionals at the Conference opens new possibilities for all of us for shaping collectively fresh ideas that can inspire local and global action for urban futures where digital technologies can enable broad-based prosperity."
The quality and scientific rigor of the presentations, vibrant audience engagement, and tangible scholarly outcomes from the conference are consistent with our vision to provide a platform for debate on cities and technology and make progress on some of the most complex issues facing humanity, said Professor Sarbeswar Praharaj, the Conference Chair.
