Introducing the Cities Layer

The Covid-19 crisis has reheated some discussions and controversies that were previously numb in the public agenda after social isolation became a mandatory action. Resiliency, adaptability, transparency, and comprehensive strategies to mitigate contamination and casualties became urgent requests for city governments, as well as the digitization of solutions and platforms that could genuinely connect the population with public agencies.

Now, it is the very fact that such adaptations were made during a public health crisis and not before that stresses the need for organizations and governments to take a less responsive and more preventive approach to urban planning and dynamics. After all, if we can use emerging technologies and strategies to create integrated urban networks, so governance is more comprehensive and data-fed, it is possible to visualize these potential outcomes and instead take a preventive approach.

Such strategies go way beyond predictive algorithms and visualization software. They are also about using sustainable materials in urban construction so they not only reduce disposal but also can mitigate climate change. Likewise, rethinking the very meaning of ownership and access to the city plays a vital role in this discussion, both in terms of offering new apps, but most of all, resources to social change. With the technologies listed here, we seek to provide novel ways to tackle these problems by prompting tools as a means, but not as an end.

In an effort to support more dialogue and better cooperation between technology experts and actors involved in international development, GIZ, together with Envisioning, jointly developed the techDetector, an analytical tool that determines the TRL, as well as its sustainable impact on emerging technologies. We assessed dozens of technology applications according to NASA’s Technology Readiness Level (TRL), from 1 (the lowest level of technology maturation) to 9 (technology is already being fixed and incorporated into new systems), and created several stories that disclose in depth the role and impact of business models and their relation to technology applications included in the development of cities and urban settings of the future.

You are now invited to navigate these technologies and explore the interactive visualization tool that helps trace a path towards a more sustainable future for us and all.