Clever thinking for a livable city

Hobart has a long way to go before it can call itself a smart city. But the way is clear, says Ron Christie

HOBART is not a smart city ... yet. Copenhagen is one of the smartest cities in the world, according to several speakers at this year’s National General Assembly of Local Government in Canberra, which I attended.

Hobart is not even in the ballpark.

If we were, traffic issues and public transport links would have been done and dusted years ago.

Why is Copenhagen one of the world’s top smart cities? It has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world, less than two tonnes per capita. It has the most ambitious carbon reduction plan of any major city and plans to be carbon neutral in 12 years. Of all commutes into the city, 40 per cent are by bike and many smart bikes are equipped with sensors to deliver real-time information on air contamination and traffic congestion not only to the rider but also to city administrators.

It’s also one of the most livable cities in the world … and it still has cars.

Of the 537 councils in Australia, about 800 representatives attended the ALGA Conference in June.

I attended to listen to several high profile speakers and support my Lord Mayor with her presentation on behalf of Hobart City Council’s Australia Day Motion, the longest debated motion on the agenda (more than 45 minutes), resulting in a 64-62 in favour result.

My Lord Mayor has received a lot of flak over this issue particularly from the public and State and Federal government members. It was not justified. She was the messenger of the Hobart City Council, which voted to raise the issue at a national level.

For critics including David Penberthy, who thinks “Councils should stick to emptying the rubbish bins” ( Sunday Tasmanian, June 25), you are grossly wrong.

It’s comments like this that hold our city back from being in the “smart city” league.

Council’s role was roads, rates and rubbish but today our vision, mission and values strategy says Hobart will be a city that is dynamic, vibrant and culturally expressive, offers opportunities for all ages and builds strong and healthy communities through diversity, participation and empathy. As aldermen we are representatives of our community, and collectively our community is saying, “It’s time to start the Australia Day discussion again, and it’s time to fly the rainbow flag. Let Australia follow Hobart’s example.”

Cities and their communities share a common interest, to improve livability by way of community connectedness, technology and by being smarter.

Statistics and quotes from the speakers include: BRISBANE COUNCIL is the largest local government council in Australia with 26 wards and 27 councillor positions, but Pilbara Council is the largest council geographically, covering 400,000km. THERE is a lot of hype about “smart cities”. Throw out that hype and get a “smart community”. TOWN Hall community meeting attendance is declining. Communities/ families don’t have time. They want a say about their community but they want to say it online. Digital surveying is increasing in popularity. DIGITAL disruption is running through all councils — be prepared for cyber annoyance and attack. INSTAGRAM has increased by 400 million users in the past four months. Councils need to get social media savvy. IT’S not about closing Campbell St and other Hobart CBD streets down, it’s about getting smarter in the way you do things (a question I asked a presenter). IT is time councils became cyber savvy and more security conscience. In this modern world of technology, cyber attack is inevitable.

Let me highlight several speakers. James Kavanagh, national technology officer of Microsoft Australia, said “Communities are becoming disengaged with their cities because of the small 5 inch screen they carry in their hands. They are more interested in seeing what is happening on social media. In Japan, some local councils have produced “Cell Lanes” with signs saying “Walk in this lane at your own risk”. He mentioned that of the five senses, there will become a new sixth sense. He believes it is already happening: “Digital as a sixth sense”.

Peter Runcie is business leader of Future Communities, Data 61 at CSIRO. He works with the research community, industry and government to apply technology to social and industrial changes. He has been working on several smart city projects and is interested in using data science to understand and improve our urban systems.

Brook Dixon is managing director of Delos Delta and vice president of the Australian Smart Communities Association. He has travelled the world transforming cities into smart and digital users of CBD Wi-Fi

technology and delivered smart parking concepts. He said “Be a digital democracy, get people involved. Throw out the smart city cliche and get a smart community. Use digital city strategies, find leaders and governance in your councils. Set digital city standards and prioritise digital projects”.

Copenhagen is a very smart city. Hobart has a long, long, way to go. We haven’t started to use the technology available worldwide. It’s not about closing Campbell Street and other Hobart CBD streets down, it’s about getting smarter, using the technology on your phone to see where your Metro bus is, showing you where that available car park is, using natural infrastructure for a commuter ferry service and the existing infrastructure for light rail.

Recently Hobart council’s governance committee voted to put an $11,000 security report on the shelf for six months. I believe this was not in the best interest of our community. Jacob Boyle from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Justice and Counter Terrorism Minister Michael Keenan spoke of councils becoming more cyber-savvy. Councils store enormous data about their community and if not prepared adequately, attack can and will occur, with respect of course to Charles Wooley’s recent opinions in this paper. It is now time to up security on large community gatherings, council members and staff. The Federal Government’s national security advice is “Make places of large community gatherings safer, be prepared for the unexpected, don’t act after its happened”. Putting reports on the shelf for six months is not the answer. It’s time to become a smart proactive city in all areas of governance. Deputy Lord Mayor Ron Christie attended the National General Assembly of Local Government in Canberra in June.