Making city living better

DW (English)

Around the world, cities keep growing, creating gridlock, crowded sidewalks and failing infrastructure. Despite the crowds, loneliness is a problem, too. Learn how smart tech can improve the quality of urban life.

Transcript

00:00Do you live in the countryside or in a city? More than half the world's population now lives

00:05in cities and that number is only growing. City life often means crowded spaces, endless traffic

00:11jams and bad infrastructure. And when people move to new cities, loneliness can be a huge problem.

00:18It can also be an issue for older people. Luckily, there are quite a few solutions floating around

00:24and that's what we'll take a look at today on Shift.

00:27Whether it's Kinshasa, Tokyo or Dhaka, megacity populations are exploding. According to a UN

00:34report, Indian capital Delhi will hit 43 million in the next 10 years. And that's just one example.

00:42When cities grow, the needs of its inhabitants are rarely prioritised. So in order to better

00:47understand those needs, city planners in Estonia's capital Tallinn came up with a new idea,

00:53digital twins, creating virtual copies of new districts before they actually get built.

01:01And that's what we have here, a digital twin of Hundipää, a future district in Estonia's capital

01:06Tallinn. The virtual representation helps to test and improve living conditions in the new quarter

01:12before the building process starts. One of the benefits of having a digital twin in the planning

01:16stages is, for example, we can already simulate the microclimate and look how we change the

01:24cityscape to actually make it better for us people and for nature. Marcus Hell and his team created

01:30this digital twin with the help of data on the structure of the area, transport routes, the

01:35weather and vegetation. Next, they used the digital twin to map out the general design of the district

01:42and to find ideal spots for schools, shops and cafes. So digital twin firstly helps you place

01:49the density to different spots and play around with that and understanding where the people are

01:57in that area. And this is actually the foundation. The digital twin can also simulate construction

02:04materials and energy demand. It helps the planners calculate how the cityscape, greenery and weather

02:10will affect the microclimate of the new district.

02:16I changed the street 20 degrees to the left. I put some trees in front of the waterfront and now I

02:23changed the wind on top of it. Then suddenly I can see the heat islands and the cold islands changing.

02:29And this gives me, for example, this universal thermal comfort index which measures which

02:35temperature are comfortable for people. Hell estimates that using the digital twin could

02:41reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent over the first five years alone. The digital twin helps us to see

02:48how much materials we need, what is their footprint in general and what happens if we

02:53change out those materials. Instead of having to rely on experience and opinions, digital twins fed

03:01with large amounts of data can find the best possible options from an environmental, social

03:07and economic perspective. This could also help promote using public transportation, walkways,

03:13bicycle lanes and recreational areas. Hell hopes that more digital twins will be developed

03:19using this software in accordance with each city's unique requirements.

03:24In three to five years, our plan is actually to make it more self-service, more universal,

03:34so it would actually apply to places that have a much different climate than Estonia, like Mumbai

03:40in India, for example. So just take the tool, you put your plot in and you can actually work

03:45with it for yourself. Mumbai and Tallinn are clearly very different cities, but they do have

03:51one thing in common. Many people living there can often feel lonely. In India, there's an app

03:56for older people to combat this problem. It's supposed to help those who feel alone online and

04:02offline. Chandrakanta and Ramesh Sani live alone in a flat in Gurugram, a satellite city of Delhi.

04:11Both their sons live abroad with their families. We do feel lonely. Our children want us to move

04:17abroad, but it's difficult getting visas. And honestly, we belong to a generation that loves

04:22our own Indian culture. No matter how many facilities are available in other countries,

04:27it cannot replace the comfort we feel here. Their children recommended the app-based service

04:33Omoa. The app helps the elderly access medical services, home health care, home maintenance

04:39services, and even a community to engage with over entertainment sessions.

04:46A caregiver called Omoa Daughter looks after the couple's needs and gives them company.

04:51For the Sani's, their caregiver is 25-year-old Mahima Sharma.

04:59The Omoa Daughter spends time with her assigned senior citizens

05:03and helps them sort out their medical documents by using the app.

05:07It lets you add a person's medical history, their doctors and insurance details.

05:17I look after a lot of people who are quite old and live alone as their children live in a

05:21different country. So I take care of a lot of things, their medication, booking medical

05:25appointments. And every day we call them at a particular time to check on them,

05:29to see if they need anything. Currently, I take care of 35 people.

05:34Mahima treats us like a family member. She asks about our daily routine too

05:41and immediately notices if I'm sounding low and asks if everything is okay.

05:51But services like Omoa come at a cost. The membership plans range from 50 cents to

05:56170 euros per month. Omoa states that medical records and other information are safe from

06:03misuse. However, great care should be executed when handing over information to a company.

06:10They're a good option for those people who can afford it,

06:14but bulk of them in old age find it unaffordable.

06:20The Sani's have found an affordable partner in Omoa that provides them with necessary services

06:25and it's also given them a dependable companion like Mahima.

06:33For me, giving Omoa that human touch is a great idea. Another classic problem we see with cities

06:39are traffic jams. In places like London or Los Angeles, commuters can spend several days a year

06:45stuck in traffic. Not only are they a waste of time, but they're also bad for the environment.

06:51So aside from living a more sustainable life, how can we motivate people to switch

06:55to public transport or cycling? Perhaps by creating a reward system.

07:01Let's talk about transportation. Going places without a car could help save CO2 emissions

07:07and it might even get you a discount. Green mobility companies are helping individuals to

07:13reduce their own emissions related to their transport by helping incentivise them and

07:18reward them for using low carbon travel. For example, Greenscent are using their technology

07:22to reward people for cycling more into work. The Greenscent app tracks the distance users

07:29travel on their bikes or on public transport like buses or the subway. For every six kilometres

07:35travelled without a car, users are awarded one Greenscent. These virtual tokens can then be used

07:41in local shops. Greenscent currently has 800 users in three countries, the majority of whom

07:48live in the Hungarian capital Budapest and in Munich in Germany. In Europe, more than a dozen

07:55green mobility companies work with incentives, but cities need to have a few things in place

08:00to use these programs. This could be increasing pedestrianised zones, developing more cycling lanes

08:11and just always improving public transport to ensure that as many people are kind of sharing

08:15out these emissions rather than using their own cars. Incentive schemes are only one piece of the

08:22puzzle to reduce traffic and emissions to improve the quality of life in cities. But research has

08:28shown that these loyalty programs can motivate users to reduce their carbon footprint. Often

08:34people do need that extra push to start engaging with climate solutions. You just download an app

08:40and then it kind of tracks it for you. So there's a limit to what you need to do to start getting

08:46rewards for living a low carbon lifestyle. In order to increase the quality of life in cities,

08:52planners need data. But getting data on cities is easier said than done because they're constantly

08:57changing. And in some countries, you'll find that not all houses and markets are even registered.

09:03Researchers for the Peak Urban Project in Colombia are now using satellite images for their analysis.

09:11How much water does a city really need to keep its residents healthy and happy?

09:16How many parks are essential for a pleasant urban life? How many streets and bike routes ensure

09:21good traffic flow? As cities and demands change, informal settlements, unplanned and

09:27unauthorised housing areas can lead to limited access to infrastructure and basic services.

09:34At the University EFIT in Medellin, Colombia, researchers in the Peak Urban Program are

09:39discovering the power of satellite images. By analysing these images, Juan Carlos Duque and

09:46his team were able to spot informal settlements in the city of Medellin.

09:50The images also allowed them to spot impoverished areas.

09:56We develop quantitative methods that allow us to generate variables from these images

10:01and to better understand society without making a single survey.

10:05The researchers trained a data model named Newton. This system analyses data to predict

10:10the future water requirements in a city based on urban growth projections.

10:17You download a series of historical photographs of the city you want to analyse for free,

10:22and artificial intelligence, specifically neural networks, begin to understand the dynamics of that

10:27growth and can then make forecasts for the future of those urban spots.

10:32Satellite images also serve as a valuable tool for identifying informal markets trading outside

10:39of formal structures. This allows experts to monitor conditions for merchants, consumers and

10:44employees alike.

10:47The neural network was trained to detect more signs of commercial presence,

10:52like a storefront or merchandise on display.

10:55So we looked at millions of points over the city, processed them with this tool,

10:59and then had new maps of the distribution of commercial activity within the city.

11:08The use of satellite images has also become crucial for the global challenge of sustainable

11:12urban mobility.

11:17Being able to use all these information to better understand the future of the city

11:23Being able to use all these open sources of information in open software obviously allows

11:29us to reach new levels of complexity. We can even explore variables currently impossible

11:34to test with official information, but this data can really enhance our research processes.

11:44Analysing satellite images can be very useful in urban planning.

11:48To safeguard sensitive information, however, data security is crucial when using them.

11:54There are many examples of how tech solutions can help improve the quality of life in cities.

11:59But in order for these solutions to really have an impact and make a difference,

12:03authorities need to fully embrace and promote them.

12:07What changes would you like to see in your city? And do you think technology can help

12:11find those solutions? Get in touch with us on social media and let us know your ideas.

12:16That's it from us today, see you next time.

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