{"id":866929,"date":"2020-08-04T08:46:45","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T06:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/?post_type=articles&p=866929"},"modified":"2020-10-30T12:05:07","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T11:05:07","slug":"who-is-building-your-city","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/articles\/who-is-building-your-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is Building Your City?"},"featured_media":866934,"template":"","meta":{"_has_post_settings":[]},"schools":[28,29,33,35],"areas":[23],"subjects":[414,422],"class_list":["post-866929","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","schools-architecture-and-design","schools-business-school","schools-human-sciences-and-technology","schools-university","areas-smart-society","subjects-design-and-architecture","subjects-innovation-and-technology"],"custom-fields":{"wpcf-article-summary-enable":["1"],"wpcf-article-summary":["Major tech firms are leveraging their influence to become the urban architects of the future. The GAFAM companies, in particular, are well equipped to channel services to city dwellers, who by 2050 will make up the vast majority of the world\u2019s population. Examples such as Alibaba\u2019s traffic-control solutions in Kuala Lumpur and Samsung\u2019s dominance of everyday life in South Korea provide a glimpse of the key role that tech companies will play in the future of cities. While some cities are already adapting to these technologies, gurus like Bill Gates are designing new cities from scratch. Talent and technology must be balanced by a third factor: tolerance and social consensus."],"wpcf-article-leadin":["Major technology corporations are starting to leave their imprint on the design and construction of cities. Drawing on their knowledge of residents\u2019 routines and the integration of physical and virtual spaces, the tech giants are finding solutions to problems generated by mass migration to large urban centers."],"wpcf-article-body":["In just over a century, the global<\/a> population has shifted from the countryside to big cities, causing urbanization to accelerate. By 2050, the vast majority of the population will be city dwellers\u2014especially in developing countries\u2014and the average global life expectancy will be around 100 years.\r\n\r\nThese two factors, plus the growing integration of physical and virtual spaces, are giving rise to new urban models where the big names of the tech<\/a> world\u2014Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft (GAFAM); Tesla, Uber, Netflix, and Airbnb (TUNA); and Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi (BATX)\u2014are starting to play a decisive role.\r\n
In the cities of the future, mobility will revolve around smart, efficient vehicles designed to meet inhabitants\u2019 needs.<\/blockquote>\r\nTechnology in our everyday lives<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe major tech<\/a> firms are using artificial intelligence<\/a> systems and advanced devices to analyze lifestyle habits in big cities. The goal is to understand the everyday routines of ordinary people: how they communicate, how they get around, what they do for fun, where they invest their savings, and even when they visit the doctor. With this information, the tech giants are well positioned to shape how citizens interact; indeed, they are already doing so in some places.\r\n\r\nSamsung has shown how a tech firm can influence the design of a city\u2014or even an entire country. In South Korea, lives literally begin and end with technology<\/a>: you can be born in a Samsung-owned hospital, study at a university that uses Samsung technology, live in a home equipped with Samsung appliances, pay for things with Samsung systems, communicate via Samsung devices, and even be buried by a Samsung funeral home.\r\n\r\nOn the other side of the world, in the United States, much of life flows through Apple Stores. These Norman\u00a0Foster\u2013designed spaces have emerged as a new kind of public forum by actively promoting the sort of interaction once associated with the town square.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nCOVID-19<\/strong>\r\n\r\nInterestingly, during COVID-19, these giants have increased their power. On the one hand, a number of governments have turned to tech<\/a> giants to help manage the virus outbreak (contact tracing apps have been developed by Apple and Google for instance), and on the other hand, the average person has increased his\/her daily consumption of work and play services through platforms such as Teams from Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon Prime\u2026 etc. and tech dependence.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nCustomized mobility<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe tech<\/a> giants are also getting involved in urban-transport solutions. While Alibaba works to improve the flow of traffic in Kuala Lumpur, companies like Uber have been laying the groundwork for self-driving cars.\r\n\r\nIn the cities of the future, mobility will revolve around smart<\/a>, efficient vehicles designed to meet inhabitants\u2019 needs. This new breed of automobile might even be embraced as a third space where people can work or perform other activities, leading to significant consequences for parking lots, service stations, and even architectural design.\r\n
The major tech firms are using artificial intelligence systems and advanced devices to analyze lifestyle habits in big cities.<\/blockquote>\r\nCities or laboratories?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn this reconfiguration of urban space, certain cities have emerged as techno-social laboratories. In these places, technology<\/a> determines how people live. Seattle, once famous for Nirvana and grunge music, is now immersed in another transformation thanks to one of its most famous companies. Amazon uses Seattle\u2019s residents and streets as a testing ground for its innovations<\/a>. The city benefits handsomely from this arrangement, to the tune of $5\u00a0billion in investment and 50,000 jobs.\r\n\r\nGiven the economic benefits, you might think that any city would welcome the arrival of a giant like Amazon. But is this philosophy a good fit for every environment? Apparently not. In The Rise of the Creative Class<\/em>, Richard Florida describes three key factors that contribute to a region\u2019s economic development. First: tolerance\u2014the degree to which a society is accepting and cohesive. Second: technology<\/a>\u2014the level of infrastructure and connectivity. Finally, and most obviously: talent<\/a>. If a city does not strike the right balance between the elements of this powerful triad, initiatives can fail despite the backing of a tech giant. The most famous example may be New York\u2019s failure to build consensus around its bid to host Amazon\u2019s second headquarters (HQ2).\r\n\r\n \r\n

\"Quien<\/a><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n\u00a9 IE Insights."],"wpcf-article-extract-enable":["1"],"wpcf-article-extract":["By Cristina Mateo<\/strong>. Major technology corporations are starting to leave their imprint on the design and construction of cities. Drawing on their knowledge of residents\u2019 routines and the integration of physical and virtual spaces, the tech giants are finding solutions to problems generated by mass migration to large urban centers."]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/866929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"schools","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/schools?post=866929"},{"taxonomy":"areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/areas?post=866929"},{"taxonomy":"subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subjects?post=866929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}