Future-ready cities leverage data well, partner more often and invest in technology

Over the last few years, city administrators have had to adapt to a lot of unprecedented firsts—like an overnight shift to online learning, mask mandates and citywide COVID-19 containment lockdown orders. But of all those changes, perhaps the biggest challenge cities have confronted is the rapidly changing expectations held by constituents.

“These run the gamut: wider digital access to public services, medicine and education; more sustainable and safer infrastructure, mobility and living conditions; and greater inclusiveness, public health and affordable housing,” reads the introduction to the analysis “Building a Future-Ready City,” which was published recently by ThoughtLab. Based on surveys, constituents these days expect better access to online education, healthier lifestyles, digital payment options, eco-friendly transportation, accessible online government services, less traffic congestion, improved connectivity, more action to protect the environment and improved economic conditions.

But as they emerge from the pandemic—which acted as a catalyst for most of those changes in expectations—cities across the United States face an uncertain economic future. And evolving social and climate disruptions promise to bring more change. Faced with this, cities should be preparing now for whatever comes next: “Urban leaders around the world must quickly come to grips with these demands and develop action plans to become ‘future-ready,’” the report says. “This means morphing into sustainable, inclusive, resilient, and safe metropolises—with new fit-for-purpose digital and physical infrastructure.”

That’s easier said than done. Between staffing shortages and budget constraints, cities are having a hard enough time keeping up with the current pace, let alone investing for future technology. But it’s an important consideration, given that public organizations exist to meet the needs and expectations of their constituency. The report outlines how those needs are changing.

“City leaders expect citizen behaviors and activities to shift over the next five years. They foresee big jumps in online usage, both for shopping and using city services. They expect that citizens will use more environmentally friendly forms of transportation. They anticipate that citizens will return to work and live in cities, causing commuting between and within cities to increase,” the report says.

In working to meet these needs, the report highlights a notable discrepancy between the priorities of city leaders and residents. While climate change and pollution were ranked as the first priority by both groups, city leaders ranked public health second while citizens ranked it sixth. While affordable housing was ranked closely by both—third and second respectively—opinions differed on traffic congestion. Public officials prioritized tackling congestion as the fourth highest priority, while citizens ranked it 14th.

“Citizens view inadequate infrastructure, income inequality, and, particularly, low trust in government, as bigger problems than cities,” the report says.

Among those cities surveyed for the report, everyone had some sort of vision or action plan to prepare their communities for the future. Notably, Boulder, Colo.; Salt Lake City; Oklahoma City; Santa Clara and Berkeley, Calif., were ranked as the most prepared cities in North America. But some of those cities were better prepared than others. While 95 percent of participating cities included environment and sustainability in their plans, only 58 percent included energy, water and utilities.

In general, cities that are ready for the future tend to be leaders in digital transformation, build resilience, collaborate, prioritize the health and safety of their citizens, foster inclusiveness, and adapt to citizen expectations, the report says. Compared to cities that aren’t as prepared, well-positioned cities extract more value from data, nurture citizen engagement, partner more often, invest in technology, focus on cybersecurity and autonomize decision-making.

“To succeed, cities should focus on driving digital transformation and innovation; building resilience and agility; using technology and data to improve decision-making; adapting to citizen needs around health and safety; building trust and transparency; empowering communities and citizens; and building global economic, political and trade connections,” the report says.