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What smart cities really mean for Africa
The overall concept of a smart city may not be directly applicable to present day Africa , but the embedded technologies can help governments cope with urbanisation and other challenges , explains Mark Walker at IDC .
The smart city concept is increasingly becoming central to the prevailing public discourse around Africa ’ s urban future . However , as with many technological buzzwords , one has to wonder whether this trend is relevant to African realities . Certainly , if a smart city is seen as the implementation of high-tech urban innovation exclusively modelled on examples from developed countries , the relevance is extremely low .
However , smart cities are not just about implementing technology for technology ’ s sake , but rather follow an informed agenda to combat the relevant urban challenges , such as growing populations and issues relating to basic service delivery , education , healthcare , citizen safety , and social inclusion .
IDC sees smart city as a city-state , county , city , town , or other nonnational government organisation built on an ICT foundation layer that allows for efficient city management , economic development , sustainability , innovation , and citizen engagement . When addressing functional , economic , and social challenges , whether in brownfield or greenfield existing or new developments , smart cities can contribute to the oft-cited rise of Africa .
The IMF ’ s Africa Economic Outlook of October 2015 acknowledges the impact that global macroeconomic factors have had on the decadelong growth outlook , but also rightly emphasises the fact that there is considerable country and regional variation across the continent .
Apart from the vagaries of global economic trends , there are a variety
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