This publication consolidates the NLA-conducted ‘Insight Study’, researched with the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at UCL over a period of six months, examining how we use current data and where we need to develop new ideas to make London the smartest city on the planet.

It is calculated that 90 per cent of all the data in the world has been generated over the last two years. We are awash with data that can be grouped and utilised. Big chunks of this data are generated by the activities taking place in cities and can be used to make cities more efficient, greener, better places to live.

At one end of the spectrum, multi-national corporations compete to control the smart cities market which is forecast to be worth $400 billion globally by 2020, delivering systems to monitor infrastructure, energy, waste and transport. At the other end, an increasing amount of data can be gathered from peoples’ handheld devices, from the new generation of watches or wristbands that monitor exercise and health.

The scale and exponential growth of the marketplace is increasingly complex. To get to grips with what smart technologies mean for the built environment in London, and those who work in it, this NLA Insight Study looks at systems that are available for designing and monitoring, at ideas for utilising data in the built environment and illustrates projects carried out by the industry to show how smart technologies are transforming the way professionals work. 

NLA have collaborated with UCL’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) as our research partners, who this year launch the UK’s first postgraduate course in Smart Cities.

Foreword
By Peter Murray, NLA Curator-in-chief

Section 1: What is a ‘smart city’?

Smart city as an inventive approach to urban challenges with exciting potential.

Section 2: Planning 14
How digitising all information submitted for planning and making this data available to the public can unleash economic growth and help local authorities better inform their local planning strategies 

How smart technology offers solutions to alleviate the unique challenges faced by London’s energy, transport and water systems in the future 

Section 4: Construction and building
A more integrated, collaborative and scientific approach to construction thanks to the development of smart approaches

Section 5: Recommendations
Recommendations for smart planning and decision-making.

Section 6: Project showcase
A selection of smart projects being delivered by built environment teams in London – including projects based within the capital itself, and those undertaken further afield. 

Published October 2014
112 Pages
ISBN 978-0-9927189-3-0