How can tech and data help to solve urban issues in a post-COVID London?

Editor, NLQ and New London Weekly

How can tech and data help to solve urban issues in a post-COVID London?

The session was kicked off by Lucette Demets, Head of Urban at London & Partners, who said that London must establish how it can lead the way in the better use of tech and data to improve the urban environment and address real challenges. Our aims for this programme are to facilitate better dialogue, improve collaboration and tackle barriers to innovation, in order to create good growth for London and Londoners.

The public sector, said Demets, has a role to play in leading the way in innovation where perhaps the private sector’s business models pose challenges, with a new focus on community and the local arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Think Tank, which was held under Chatham House rules, also raised other key points, including:
There has been ‘a serious shift’ towards sustainability and public health, with many firms revisiting their mobility strategies in the light of Covid-1
There is a different level of urgency around the adoption of better digital tools to facilitate discussion and engagement
There is a risk that if safe, socially distant compliant solutions for travel aren’t found, private car usage will soar
Retailers must adapt quickly so that their physical stores might become cost centres to drive online sales, with regaining consumer confidence a critical factor
Making buildings safe and secure is nothing without having adequate transport solutions for people to get to work
There will likely be a continuation of an emphasis on the local, neighbourhood level prompted by the pandemic; the city is used differently by people and this may require a different framework for urban development (focus on the human scale of urban living)
There is a heightened opportunity to maximise the use of trials, pilots and test beds of solutions and urban adaptations, including investing in micro-mobilit
Innovations can greatly improve community consultation, design methods and virtual planning through the use of AI, VR and immersive technology
Innovation on energy and air quality – including in terms of filtration and germ circulation – in buildings can help improve trust between tenants and landlords, as could greater forms of data visualisation (e.g. digital twins)
Drones could be one solution for getting more white vans off the road in deliveries, although careful thought needs to be given to the infrastructure required – such as where they land and load – and to guard against ‘’skies as clogged as our streets’
Steps must be taken to heal the ‘digital divide’ and ‘scale up the good’ that has emerged from this perio
Hidden and forgotten bits of infrastructure such as public toilets have been conspicuous by their absence during lockdown. They need to be thought about in terms of a post-Covid London where people cannot ‘pile in’ to restaurants and bars (this is of course mainly short to mid-term)
‘If the crisis has shown us anything’, said one contributor, ‘it’s that you can create rapid change when you really need to. I think we need to translate that mentality across to the sustainability agenda’
We need to find ways to restore confidence, increase trust and rebuild the economy, starting at the local level. We must be mindful of digital/social exclusion while doing so.