The 5 most revolutionary smart cities of 2021

The 5 most revolutionary smart cities of 2021 are… let’s find out!

But first of all: what is a smart city? As we saw a few articles ago, it’s an intelligent and energetically self-sufficient city which guarantees its residents a high quality of life through the optimization and enhancement of infrastructures and services.
An intelligent management system runs the entire resource management by implementing interconnected innovative solutions and digital technology such as IoT (Internet of Things), sustainable buildings, smart urban mobility, fiber optics, smart parking management, an integrated waste disposal system, self-regulating street lighting and traffic lights, etc.
From South Korea to the United States, through Italy, Spain and Saudi Arabia, here are the best 2021 smart cities to take inspiration from!

1. Telosa, USA

Do you remember Telosa, the ambitious project managed and designed by the Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels and commissioned by the New York entrepreneur Marc Lore?
It’s the first city of the future built from scratch, set to rise on an 150,000-acre site in the United States, an area yet to be defined, open, equitable, inclusive and sustainable, equipped with environmentally friendly buildings with net zero energy, mixed income housing, smart mobility, green spaces, aeroponic farms for the cultivation of local produce and job opportunities for everyone. 

2. Valencia, Spain

And what about Valencia? A perfect model of a sustainable, fair and green smart city. It’s so smart that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has awarded it the title of “Sustainable and Intelligent City”, the first in Spain to achieve that.
The Spanish city also boasts of:

• five million square meters of gardens,
• 12 miles of beaches that have been awarded the European blue flag,
• Spain’s first green Michelin star to the Ricard Camarena restaurant for its commitment to sustainability and the environment,
• smart water management and waste disposal.

In 2022 the Spanish city will also be the European Capital of Smart Tourism and the World Capital of Design. 

3. Oceanix City, Busan, South Korea

Oceanix City is the first floating smart city that comes from the undisputed genius of BIG Bjarke Ingels Group, in collaboration with Oceanix and ONU’s UN-Habitat.
This smart city consists of buoyant islands clustered together in groups of six, capable of withstanding the most critical climatic conditions such as floods, tsunamis, hurricanes.
Self-sufficient in every respect, water, energy, food will be produced on site… and as to travel, say goodbye to cars and trucks! Residents will only travel through – maybe exclusively non-motorized – boats.
Furthermore, the self-powering, photovoltaic and wind power systems, will minimize the CO2 consumption.

The prototype is still under study but the first images have already been released!

4. The Line, Neom, Saudi Arabia

The Line is the name of the ambitious new urban project set to rise in Saudi Arabia and commissioned by the heir to the throne Mohammed bin Salman.
No more cars or emissions. And no road, just a long line within the immense and futuristic smart city of Neom.
It will be a completely energy self-sufficient, efficient and sustainable city ready to house up to 1 million people in total and will extend for 105 miles from the mountains of northwest Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea.
But that’s not all! The common thread will be electric public transportation at very high speed, artificial intelligence and nature. Yep, the project will preserve 95% of the natural landscape!

Construction work is expected to start in April 2021 and will be completed around 2025.

5. Milan, Italy

A city in constant progress and evolution, over the years Milan has undergone numerous redevelopment interventions by famous archistars.
Like the famous Vertical Forest by Stefano Boeri, or the residential, commercial and business complex CityLife renowned for its three famous skyscrapers designed respectively by Arata Isozaki, Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid.
The project completion will see the construction of the last piece of the puzzle by 2025, the super sustainable City Wave building.
… And that’s not all! The urban regeneration of MilanoSesto is about to start, an ambitious project that will transform the former Falck steel factories into a new smart and green neighborhood that promises to reduce up to 5,500 tons of CO2 per year.

Are you ready to move to this innovative and futuristic megalopolis? Maybe you will find Sotefin automated parking lots there too…