Smart Metropolitan Regional Development

An overview view of smart metropolitan regional development is presented as a backdrop for research studies of this book. First, metropolitan region is defined followed by its form and functions. Then, smart metropolitan regional development is defined. The chapter studies the global metropolitan cities development and shows how metro cities, megacities and meta-cities are emerging across the world in Asia, Africa, Europe and America. Metropolitan cities are continuously exposed to external economic stimuli and requires intermediate range strategies as responses to face it. These periodic challenges of cities call for differing and flexible spatial and economic strategies to intervene in emerging global situation. By and large such strategy making dynamics is rare to be found and it is an important gap which this book address. To face these emerging metropolitan challenges, there is a need to design economic and spatial strategies at the intermediate time horizon. Therefore, this chapter concludes with a critical analysis of economic and spatial design strategies of 17 metropolises in their official plans which of course is long range plans.

The Greater Pearl River Delta, more recently referred to as the Greater Bay Area (GBA), has and continues to rapidly develop into a significant and influential mega region in China, Southeast Asia and the world. The economic reforms of China and the Open Door Policy in 1978 transformed the primarily rural agricultural region into the highly populated, sprawling and urbanized high-tech value-added manufacturing region it is today. During this period, Hong Kong has played a significant role in the growth and development of the GBA with its more mature economy providing crucial support through its financial institutions, legal and professional services, and developed international trade and logistics hub, allowing businesses in the GBA to scale and reach global markets for their products. This in turn established economic, social, and political connections, collaboration and cooperation between Hong Kong and cities in the GBA such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Macao among others, as well as improvements in infrastructure and transportation networks that have enhanced regional accessibility and integration. Going forward however, Hong Kong’s role and competitive advantage in the region is being threatened as other cities in the GBA continue to grow larger than Hong Kong both demographically and economically. As such, Hong Kong is at a time where it must both reposition itself within the region, especially as Hong Kong is gradually becoming more integrated with the rest of the GBA in Mainland China. This chapter will present an overview of the GBA region, assess its current development and regional integration, and review the future spatial development plans and regional cooperation initiatives of the cities in the GBA. Finally, a discussion of how Hong Kong can more effectively integrate itself with the rest of the GBA from economic, social and political levels is presented, and recommendations of key areas to address are suggested in order for Hong Kong and the GBA to further develop into a smarter, more sustainable, and liveable integrated mega region.

The Stuttgart region is a very prosperous area. The economical backbone of the region is the production of industrial goods. The globalization is a trigger for changing economical dependencies. Industrial processes are changing because of the new challenges. Digitalization is a current topic which has huge influence on economical procedures. A main topic in this context is the German initiative “Industry 4.0”. New ways of thinking have a great impact on the way manufacturing is done and the digitalization opens up new possibilities. Current discussions on sustainability are influencing the economic thinking heavily. The importance of sustainable development with respect to environment and climate becomes more and more obvious to everybody. The climate conference in Paris was finished with a consensus of all present parties. Every important economic nation has a common sense on climate targets nowadays. Reasons for that are manifold, e.g. limited resources and huge amount of emissions. Nevertheless, society will only accept limitations, without a reduction of living quality. Based on that, it is necessary to implement a new procedures in existing structures. Additionally, it is required to implement changes without reducing economic potentials. The approach of symbiosis can support these developments. However, technology is a required extension to reach the target of sustainability. In this chapter, different views are discussed to facilitate long-term development. The first view is a holistic view. The idea of creating a symbiosis between enterprises in an industrial estate is easy to realize. On one hand the enterprise manager are able to shape the collaborations, and on the other hand the local administration is able to support the approach with small efforts. Besides the sustainable development of industrial estates the companies need a strategy for their own development. A development path towards urban manufacturing is helping the management of companies to create a strategy. A concrete step-by-step approach is the base. Additional technological drivers are analyzed in their capability of supporting sustainability.

The dynamic transformation of the Conakry Metropolitan Region from a population of 38,800 inhabitants in 1950 to a population 1.9 million inhabitants million in 2015 has occurred in different paces, times and places in terms of numbers, urban form and structure (density distribution, and compactness). When a city reaches one million or more of population size, it becomes more complex for its planning, design and management compared to a small city. For instance, when a city reaches one million inhabitants, its accessibility will be largely determined by elements of its urban form and structure as well as elements of transport infrastructures and, recently, elements of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This accessibility determines in large the interaction between economic and spatial design strategies. After the introduction, this study is divided in five sections. The first section presents the “Conceptual framework of the Smart Metropolitan Regional Development” of the study; The second section presents “Urbanization of the Conakry Peninsula in Time and Space”; The third section focuses on the “Urban Accessibility and Mobility”; The fourth section presents “Urbanization, Economic Growth and Metropolitan Regional Development” including economic growth, human development and sustainability, inclusion, resilience and prosperity; The fifth section presents “Towards a Smart Metropolitan Regional Development” including human development, environmental sustainability and city prosperity; The sixth section, based on the development of the previous sections, presents the “Spatial and Economic Design Strategies for a Smart Conakry Metropolitan Regional Development”.

With India transforming as matured democracy, the government is focusing upon improving quality of life of citizens by urban renewal and infrastructure development vide ambitious smart cities project. Energy, the electrical power in particular, has been the most crucial and the resource always in scarcity in India and proving itself as a major bottleneck. Therefore, India has been transforming legacy conventional non-smart non-intelligent unidirectional electrical power grids into modern smart grids which are bidirectional and intelligent in nature by leveraging ICT, IoTs, e-Governance and e-Democracy. Smart grids are likely to serve as energy backbones of smart cities and involve high interactive participation of citizens in energy management, based on humanitarian and customer centric approach. Different types of Prosumers (Producers + consumers), their different energy requirements at different timings, different types of energy resources and their switching feasibilities considering different aspects have been integrated. The Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar twin city metropolitan region (Naroda area) has been considered as region of interest and study. The region is surrounded by reputed industrial, commercial, educational-research organizations, heritage monuments and demonstrates extremely encouraging potential for creative research and technological developments with variety of Prosumers in particular. To study existing economic and spatial strategies and recommend suggestions for smart metropolitan region development have been main objectives of the work presented. Useful approach for smart metropolitan region development has been presented by effective energy management, active citizen participation and e-governance by proposing deployments of smart grid and smart buildings with integration of renewables, ICT and IoTs. Ensuring 24 × 7 electricity with limiting carbon footprint has been the major challenge.

Smart Metropolitan Region, as this chapter traces, is the one that adopts new approaches of the concept of economic growth compatible with space within a minimum possible time. Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR) within an area of 8005 km², and a population of 11.69 million is one of the fast growing metropolitan region and becoming large global conglomerates. This chapter argues about an alternative approach to smartness which inculcates the principals of innovation, efficiency and inclusion. This study also focused on moves beyond the constructed ontology of mega city-centric concentration and urbanism and looked through the lens of dynamic city-region perspective.

The inception of the “City Beautiful” dates back in the early 1950s, right after India attained independence. The planned visionary modernist settlement designed by famous architect Le Corbusier started gaining a ‘magnet’ status. The regional phenomenon observed around Chandigarh gave way to the establishment of counter magnets Panchkula and Mohali, together referred to as “Tri-city”. Soon, the green buffer zones around the city got into urbanisation processes and started showing signs of uncoordinated growth. The demographic profile suggested a slowing pace of growth in Chandigarh Union Territory (UT) while other settlements in the Chandigarh region (the 16 km periphery Control Area) kept expanding. A need for regional development was felt in 1970s resulting in various regional plans severely lacking legal status and hence had no prominent effect. A region can attain a planned development through careful understanding in incorporating sub-regional objectives through Smart Information, Smart Decision-making, Smart Connections and ultimately leading to Smart Development. Smart tools and techniques offered by the geospatial technology can play a pivotal role in analysing the existing scenarios of an urban purlieu and aid significantly in the decision making process for better development. The study asseses the spatial growth of Chandigarh region using Neural Network based modelling growth scenarios and suggests that nearly 400 sq. km. of area will be urbanised by 2048. The study effectively demonstrates the importance of geospatial techniques and recommends spatial strategies in order to have a holistic development in the region. Smart strategies incorporating inclusive planning can for transform settlements into Smart Metropolitan Regions.

National Capital Region (NCR) is one of the best known and economically fastest growing planning regions of India. Innovative real estate developments in the cities of Gurugram, Noida, and Greater Noida have caught the attention of policy makers and academic scholars alike. Most scholars however have focused on challenges presented by this region and critiqued inequitable developments. This chapter focuses on challenges as well as opportunities presented by this metropolitan planning region. This chapter speculatively seeks to answer the question of what holds for the people living in the NCR for the next 20 years. After brief introduction, the second part of the chapter used to set the context by examining planning and governance of the NCR. The third part of the chapter focuses on five smart spatial challenges and opportunities. Emanating from these challenges and opportunities are policy proposals that are discussed in the fourth part of the chapter that policy proposals would convert challenges into realizable opportunities, making regional aspirations a real possibility. The chapter ends with some conclusions.

Jaipur city since its inception has flourished as an administrative, economic and cultural center. Jaipur gained the status of a Million Plus City in 1991 and was recognized as a metropolitan region in 2010. During the post-independence planning era, there have been marked deviations in the growth and development in Jaipur, be it related to the spatial spread of the urban area or the growth of population. With the spatial spread and population growth, the city and its region are not bereft of problems. Understanding of Jaipur region has highlighted that secondary and tertiary sector play a dominant. The dynamics and interdependence between the sectors has led to identification of the prime potential segment that may lead the region out of the environmental imbalance into which the region is fast plunging. The problems that have come to be associated with these very large regions need to be address with the use of technology and innovation. The answers to these may lie in the smart context which has been explored in this chapter in the context of Jaipur Region. Authors have suggested a vision based on the issues and potential of the region within current policies of central and state government. Strategies are proposed for increasing the regional economic resilience through locally-based, regionally-driven development initiatives based on technology and innovation focused on smart tourism.

Historically, Kozhikode was a port city and a global trading hub connecting Europe and South Asia. The subsequent political and social fabric prevalent during the post—independence period resulted in the city losing its erstwhile economic significance. Industrial and economic activity is now limited to few medium and small scale industries that are neither a major source of revenue nor employment. Economic decline, high growth of unemployment and increasing migration rates has made it important to reconsider economic strategies to transform Kozhikode. For the purpose of this study, the Kozhikode Metropolitan Region has been delineated to ensure that the area is unified by economic activities, labour markets and firms within a single administrative boundary. In this chapter we aim to study the existing economic and spatial structure of the place and propose economic and spatial strategies that can be adapted to revive the economy for a delineated metropolitan region within the district. The economic and subsequent spatial strategies for the region have been formulated based on the principles of the Third Industrial Revolution and Zero Marginal Cost Society, proposed by Jeremy Rifkin all within the framework of the sharing economy system. The fundamental principle of trust—which is the basis of sharing economy—has been integrated to further integrate the community of the metropolitan region for the implementation of the various strategies. In line with this, faith based models, which were practiced by the various communities in Kozhikode since centuries for community and social development, have also been explored for the benefit of the community.

One of a considerably old civilisation settlement of Surat as a prominent urban centre is established in the western part of India and in the Southern region of the Gujarat state. The city was earmarked in the year 1992 since it recovered from a devastating calamity of plague. Since then, the city has recorded enormous progress regarding urbanisation and industrialisation and listed in the top ten fastest growing cities in India. The city has developed and retained its identity as a Diamond city and Textile city as well renowned for its unique delicacies and preparations. A metropolitan region of 1357 km² is considered as a study region encompassing the city dynamics of Surat. Current chapter browses through the history of the city as well discusses current scenario in the region from a development perspective. The chapter proposes certain conceptual aspects for developing the metropolitan region in a smarter way and based on the concept of zero marginal cost society to achieve economic sustainability in the region. Need for local zoning is identified and based on a quadratic bifurcation of the study area; conceptual proposals are discussed exploring various strengths and opportunities considering the scope of improvement based on current status. Surat metropolitan region has good level of natural resources and has a potential for serving the society at large. However, it calls for a proactive, systematic planning approach for smart metropolitan region planning to infuse the fundamentals of zero-marginal cost society concept. By leveraging opportunities for changes in the planning, implementation and practices followed by citizens for various activities need to be inculcated. Collaborative efforts can lead the metropolitan for a better and perspective future.

The assumption of Neoliberalism in the economy has multiplied exponentially financing speculation, and produced several “distortions” both in the social system and in the job market: the destruction of a welfare program, the attack to the right of the labor market and workers right, the powerful growing of financial institutions supported by the ICT. This means the need to identify a new epistemological approach, suggesting a conceptual framework for ecological economics based on systemic principles of life and a shift from techno-city to a human city. A model, called the homological smart city, could be a new way, based on direct citizen participation, peer-to-peer community, neuroergonomics, biophilic design, and biourban economics. The operational character of this model is explored by analyzing the most recent Italian experiences in reaction to the diffused crisis conditions. Several villages, towns and cities have seen a slow phenomenon of the revival of local communities, for the merit of grassroots’ initiatives of social innovation constituted mostly of young people that, leveraging on their capabilities and a peer-to-peer network supported by the ICT, promote a novel vision for the future of their community, building a more sustainable urban system. Through a change of paradigm, the human being is put at the centre of the system and its designing, considering social innovators as the key actors of change and local assets as the key resources for the implementation of Biourbanism principles. In the above perspective, the experience of a new biourban strategy named “mushrooming”, implemented in Finland, constitutes a good example of practice-oriented to consider diversification as a principle of life in a city and developed by testing with real-life conditions. The Finnish experience was started to build a network to foster interaction between small self-organized co-working communities, by taking into account spatial and economic processes that emerged due to this. These processes were able to activate connected diversification, recognized as a systemic principle of life that fits the context of urban development especially well. The principle of connected diversification drives the methodological process structured for the case study of the Metropolitan City of Naples, one of the 14 Italian metropolitan cities, with a specific attention for the 16 municipalities of the Coast Area. Starting from vulnerability and resilience concepts, the study dealt according to a multi-methodological approach, based on a GeoDesign process supported by multi-criteria analysis, multi-group analysis, and spatial analysis. The elaboration of Spatial Opportunity Maps (SOMs) is the output of a multidimensional evaluation process that leads to the identification of a biourban strategy, characterized by human smart spatial solutions, place-based and situated actions. The enhancement of the coastal area of the Metropolitan City of Naples can be considered as a prerequisite for the activation of a process-oriented to the identification of “homogeneous zones”, conceived not only as areas with similar characteristics but, above all, as territories where it is possible to promote networks of opportunities between the various municipalities and their communities. Cooperation has conceived a source of mutual benefit and involves a mutual convenience, based on the constant construction of bonds and relationships and the interdependence determined by spatial proximity. Economic processes require cooperative-collaborative behaviours between the various components and become increasingly territorialized, and therefore more resilient and, at the same time, less and less associated with the production of negative environmental impact.

Reliable transport and ICT connectivity are frequently cited as primary factors affecting regional development patterns. This is informed by the fact that such connectivity has great potential to enhance concentration (agglomeration) of economic growth. Transport and ICT connectivity impact on the productive sector through the flow of products and labour markets in a smart manner. This chapter examines the potential of enhanced transport and ICT connectivity in driving smart development in Nairobi Metropolitan Region (NMR), as well as the operational regulatory and institutional framework that is currently facilitating (and/or creating positive prospects for) the region’s smart growth. It details the historical challenges associated with connectivity in the NMR, plots the region’s economic nodes and their spatial connectivity, and analyses elements of transportation and ICT connectivity in the region. The chapter concludes by highlighting key economic and governance factors which are critical in maximizing the two connectivity parameters (transport and ICT) in achieving smart NMR development.

The heightened intolerable conditions of living and working in Lagos and the need to centralize the capital city for equal access from other parts of the country led to the creation of a new Federal Capital in Abuja in 1976. The Nigeria new capital, Abuja, was premised on some principles meant to underpin the regional development of the new capital. These are principle of equal access, equal citizenship, environmental conservation, city beautification, functional city, regional development, and national economic growth. The study assessed the metropolitan region of Abuja in view to understand and identified the usual associated urban problems facing the region, and how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can serve as a key critical factor to the realization of smart metropolitan development in an effort to address the identified urban problems of the Abuja metropolitan region. For Abuja to achieve these goals, the use of ICT was found to be essential. Therefore, this study evaluated among others the roles and integration of ICT in the development of a Smart metropolitan Abuja region. The chapter recommends a realistic implementation of the multi-nuclei regional plan with appropriate transportation framework, stronger economic base and pro-poor land use strategies. This paradigm shift could occur if and only the Government of Nigeria exhibits robust political will in the regional development process.

Development of large metropolitan regions like Dakar constitutes economic and social opportunities as well as challenges depending on how the urban growth was planned designed and managed. The dynamic transformation of the Dakar Metropolitan Region from a population of 245,000 to 3.5 million inhabitants in 1950 and 2016 respectively has occurred in different paces, times and places in terms of numbers, urban form and structure (density distribution, and compactness). When a city reaches one million or more of population size, it becomes more complex for its planning, design and management compared to a small city. For instance, when a city reaches one million inhabitants, its accessibility will be largely determined by elements of its urban form and structure as well as elements of transport infrastructures and, recently, elements of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This accessibility determines in large the interaction between economic and spatial design strategies. After the introduction, this study is divided in six sections. The first section presents the “Conceptual framework of the Smart Metropolitan Regional Development” of the study; The second section presents “Urbanization of the Dakar Metropolitan Region in Time and Space”; The third section focuses on the “Urban Accessibility and Mobility”; The fourth section presents “Urbanization, Economic Growth and Metropolitan Regional Development” including economic growth, human development and sustainability, inclusion, resilience and prosperity; The fifth section presents “Towards a Smart Metropolitan regional Development”; The sixth section, based on the development of the previous sections, presents the “Spatial and Economic Design Strategies for a Smart Dakar Metropolitan Regional Development”.

From a population of 26,303 in 1890 to 102,078 in 1896, to a population of 4.4 million in 2011, Johannesburg located in the Gauteng province, is the largest city in South Africa and is one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. This has occurred in different paces, times and places in terms of numbers, urban form and structure (density distribution, and compactness). As a megacity, Johannesburg becomes more complex for its planning, design and management compared to a small city. For instance, elements of its urban form and structure as well as elements of transport infrastructures and, recently, elements of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) will largely determine its accessibility. This accessibility determines to a large extent, the interaction between economic and spatial design strategies. Henceforth, this chapter is divided into six sections. The first section presents the “Conceptual framework of the Smart Metropolitan Regional Development” of the study; The second section reflects on the “Gauteng City region and Johannesburg in Time and Space”; The third section focuses on the “Urban Accessibility and Mobility”; The fourth section looks at “Smart Energy for Economic Development”; The fifth section presents “Urbanization, Economic Growth and Metropolitan Regional Development”; and, The sixth section, based on the development of the previous sections, presents the “Spatial and Economic Design Strategies for a Smart Johannesburg Metropolitan Regional Development”.

This chapter describes the smart city example from the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is a typical city in the rust belt of America that faced decline and shrinkage due to de-industrialization and globalization forces. The economic transformation of Pittsburgh into a post-industrial regime has brought its own set of unique challenges and represent a unique perspective of urban and regional planning approaches that met with varying degrees of success. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the smart city approaches in the context of a Shrinking City that have been shaped by forces of industrial decline, population and job loss, abundance of derelict industrial sites, suburban exodus and racial conflicts, along with shared notions of fighting back to comeback and succeed in the New Economy. After witnessing a prolonged state of industrial and economic decline since the 1980s, Pittsburgh had no choice but adopt planning strategies that would restructure its economy, and transform its large-scale abandoned brownfield sites to create places of vibrant economy and community. Pittsburgh’s proactive policies to involve local communities in reusing old and vacant lands for economic transformation and urban greening, as well as using green infrastructure for storm water management and improving the quality of its waterways, resulted in many success stories throughout the region. Thus, our study of Smart City strategies in Pittsburgh focuses on the successes and failures of economic transformation, brownfield redevelopment and urban greening. While it is in the process of coming back, the region still faces several challenges, such as a large number of vacant and distressed lands, aging population and infrastructure, which needs to be addressed in the coming decades.

This chapter has two parts. In the first part, the organizational details of the international research collaborative project “Smart Metropolitan Regional Development: Economic and Spatial Design Strategies” is discussed, in the second part are presented in consultation with the team leaders of the city study, and their general conclusions of the study.