Opinion – Claudio Bernardes: What to do to improve people’s lives?

The last few years have been critical for the functioning of cities. Technological evolution, changes in behavior patterns, the pandemic, climate change, environmental disasters, among many other issues, have affected urban life in a blunt way, and local governments need to react quickly, seeking the best approaches to deal with them. with these long-term effects.

Specialists have dedicated themselves to studying topics related to these demands, and from these studies, trends emerge that can guide cities to improve their functioning and, consequently, improve people’s lives.

Urban areas are characterized by high population density and construction of infrastructure to support modern amenities, which involve transport systems and new construction.

This population expansion, combined with limited resources, requires measures to mitigate its effects on the environment. Cities need to be planned and designed for people, for example, with “green” streets as anchors for new corridors and public spaces that become centers of social life.

The health crisis during the pandemic has made it clear that cities need to pay more attention to the well-being of their citizens. It is important to develop health ecosystems that move away from a focus on diagnosing and treating disease, so that they are equally oriented towards well-being, through early interventions. The social determinants of health must be better understood, government and the private sector, in partnership, must collaborate to face these challenges.

Cities need to work to provide their inhabitants with digital, clean, smart, autonomous and intermodal mobility, with more spaces for pedestrians and cyclists.

Some major changes in the way people move in cities are already underway, but the trend will accelerate even further in the next decade, with electrification, autonomous driving, smart and connected infrastructure, modal diversity and integrated, resilient, shared and sustainable mobility. sustainable, all driven by disruptive business models.

Cities are not just centers of economic development. Social inclusion must be a fundamental pillar of urban growth and development for the cities of the future. Cities must be planned and designed to generate social and economic results for all, avoiding the costs that occur when people are excluded. Cities must evolve towards inclusive services and approaches, combating inequalities by providing equitable access to housing and infrastructure, and fostering equal rights in social participation, jobs and opportunities.

Cities must strive to attract talent, enable creativity and encourage disruptive thinking; developing through an innovation model approach, in a combination of physical and digital elements. This digital transformation must take place in experimentation centers, used to develop pilot projects that can be replicated.

Urban centers should adopt development models based on a circular economy, which results in a rational use of resources, based on principles of sharing, reuse and restoration; and with an emphasis on limiting the volumes of urban waste.

With a tendency to operate 24/7, operations and tasks that cities carry out will become increasingly powered by artificial intelligence, which will contribute to the optimization of operational efficiencies, benefiting city managers and, ultimately, analysis, the citizens, through the reformulation of the provision of services. In this context, awareness of the importance of data privacy will be increasingly paramount, and cities need to prepare for the impact of cyber attacks, as information will be an important commodity in urban life.

These are some of the trends that should help cities become more resilient, more digital and sustainable, and more people-oriented. However, this will only be possible with the participation of leaders committed to implementing and driving the necessary changes.