How Smart City Technologies Can Improve Quality of Life

McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) just released a new study on Smart Cities. This study builds on a multiyear body of McKinsey Global Institute work exploring urbanization and technology – which underscores MGI’s deep expertise and focus on the topic. Findings focused on how smart technologies can help cities meet challenges, and how they are already enabling the next wave of public investment.

After a decade of experimentation, cities are at a turning point in their use of technology to solve urban problems. Smartphones have become the keys to the city, putting instant information about transit, traffic, health services, safety alerts, and community news into millions of hands – and today we are seeing only a preview of what technology could eventually do in the urban environment.

Dr. Jaana Remes can discuss the new research from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) which shows that there is substantial unrealized potential for digital technologies to improve citizens’ quality of life. MGI measured what’s possible and found that even the most cutting-edge cities have room for improvement in their use of smart city applications, whether to reduce crime, help people shave time off their commutes, lower emissions or make roads safer. For example. MGI’s research found that by 2025, cities that deploy smart-mobility applications have the potential to cut commuting times by 15 to 20 percent on average, with some people enjoying even larger reductions.

Hear directly from Dr. Remes on how smart-city applications could affect various quality-of-life dimensions: safety, time and convenience, health, environmental quality, social connectedness and civic participation, jobs, and the overall cost of living – and how everyone can prepare for the future.

Dr. Jaana Remes, Partner at McKinsey Global Institute