New reduced carbon developments and climatefriendly upgrade projects both require deep tech solutions if future Smart Cities are to deliver on net-zero targets
WRITTEN BY : DOMINIC ELLIS
The construction industry has some major challenges to solve – not least in building smart cities in a climatefriendly manner that supports economic and population growth .
In China alone , more than 230 million people will move into city mega-clusters and new suburbs in the next 20 years . With about 80 % of the Chinese population projected to live in cities by 2040 , the need to tackle city challenges is acute .
Cities that don ' t address liveability , sustainability and productivity issues using Smart Citytech will see a great strain on existing infrastructure , systems and processes , and ultimately on the wellbeing of their people . Moreover , Smart Citytech will affect everyone around the globe : cities contribute to 70 % of global carbon dioxide emissions and when we lower this , the whole world benefits .
GHG emissions from the construction ecosystem are mainly driven by two components : raw-material processing for buildings and infrastructure ( about 30 % of total construction emissions per year , largely
38 October 2021