The ISU and what we do
The Institute for Sustainable Urbanisation (ISU) is a “Think Tank” set up to provide a platform to discuss critical urban issues and to develop innovative solutions for more liveable, walkable, affordable communities and cities worldwide that are smart and sustainable. The institute collaborates with other organisations, partner institutes and works with various stakeholders influential in shaping smart and sustainable communities and cities that are healthy, happy and more resilient to social, economic, demographic and environmental challenges.
Over the years, the ISU has undertaken various research and works to find innovative and creative, yet practical and viable solutions to create communities and cities with the built and natural environments which are more resilient. ISU has developed a smart and sustainable city framework focusing on “People Place and Planet“ with smart thinking, design and planning as the driver and technology as enabler to achieve Smart Living, Smart Environment, Smart Mobility, Smart Infrastructure, Smart Governance and Smart Economy to shape vibrant communities and cities
The Smart and Sustainable City Framework
This framework is the main driving force behind our Smart City research focused on Hong Kong and is included in our following publications by Springer, namely ‘Smart Economy in Smart Cities’, ‘E-Democracy for Smart Cities’, ‘Smart Metropolitan Regional Development’, ‘Smart Environment for Smart Cities’ and “Smart Living for Smart Cities”. These publications give a detailed analysis on how the framework can be implemented and utilised in assessing existing cities and creating future urban developments to ensure a smart and sustainable future for all.
1) ‘Smart Economy in Smart Cities’ (2016)
This book conducts international collaborative research on the Cities of Ottawa, St.Louis, Stuttgart, Bologna, Cape Town, Nairobi, Dakar, Lagos, New Delhi, Varanasi, Vijayawada, Kozhikode and Hong Kong. ‘Smart Economy in Smart Cities’ investigates how the selected smart cities promote urban economic development through 13 in-depth city research case studies.
The theory of smart city economic development is not yet entirely realised and applied in large scale metropolitan plans, thus this book investigates how urban spatial systems can adapt to the specific needs of a smart urban economy.
Through this book, readers can understand concepts regarding how the evolution of information and communication Technologies (ICTs) apply to all aspects of the urban economy, resulting in eventual changes in the land-use system. There are many hypotheses on how smart cities generate wealth and social benefits but no significant empirical values on this, creating a gap in the knowledge base. This book is an in depth attempt to fill this gap by investigating how these smart cities can generate urban economic development through urban spatial adaptation.
2) ‘E-Democracy for Smart Cities’ (2017)
This book addresses the topic of governance in a smart city through electronic means such as the internet, mobile computing, high speed fiber optic networks, as well as Internet of Things (IoT) that have the ability to transform the dominant role of citizens and technology in smart cities.
This book discusses the rightful role of citizens as per the constitution of the country for participation in this form of e-democracy and how these technologies can transform the way in which business is conducted, the interaction of interface with citizens and academic institutions, and improve interactions between business, industry, and city government.
Through this book, readers can expect to get a better overall understanding of how modern technologies and its implementations into smart cities can help us transform the urban and political fabric of our cities into one that prioritizes the roles and needs of its citizens.
3) ‘Smart Metropolitan Regional Development’ (2018)
This book discusses the concept and practice of a smart metropolitan region, and how smart cities promote healthy economic and spatial development. It highlights how smart metropolitan regional development can energize, reorganize and transform the legacy economy into a smart economy; how it can help embrace Information and Communications Technology (ICT); and how it can foster a shared economy. In addition, it outlines how the five pillars of the third industrial revolution can be achieved by smart communities.
In addition, the book draws on 16 in-depth city case studies from ten countries to explore the state of the art regarding the smart economy in smart cities – and to apply the lessons learned to shape smart metropolitan economic and spatial development.
4) ‘Smart Environment for Smart Cities’ (2019)
This book discusses the design and practice of environmental resources management for smart cities. Presenting numerous city case studies, it focuses on one specific environmental resource in each city.
Environmental resources are commonly owned properties that require active inputs from the government and the people, and in any smart city their management calls for a synchronous combination of e-democracy, e-governance and IOT (Internet of Things) systems in a 24/7 framework. Smart environmental resources management uses information and communication technologies, the Internet of Things, internet of governance (e-governance) and internet of people (e-democracy) along with conventional resource management tools to achieve coordinated, effective and efficient management, development, and conservation that equitably improves ecological and economic welfare, without compromising the sustainability of development ecosystems and stakeholders.
5) ‘Smart Living for Smart Cities’(2020)
This book, based on extensive international collaborative research, highlights the state-of-the-art design of smart living for metropolises, megacities, and metacities, as well as at the community and neighbourhood level. Smart living is one of six main components of smart cities, the others being smart people, smart economy, smart environment, smart mobility and smart governance.
Smart living in any smart city can only be designed and implemented with active roles for smart people and smart city government, and as a joint effort combining e-Democracy, e-Governance and ICT-IoT systems. In addition to using information and communication technologies, the Internet of Things, Internet of Governance (e-Governance) and Internet of People (e-Democracy), the design of smart living utilizes various domain-specific tools to achieve coordinated, effective and efficient management, development, and conservation, and to improve ecological, social, biophysical, psychological and economic well-being in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of development ecosystems and stakeholders. This book presents case studies covering more than 10 cities and centred on domain-specific smart living components. The book is issued in two volumes and this volume focuses on community studies and ways and means.
