‘Smart cities way to go’

Government is working on embracing the smart city concept as a prerequisite for leaving no-one behind, part of President Mnangagwa’s thrust of improving people’s livelihoods.

A smart city is one that uses information communication technologies to improve operational efficiency, share information with the public and provide a better quality of government service and citizen welfare.

The adoption of Zimbabwe’s smart city concept was explained by Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo at the ongoing Expo2020 Dubai.

“Zimbabwe made a decision to create smart cities and the Government of Zimbabwe adopted these principles in 2018 in the advent of the New Dispensation,” he said.

“Our vision is that going forward, we must make sure that our cities are cities of the future, and cities of the future should take up issues of the digital world, new technologies.

“In our built-up environment, we must have a total mix of industrial, commercial and residential areas which conform to this smart city concept.”

Minister Moyo said for Zimbabwe, smart city also means “we must look at our old cities which have a dichotomy which is colonial where there are high density areas for the Africans and low density areas for the Europeans.

“Now we have to destroy this mixture created by colonialism and create cities that are continuous, where people are not separated by social strata.”

TWI, an organisation that offers expert advice on issues like engineering, materials and joining technologies, says the main goal of a smart city is to optimise city functions and promote economic growth.

This is done while also improving the quality of life for citizens by using smart technologies and data analysis.-The Herald