Old Challenges In our Cities in Technology

The Future of our Cities

Challenges faced by Americans living in cities are not new, but they are being exacerbated by city growth and aging infrastructure. They include the following:

• finding and acquiring a good job, a quality education, and appropriate training;

• accessing services and products such as health care, child care, and fresh food;

• living and working in safe and healthy environments;

• efficiently using energy for buildings and transportation; and

 • reducing violence and insecurity.

These challenges are often intensified for those who are poor, disabled, young, alone, or aged. These same disadvantaged groups also often have the least opportunity to take direct advantage of new technologies so care must be taken to provide the best possible outcomes for all residents. Advances in technology offer new approaches to addressing these challenges. Yet without help, many cities will be slow to realize the benefits of technology or may target investments in sub-optimal ways.

Cities need support to overcome a number of obstacles. Operating, maintaining, and financing existing services takes up the bulk of city governments’ time, energy, and resources and forces upon them a focus on short-term efficiency, often at the expense of long-term innovation. Urban services are essential; people and organizations cannot function, much less reach their full potential, without reliable services and infrastructure. Yet the demand for stability inhibits exploration of options that deviate from proven practice, even those that promise to improve services, lower costs, or to provide other long-term and/or more equitably distributed benefits.