The hunt for the smartest and most sustainable communities and cities across the ASEAN region is about to begin.
The ASEAN Smart Urban Development Challenge was announced in Sydney recently by the Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand as part of Smart Cities Week 2019.
The Challenge will reward the best private sector urban developments, public sector planning and policymaking in South East Asia.
“The ASEAN Smart Urban Development Challenge throws down the gauntlet to the region’s smart cities innovators, practitioners and policymakers,” says Adam Beck, Executive Director of the Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand.
“Cities across our region will attract an extra 90 million people between now and 2030. This massive growth demands more than business-as-usual thinking. It demands urban innovation like we’ve never seen before. We must learn to build smarter,” Mr Beck adds.
Home to more than 660 million people, ASEAN estimates the region must spend more than US$110 billion in infrastructure investment annually just to keep up. But harnessing the digital economy could deliver a US$1 trillion boost to gross domestic product by 2025, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Kok-Chin Tay, ASEAN Lead for the Smart Cities Council, says smart cities solutions can help ASEAN nations solve many of their most pressing issues – congestion, climate change and inequality among them – while also enhancing quality of life in growing cities.
“The Challenge will highlight the best examples of smart development that uses technology to drive liveability, workability and sustainability. By showcasing the region’s leading projects and developers, we hope to uncover new trade and investment opportunities for smart infrastructure and data solutions across ASEAN.”
“Above all, the Challenge will build a community of practice that drives our region to exchange best practice knowledge, build skills and capacity. The countries in the ASEAN region are among the world’s fastest growing. We have an unmissable opportunity to also become the world’s smartest region,” Mr Tay concludes.
Applications for the ASEAN Smart Urban Development Challenge open on 1 February 2020 and close on 31 July 2020. Winners will be announced in November 2020.
Organisations interested in supporting the Challange can download the information pack below to learn more about the benefits of being associated with this unique opportunity.
If you would like to sign up to recieve further updates on the Challenge, you can register your interest here.
