Cities have always been natural incubators for experimentation, change and progress.3 This is because they are the locus of complex problems that are difficult to address, including environmental pollution, traffic congestion, income inequality, and crumbling infrastructure.4 Due to the high concentration of talent, capital, data and resources in a small geographic area, cities are well positioned to embrace and lead creative city building solutions.⁵

Creative city building solutions: SFpark
The City of San Francisco's SFpark project uses wireless sensors to create smarter parking management through demand-responsive pricing. Installed in 8,200 on-street spaces in the piloted areas, the sensors can adjust prices in real time depending on the number of spaces available. This feedback is sent to app-users who can easily locate the closest available parking spot. The project helped reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 30% in the areas where the pilot was launched.

Cities are motors of the global economy. They account for 85% of global GDP generation and more than half of the world's population lives in urban areas.⁶ However, cities also account for 75% of natural resource consumption, 50% of global waste production, and more than 60% of GHGs.⁷ This is due to the fact that we currently operate within a global economic system that is based on the linear "take-make-dispose" model, where resources are extracted, products are created and waste is a by-product of the process.8 Urban economies mirror and amplify the challenges of this economic model, where we see increased environmental pollution, inequality, congestion and high levels of nonrenewable waste.

To bring the natural system into balance, a new economic model is needed-one that is sustainable and respects the limits of natural resources and the functions of ecosystems. This requires a shift in how Canadians value, use and dispose of resources, creating a circular system where waste is viewed as a resource.⁹ Transitioning to a circular economy provides opportunities to enhance social and environmental outcomes, improve economic performance and profitability, decrease the risk associated with relying on external sources of raw materials and labour, and increase the resiliency of city services and infrastructure.¹⁰

The momentum of smart city tech is an opportunity to reinvent consumption habits. It offers possibilities for greater efficiency in product use and material flows and creates new ways of operating and participating in the global economy. Through the collection and analysis of data of materials, people and external conditions, tech has the potential to identify the challenges of material flows in cities, outline the key areas of structural waste, and inform more effective decision-making on how to address these challenges and provide systemic solutions.¹¹

Transitioning to a circular economy provides opportunities to enhance social and environmental outcomes, improve economic performance and profitability, decrease the risk associated with relying on external sources of raw materials and labour, and increase the resiliency of city services and infrastructure.¹⁰