Smarter developments needed to stop Australia falling behind other countries, Urbis warns

Australia is falling behind global standards in smart city infrastructure development, with more than half of industry experts warning the nation is missing crucial benefits.

Australia is falling behind on ‘smart city’ developments, per a new prospectus.

Australian developments are falling behind their global rivals, failing to implement smarter infrastructure that can save power, aid emergency services and allow for better consumption of power and water.

About 55 per cent of industry stakeholders agreed “that Australia is currently missing out on the benefits” of smarter development, and 45.3 per cent said smart technology was rarely considered or integrated into new developments.

That’s according to a prospectus called Accelerating Smarter Development, delivered by urban consulting firm Urbis and government-run telco NBN.

The guide, which the two hope will be used as a blueprint for ­future developments, details the need for new technologies, including smart lighting poles, digital information kiosks and smarter emergency management to be built into new developments.

Holding the industry back was a lack of communication among stakeholders, the prospectus claimed, adding that the “construction sector is highly fragmented and dominated by small to medium enterprises”.

“Inconsistent” council planning frameworks were also a roadblock, while the utility market was limited by state-based jurisdictions that “disincentives national co-ordination”.

Smarter developments were also limited by the cost to develop and implement smart infrastructure, long approval cycles and compliance standards, the prospectus said. It was also hard for developers to determine a return on their investment, but the prospectus attempted to counter that claim, adding the cost to retrofit technology would be far greater than implementing at the time of the build.

Smarter developments would leverage new technology that would change how and when street lights are turned on, using automated systems that detect light conditions and be remotely controlled by governments, developers and infrastructure providers.

They also include “smart ­safety and place monitoring”, which includes video, artificial intelligence analytics software and real-time alerts that can be accessed by governments and would aid emergency services, particularly in the event of a natural disaster, the prospectus claims.

Referencing a smart pole installed at Guildford, NSW, about 28km from Sydney CBD, Urbis’s report claimed the pole had improved how safe women felt when visiting the area.

The percentage of local women who reported feeling safe rose from 8 per cent to 59 per cent at night, and foot traffic rose five-fold during peak hours.

Smart poles could improve safety, a new prospectus claims.

AI could also be used to optimise energy management, the prospectus said, with the technology used to monitor high-energy periods and feed that data to utility providers.

One of the key functions of smarter developments would be data collection and analysis that would “inform” developers on ­future projects.

Professor Chris Pettit, director of the UNSW City Futures Research Centre, said he believed AI would transform Australian planning systems and help the nation develop “more sustainable, live­able and resilient cities”.