Creating a Smart City Utopia from the ground up, as Telosa intends to do, poses tremendous challenges, as evidenced by examples such as Songdo. But does this mean we should give up on the idea? What remains to be seen is whether Telosa will implement the learnings of its many precursors (indeed, a rather Smart thing to do) and set a shining example that inspires not only the creation of new urban nucleuses, but the transformation of existing ones.

Copenhagen ranks first in the recently published Safe Cities Index from The Economist Intelligence Unit. A brand new environmental security pillar, closely interlinked with health security, has ensured that the city scored top points for its readiness against the likes of the climate change crisis and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. A key learning sticks out from the 2021 report: system-wide preparedness versus after-the-fact response. So why did Copenhagen excel, and what can other cities and communities learn from it?

Climate change isn’t just one of the biggest issues currently faced by the world today, but also one of the key topics of concern for citizens everywhere. Problems arising from and as a direct result of climate change have begun to reconfigure how many governments are approaching city strategies, looking for improvements that create more sustainable solutions. But we need to do more if we want to meet our ambitious targets for cutting carbon emissions