Editor's Note: This article is part of the Smart Cities Dive "Reassessing the Smart Cities Movement" series, which explores the past, present, and future of this field.

Smart streetlights have become nearly ubiquitous in smart cities. Emily Yates, Philadelphia's Director of Smart Cities, said in response to Smart Cities Dive's survey this fall on the smart cities movement that this technology is a typical example of a smart city project with the potential to address community challenges.

Officials in Cleveland are working to convert 61,000 streetlights into a smart network. Chicago's Department of Transportation plans to use streetlights to gather data on outages and circuit failures. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is exploring streetlights as a means to expand public WiFi coverage and monitor air quality.

Poor air quality is a significant problem that disproportionately affects communities of color. Black residents are 75% more likely than white residents to live near traffic and pollution sources. Yates said such data would help Philadelphia make more informed decisions on projects and investments that could impact air quality.

Yates said, "Philadelphia witnessed urban challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement — all while municipal budgets were being cut. With all this in mind, 'smart cities' now have a tremendous opportunity to move beyond focusing solely on technology and data, toward projects for the benefit of citizens."

To understand where local leaders believe smart city technologies, such as streetlights, and the movement as a whole are headed, and the potential limitations in achieving these goals, Smart Cities Dive surveyed city leaders from 15 major U.S. cities. Leaders predict smart city initiatives will emphasize digital equity, data-driven decision-making, and community engagement, while foreseeing potential obstacles such as funding, technology security, and resident trust.

Doubling Down on Digital Justice, Anti-Racism, and Equity

Over the past five years, the smart cities movement has evolved from a technology-centric approach to one focused on the needs of cities and their residents, these leaders said. This evolution includes protecting residents' digital rights and dismantling racial and digital inequities, which cities say they will continue to address in the near future.

Kevin Martin, Manager of Smart City PDX in Portland, Oregon, said in his survey response that the city plans to "continue defining and implementing digital justice principles" over the next five years. He also mentioned efforts to dismantle "historical market models, ensuring that the prosperity and harms of the digital city are shared across economic and racial divides."

To achieve these goals, Martin said the city plans to focus on surveillance policy and governance, data policy and governance, open data, and developing a digital justice plan over the next two to three years.

Detroit, San Antonio, and Boston also emphasized equity as a focus of recent smart city efforts. Kris Carter, Co-Chair of the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston, said a smarter city will be a more equitable and just city.

Carter said in the survey, "Looking ahead, there are two areas that need to develop and evolve. First, how the civic innovation field actively works against racism. The second area involves data collection. It's not just about transparency; it's about trust."

To support the latter, Boston has partnered with community advocacy groups on surveillance technology and data. The city council also approved an ordinance this fall to oversee surveillance technology used by the city, including requiring council approval for any surveillance technology used by the police department. Carter said technology deployment and data collection must be ethical, resilient, and open.

Brian Dillard, Chief Innovation Officer of San Antonio, said in his survey response that the city intends to evaluate and scale recent pilot projects to identify opportunities that can be incorporated into broader digital government initiatives. This plan will establish an organization-wide policy to "embed equity into digital services" through how the city manages data, procures technology, engages residents, provides digital services, and makes them accessible.

New York City also has plans to prioritize connected technology. John Paul Farmer, NYC's Chief Technology Officer, said in his response that the city will continue to focus on itsInternet Master PlanandIoT Strategy, which he believes set goals and initiatives for promoting connected technology in a productive, responsible, and equitable manner.

Debra Lam, Managing Director of the Smart Cities and Inclusive Innovation program at Georgia Tech, said the pandemic created a sense of urgency and a window of opportunity around equity-related connectivity issues. It showed that "connectivity is a critical public infrastructure, much like electricity and running water a century ago." Lam said there has been a real increase in awareness of how critical virtual infrastructure is for economic development, healthcare, and education.

Community Engagement and Building Trust

Local officials say future smart city efforts will require stronger community engagement, trust, and transparency. Technology providers say the same. Kiran Jain, Policy Director and General Counsel at Replica, said in an email interview, "Practitioners in the smart cities movement should also earn (and re-earn) public trust through transparency and a commitment to privacy — this is crucial for moving forward." Replica, a spin-off of Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs, contracts with cities to implement data platforms providing information on transportation, consumer spending, and more.

Orlando, Florida, which uses the term "future-ready" rather than "smart," plans to continue updating its "Future-Ready City Master Plan" while conducting additional community engagement. According to Michael Hess, Director of Future Ready, in his survey response, the plan was adopted by the city council this year and includes providing connectivity and resilience solutions for residents, strengthening partnerships with the entrepreneurial community, and testing its food waste recovery logistics platform.

San Antonio also emphasizes community engagement as part of its future smart city priorities, including through its broader digital government plan aimed at embedding equity into the city's digital services. During the pandemic, cities have adopted creative ways to engage residents on critical issues such as climate change, transportation, andthe allocation of American Rescue Plan funds. For example, Honolulu's climate action plan referenced a "climate game" played by hundreds of residents at specific community meetings, while Norman, Oklahoma, usedpublic surveysto guide its long-term transportation plan.

It's All About Data

Many cities plan to continue focusing on using data to make smarter decisions. Zachary Markovits, Vice President and Managing Director of Local Government at What Works Cities, a program of Results for America, said in an interview, "You can't be a smart city without a basic baseline of data and the ability to use it effectively."

Markovits said that over the past five or six years, cities have undergone a tremendous shift in their ability to use data to solve challenges and address critical issues such as recovering from the pandemic, increasing revenue, and delivering more efficient services. Previously, there was a considerable gap between cities' desire to use data to improve services and their actual capacity. But in recent years, that gap has narrowed significantly.

For example, the city of Dallas has created a "Data Academy" aimed at training employees in all departments and roles in data analysis, said Amanda Nabours, Dallas IT Architect, in the survey. The city uses data and insights to meet resident needs and deliver services in "smarter, more efficient, and more effective ways," Nabours said. Through the program, employees learn how to use data to identify areas for improvement and better measure the impact of process improvements. So far, she said, this has saved time and money and provided a better customer service experience.

Data is also a key element of Los Angeles' planning. Jeanne Holm, Deputy Mayor for Budget and Innovation in Los Angeles, said the mayor and city council require city employees to be proficient in technology and data. She said the mayor requires all general managers of the city's 42 departments to use metrics to demonstrate their progress toward certain goals or achievements. The city also provides data training to the community. Residents can sign up for training through 99 neighborhood councils to help them advocate for various needs. For example, she said, if someone wants a new park, residents making their case by analyzing the lack of parks nearby would be more persuasive.

Beyond using data, Replica's Jain said smart cities need to break down silos and create more collaborative and inclusive approaches to planning, development, and construction. Jain said, "I believe we will see more interest in more systemic solutions. You can't just look at transportation or housing to plan a city — these challenges need to be addressed holistically."

Potential Obstacles

The road to smarter cities is not necessarily smooth. City leaders said major obstacles their plans may face include funding, staffing, lack of resident trust and community engagement, and inherent tensions between public and private sector innovation.

For example, Jesse Bounds, Director of the Mayor's Office of Innovation in Houston, said in his survey response that the city plans to develop policies around the use of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), similar to New York's IoT strategy. The city also plans to conduct an inventory of its technology and smart city use cases to increase public visibility into what data it collects and how it is used. But these efforts could be hampered by a lack of resources. Bounds said, "The main constraint on all issues remains a lack of funding and internal capacity, as well as limited and already stretched internal technology staff."

Philadelphia's Yates said developing public-private partnerships is a good way to help address funding challenges. She said, "Cities need to be innovative in their use of technology and data, but also in their financing models, especially if they want to scale pilot projects." Another challenge for smart city initiatives can be the risk of financing technology at scale before solutions have proven their value. To reduce financial risk, Philadelphia launched a "pilot and experiment" program that allows technologies to be tried, tested, and measured.

Yates said, "Cities also need to figure out how to reconcile procurement processes with innovation. Fundamentally, they are contradictory. Procurement processes are designed to minimize risk for the city, but successful innovation depends on the ability to embrace and explore risk. This is a recurring problem for city governments and one they continue to try to solve."

Meanwhile, David Edinger, Chief Information Officer of Denver, said in his survey response that the city's efforts to build a real-time data hub, seen as the "backbone" of future smart city work, are challenged by security concerns with edge technology. Portland — which plans to focus on developing aDigital Justiceplan in the near future — said a lack of trust, resources, and representative voices at the "decision table" would be its main obstacles. Martin also mentioned competing for attention amid numerous ongoing crises that disproportionately impact priority communities.

On the other side of the country, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer in Washington, D.C., also noted that capturing residents' attention is a key issue. The office said in its survey response that the city plans to build a "comprehensive digital government experience" over the next five years that makes it easy for residents, businesses, and visitors to navigate city resources and services, among other efforts. The office said, "Government struggles to get messages and services to the residents we need to reach because they are overwhelmed by noise. We have tried several different approaches but are still working to break through and get the necessary attention. Ultimately, if we are to succeed in building a great digital government, we also need to figure out how to break through that noise."