Smart Resilient Cities

Emerging technology and data processing tools, such as sensor networks, Internet of Things technologies, next generation mobile and broadcasting platforms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are transforming the cities that we live in, and the way we live in them.

Understanding these trends and the evolving relationship between people, sensors and data is key to designing for urban resilience in an equitable way.

This research project will explore how the Smart Cities model can be used in pre-event recovery planning and post-event response and recovery operations.

Specifically, Smart City technology can help:

• Identify hazard impact and intensity across a region.
• Identify the spatial location of buildings, lifelines and people as well as their characteristics, for example, geotechnical information, building types and people movement.
• Predict, measure and observe the hazard response of buildings, lifelines and people through sensors and other instrumentation.
• Rapidly estimate and predict scale and impact through an integrated and comprehensive Information & Communication Technology Architecture.

Working with partners and stakeholders in local and central government, we are developing a conceptual framework of a Smart City Information & Communication Technology Architecture for a selected urban area at risk of experiencing a large-scale hazardous event.

Our goal is to develop a deep understanding of how emerging technologies can be harnessed to reduce disaster risk in our cities.