Browsing by Author "Boyle, Luke"

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    The Current State and Characteristics of Cape Town's Smart City Development
    (Urban Real Estate Research Unit, 2019-09) Boyle, Luke
    In today’s urban environment, local governments have to deal with increasingly complex mandates, social inequalities and economic growth in a context of increasing environmental and economic uncertainty (Baud et al., 2014). In Africa, these complexities are exacerbated by rapid urbanisation and the subsequent proliferation of urban poverty. This necessitates more efficient and effective management and governance of urban systems (Slavova & Okwechime, 2016; Meijer & Thaens, 2018). Given the increased role of ICT and its potential to advance the management and coordination of cities, contribute to their economic success, and improve the quality of life of its residents (Backhouse, 2015), many African cities are beginning to explore smart city interventions as a means of overcoming the rising challenges of urban development and sustainability. This report series seeks to explore the grounding of smart city concepts within an African context through an exploration of the City of Cape Town's smart city initiatives. The second report uses the analysis of the Digital City Strategy to develop an understanding of where the City of Cape Town currently is in terms of its smart city development, and the characteristics that have defined the advancement of the City’s smart city ambitions to date. Following that, the report discusses how the current state and characteristics relate to the Digital City Strategy outlined in the first report before providing some insight into what this reveals about the City’s approach to smart city development.
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    Identifying the Opportunities and Challenges that Exist for Cape Town's Smart City Development
    (Urban Real Estate Research Unit, 2019-11) Boyle, Luke
    In today’s urban environment, local governments have to deal with increasingly complex mandates, social inequalities and economic growth in a context of increasing environmental and economic uncertainty (Baud et al., 2014). In Africa, these complexities are exacerbated by rapid urbanisation and the subsequent proliferation of urban poverty. This necessitates more efficient and effective management and governance of urban systems (Slavova & Okwechime, 2016; Meijer & Thaens, 2018). Given the increased role of ICT and its potential to advance the management and coordination of cities, contribute to their economic success, and improve the quality of life of its residents (Backhouse, 2015), many African cities are beginning to explore smart city interventions as a means of overcoming the rising challenges of urban development and sustainability. This report series seeks to explore the grounding of smart city concepts within an African context through an exploration of the City of Cape Town's smart city initiatives. The first report provides an overview of the City of Cape Town's strategy along with some critical reflections on their guiding framework, The Digital City Strategy. The third report, using interviews with stakeholders in different government, civic and corporate spheres, serves as a reflection to unpack some of the key opportunities and challenges that Cape Town faces in terms of unlocking the potential of a smarter, more sustainable urban future. Following that, the report provides some insight to what it means on a broader level for smart city development in Cape Town.
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    Overview and Analysis of Cape Town's Digital City Strategy
    (Urban Real Estate Research Unit, 2019-05) Boyle, Luke; Staines, Isabella
    In today’s urban environment, local governments have to deal with increasingly complex mandates, social inequalities and economic growth in a context of increasing environmental and economic uncertainty (Baud et al., 2014). In Africa, these complexities are exacerbated by rapid urbanisation and the subsequent proliferation of urban poverty. This necessitates more efficient and effective management and governance of urban systems (Slavova & Okwechime, 2016; Meijer & Thaens, 2018). Given the increased role of ICT and its potential to advance the management and coordination of cities, contribute to their economic success, and improve the quality of life of its residents (Backhouse, 2015), many African cities are beginning to explore smart city interventions as a means of overcoming the rising challenges of urban development and sustainability. This report series seeks to explore the grounding of smart city concepts within an African context through an exploration of the City of Cape Town's smart city initiatives. The first report provides an overview of the City of Cape Town's strategy along with some critical reflections on their guiding framework, The Digital City Strategy.
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    Urban facilities management as a systemic process to achieve urban sustainability in South Africa
    (2016) Boyle, Luke; Michell, Kathy
    A key challenge for urban facilities management (UFM) is to identify ways to promote sustainable urban development at a community/precinct level. One potential approach is via the application of sustainable community assessment/rating tools which have seen increased popularity amongst urban planners and developers over the past decade. This study investigates the efficacy and applicability of this approach to urban sustainability, particularly within the "developing country"context of South Africa. Furthermore, the paper suggests that the deployment of UFM in creating a management platform for urban precincts, one that focuses on the process of achieving urban sustainability within a specific locale, will deliver improved strategies for operationalising urban sustainability. Using soft systems methodology (SSM), the study aimed to establish the fundamental requirements for sustainable community development frameworks in both "developing" and "developed countries". Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 11 key stakeholders who consisted of two main categories. Firstly, participants from private and public sector engaged in the management and development of sustainable urban precincts. Secondly, participants from NGO's that develop sustainable community rating tools. The tools included: Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design for Neighbourhood Development (LEED-ND), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology for Communities (BREEAM-C), Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency for Urban Development (CASBEE-UD), EcoDistricts, Green Star Communities (GSC), and the Living Community Challenge (LCC). Interviews were conducted in both Cape Town and Vancouver; representing the "developing" and "developed"contexts respectively. It was found that the prescriptive and outcomes-based nature of assessment tools excludes "developing countries" from the sustainable community development conversation. The logical next step is to develop frameworks that offer sustainable solutions appropriate to these contexts. Findings also highlighted a need for a more robust procedural framework to manage relationships between various professionals and interest groups involved in the development of sustainable communities/precincts. This in turn provides a unified method to facilitate the achievement of urban sustainability. This research concludes that urban sustainability needs to draw upon the management principles of facilities management (FM), and more specifically UFM, to develop and assess the sustainability of communities and cities within a specific locale. Without a process-orientated method such as this, cities will continue to fall short of their sustainable imperatives.
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    The Way Forward for the City of Cape Town and what it means to be 'Smart' in Africa
    (Urban Real Estate Research Unit, 2020-03) Boyle, Luke
    In today’s urban environment, local governments have to deal with increasingly complex mandates, social inequalities and economic growth in a context of increasing environmental and economic uncertainty (Baud et al., 2014). In Africa, these complexities are exacerbated by rapid urbanisation and the subsequent proliferation of urban poverty. This necessitates more efficient and effective management and governance of urban systems (Slavova & Okwechime, 2016; Meijer & Thaens, 2018). Given the increased role of ICT and its potential to advance the management and coordination of cities, contribute to their economic success, and improve the quality of life of its residents (Backhouse, 2015), many African cities are beginning to explore smart city interventions as a means of overcoming the rising challenges of urban development and sustainability. This report series seeks to explore the grounding of smart city concepts within an African context through an exploration of the City of Cape Town's smart city initiatives. The fourth and final report attempts to put forward some recommendations intended to assist The City of Cape Town as they continue on their digital journey. These recommendations are based on what has emerged out of the previous three reports. The report also attempts to distil the findings of this research to provide some reflection on what they may mean for Africa more broadly. These are presented as important considerations that can be applied to the context of other African cities with smart city aspirations.