A smart city conjures up futuristic images of flying cars, Iron Man-style costumes and hi-tech holographic communication devices. But in reality it means using technology to make cities work better and so attract smart people. Three of the best-known smart cities are Denver and Austen in the US and Yinchuan in China. Some African cities are now making their mark. Smart cities, according to Nico Venter, an associate director for cities at Arup in Southern Africa,are about "making cities faster, efficient and cheaper", but this requires co-ordination from the government, municipalities and tech developers to make it work for all residents. He said each city needed to understand what its competitive advantage was and from there define what smart meant for it. "It is understanding how it can attract further investment, talent and development and aligning it to the direction they want to go ." Cape Town is ranked 22nd out of 22 cities in the Savills Tech Cities 2017 report, released this...
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