Opinion: Page 4

The latest opinion pieces by industry thought leaders


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  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Engaging businesses to strengthen your community

    A prosperous business community epitomizes effective city leadership and fuels economic growth.

    Sarah Lee • Feb. 3, 2023
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    A billion dollars for local government cybersecurity—Will they ever see it?

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.Remember t...

    Dr. Alan R. Shark • Jan. 18, 2023
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Structuring solar RFPs for the best project outcome

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.The RFP (reque...

    Dan Smith • Dec. 8, 2022
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    The city of Santa Monica digitized citizen engagement

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.The city o...

    Jeremy Peterson • Nov. 7, 2022
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    Creating a menu of city standards for better outdoor dining guidelines

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.Prompted b...

    Tham Nguyen, Glenn Armstrong • Nov. 4, 2022
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    How capital improvement project prioritization helps secure infrastructure funding

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.Trillions ...

    Amanda Douglas • Aug. 9, 2022
  • An artist's rendering of a city streetscape. A high-tech car approaches a crosswalk as pedestrians pass by.
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    Together, EVs, AVs and multimodal transportation will create more vibrant cities

    Gas stations, subway stations, parking garages and roads are among the city features we can reimagine as new mobility technologies change how we get from point A to point B, writes a leading exec at Gensler.

    Andy Cohen • Aug. 5, 2022
  • A construction worker out in the heat cools off in water fountains.
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    Extreme heat is here. Here's how we create a heat-resilient nation.

    Heat is the top weather-related killer in the U.S. In the face of worsening climate change, helping communities manage heat will require cooperation among local, state and federal governments, one researcher writes.

    Ladd Keith • July 13, 2022
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    The vast, untapped potential of city procurement

    The procurement process — often governed by complex regulations and overworked staff — typically occurs outside public view. That needs to change if it's to help the community meet its environmental and social goals.

    Sascha Haselmayer • June 27, 2022
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Oklahoma City puts the focus on employees when implementing changes in office technology

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.The City o...

    Stephen Fuller • June 22, 2022
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    AI-enabled cameras and lidar can improve traffic today and support the AVs of tomorrow

    Upgrading traffic cameras with AI improves performance and prepares for advancements such as autonomous vehicles. Future systems will likely tap the benefits of both cameras and lidar, write the co-founders of AI platform Derq.

    Georges Aoude and Karl Jeanbart • June 17, 2022
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    The sharing economy: Helping cities meet their sustainability goals

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.Individual...

    Edward Moon • May 31, 2022
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    Don’t forget about the creative community in the rebuild of US infrastructure

    Previous infrastructure projects used top-down solutions, often without local input, and often resulting in fracture neighborhoods. This time, let’s incorporate community voices — and local artists — to find transformational solutions. 

    Rip Rapson and Regina Smith • May 26, 2022
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    Blame local zoning, not Wall Street, for this housing crisis

    Local zoning laws and NIMBYism are preventing the growth of affordable housing and greater housing density and contributing to labor shortages in urban areas. 

    Atticus LeBlanc • May 24, 2022
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    Corporate housing is key to addressing tight housing market, relocating workers

    As workers increasingly migrate to suburbs and smaller cities, high housing costs and limited supplies might delay a home purchase. Regulations aimed at vacationers shouldn't limit extended-stay rental options.

    Angela Healy • May 11, 2022
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Looking to increase civic engagement? Support the local press

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.The McGreg...

    Andy Castillo • May 9, 2022
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    To reduce transportation emissions, make it realistic for people to ditch cars

    Building walkable communities with easy access to public transit is key to reducing our reliance on cars and achieving environmental goals, writes the CEO of Keolis North America.

    David Scorey • May 2, 2022
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    Harassment and intimidation are driving local leaders away from public service, and we all stand to lose

    “I genuinely worry about how our nation’s cities, towns and villages will attract and retain the talent we need,” writes the head of the National League of Cities.

    Clarence E. Anthony • April 19, 2022
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    How to accelerate SLG cloud modernization through emerging technology solutions

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.State and ...

    Mike Wiseman • April 18, 2022
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Setting the (government) records straight

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.In the dig...

    Steve Russell • April 11, 2022
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    For the Building Performance Standards Coalition to be effective, the White House must think bigger

    The former head of the U.S. Green Building Council weighs in on how federal, state and local government partners can go beyond just reducing building emissions as they pursue decarbonization.  

    Mahesh Ramanujam • April 8, 2022
  • Gainesville, Georgia's WeGo on-demand transportation service app.
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    What big cities can learn from the rural US about public transit

    Grappling with bare-bones transportation networks, rural communities are implementing new transit innovations, a trend that federal infrastructure dollars could accelerate. 

    Scott James Matheson and Sam Couvillon • April 6, 2022
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Adaptive reuse and municipal facilities: Strengthening mutual trust

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.Every comm...

    Brian Meade, Louise Kowalczyk • April 6, 2022
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Municipal broadband: Using today’s technology to support your community’s future

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.Amidst the...

    Chase Gregory • April 1, 2022
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    Envisioning a policy framework for the growth of AVs and SAVs

    Public policy will need to evolve with vehicle automation advances to ensure privately owned, shared and fleet AVs meet community needs. Examining the likely phases of this transition can help officials anticipate policy needs.

    Susan Shaheen • March 22, 2022