Firefighter safety solution wins IBM Call for Code contest

Prometeo, which uses AI and IoT devices to keep firefighters safe as they battle blazes, took home a cash prize of $200,000.

By Chris Teale • Updated Oct. 15, 2019

Rockefeller Foundation creates Opportunity Zone Academy

The program will provide five cities with resources to develop the zones into economically thriving, socially inclusive and walkable neighborhoods.

By Katie Pyzyk • Sept. 17, 2019

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from Smart Cities Dive

From worsening climate change to a shifting transportation landscape and the housing affordability crisis, cities have their work cut out for them.

By Smart Cities Dive staff

California legislators approve statewide rent cap

Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the bill, which is considered a partial solution to the housing crisis.

By Katie Pyzyk • Sept. 13, 2019

City Tech Collaborative targets 2020 for putting heat mapping tool in urban planners' hands

Following the proof-of-concept period, the tool could be expanded to include any city for which satellite data is available.

By Katie Pyzyk • Sept. 11, 2019

‘Mayors are angry’: Puerto Rico cities lack federal funds for hurricane recovery

Federal funds are too slow to arrive, and local resiliency plans require money to begin implementation, Ponce Mayor María Meléndez told Smart Cities Dive. 

By Chris Teale • Sept. 11, 2019

Rockefeller Foundation provides $3.7M for opportunity zones

The funding will help attract investments to economically distressed areas in Dallas, St. Louis, Oakland, CA and Washington, DC. 

By Katie Pyzyk • Sept. 9, 2019

City grids risk being overwhelmed by EV growth

Electricity supplies could suffer without partnerships between utilities and city agencies, The Rocky Mountain Institute and Seattle City Light warned. 

By Chris Teale • Sept. 9, 2019

How universities are leading mass timber research

Despite buzz around its Toronto waterfront project, Sidewalk Labs isn't the first major group to work with mass timber in North America. 

By Cailin Crowe • Sept. 4, 2019

Resilience report: The world's 10 safest cities

The need for urban safety cognizance is growing as global populations increasingly move to cities, a report from The Economist Intelligence Unit says. 

By Katie Pyzyk • Sept. 3, 2019

San Francisco expands free water station program

The initiative is partially funded through the city's soda tax and will reduce plastic waste by providing free, clean water in parks and schools.  

By Katie Pyzyk • Aug. 30, 2019

Seattle creates first Resilience Roadmap

Seattle is the fastest-growing big city in the U.S., resulting in challenges that test resilience, including affordable housing and opportunity gaps.  

By Katie Pyzyk • Aug. 30, 2019

Local governments will use Facebook to send emergency alerts

The platform began testing alerts last year to help government agencies spread information about crises like flash floods, shootings and bomb threats.

By Kristin Musulin • Aug. 30, 2019

NYC doubles curbside rain gardens in green infrastructure program

The gardens trap rainwater to help prevent flooding and combined sewer overflows and also improve air quality and beautify neighborhoods.

By Chris Teale • Aug. 30, 2019

St. Louis, DHS team up for smart city pilot

The pilot program will help the city improve its emergency response to extreme weather with flood, video and route management sensors. 

By Cailin Crowe • Aug. 30, 2019

Austin, TX to increase green job access for people of color

The initiative will disperse grants between $10,000 and $50,000 each for equitable workforce development and green job opportunities.

By Cailin Crowe • Aug. 28, 2019

Utah researchers analyze transit data to determine pollution offsets

A University of Utah study found the state's public transit system offsets 1.5% of the region's on-road greenhouse gas emissions.

By Katie Pyzyk • Aug. 28, 2019

Columbus, OH is first non-compliant city to meet ozone air quality standard

By increasing mass transit and EV use, the city reduced vehicle emissions and nitrogen oxide, one of the biggest sources of urban pollution. 

By Jason Plautz • Aug. 26, 2019

NYC steps up outreach to homeless using subway as shelter

The city's HOME-STAT initiative has helped more than 2,200 citizens transition off the streets since it launched three years ago. 

By Katie Pyzyk • Aug. 23, 2019

Study: Florida, California home to most limited evacuation routes

As natural disasters intensify, StreetLight Data used machine-learning algorithms to identify the U.S. communities with the highest vehicle evacuation risk.

By Kristin Musulin • Aug. 22, 2019

Smart cities 'doomed from the start' without better broadband

At the Colorado Smart Cities Symposium, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-CO, urged cities to boost spending around access or risk falling behind.

By Jason Plautz • Aug. 22, 2019

Twin Cities cuts overnight rail service, displacing homeless

The action has sparked a familiar debate: What can be done about people experiencing homelessness who use trains for shelter?  

By Katie Pyzyk • Aug. 21, 2019

Texas officials 'unaware' of any ransom payments after widespread attack

More than half of the 23 organizations impacted are "back to operations as usual" after the August attack, according to the Texas Department of Information Resources. 

By Samantha Schwartz • Updated Sept. 9, 2019

Mississippi's largest city ends recycling

After trying for months, Jackson officials found a way out of their curbside agreement. Questions remain about how it happened — and what comes next.

By Cole Rosengren • Aug. 20, 2019

Study: Breathing dirty air is like smoking a pack a day

Although emissions of air pollutants have dropped in recent decades, recent EPA data shows that air quality has actually declined in many cities. 

By Jason Plautz • Aug. 16, 2019

How 'green' concrete can help cities fight climate change

The built environment produces over 40% of global CO2 emissions. U.S. mayors are taking the lead to cut emissions with CO2 mineralized concrete.

By Cailin Crowe • Aug. 15, 2019