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smart cities

Reimagining Streets, Not Roads

by Jason Packenham. Urban leaders are reimagining Australia’s future cities, starting with Streets 2.0 – a cross-disciplinary forum held in Sydney – with the conversation to continue in March at the Cities 4.0 Summit in Melbourne. With autonomous vehicles on the horizon, now is the time for such events. Provocative discussions at Streets 2.0 raised as many questions as answers. In continuing this provocation, this piece is as much a recap as it is a wondering of where to from here. What do we mean by the street? What role do streets play in our cities today? What do we want and need from them? Looking forward, what is their role in a future with autonomous vehicles? How do we achieve some of the grand visions of Streets 2.0? Are they possible? …

  • 16 jan 2017
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Future Street is Coming

Street Furniture Australia will proudly contribute furniture prototypes to the Future Street installation in Sydney this October, with ideas set to enliven your lunch break, outdoor meeting or commute. The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA), Internet of Things Alliance Australia (IOTAA) and Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand (SCCANZ) will build the street of the future at Circular Quay on Alfred Street, in front of Customs House, from October 12 to 15. Place Design Group is leading the design and build of the project, which forms part of the 2017 International Festival of Landscape Architecture: The 3rd City. A four-day celebration will showcase a range of street, landscape, IoT, utilities, transport, urban design and placemaking technologies and ideas, including self-driving vehicles, with the Australian Government recently announced as a …

  • 27 sep 2017
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In Profile: Adam Beck

As Founding Executive Director of the Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand, Adam Beck has a mission to accelerate sustainability in cities and towns through technology, data and intelligent design. The Council partnered with AILA and the Internet of Things Alliance Australia to demonstrate these ideas in action in Sydney with the Future Street, designed by Place Design Group as part of the 2017 International Festival of Landscape Architecture. Beck is also an Ambassador with Portland-based think tank EcoDistricts, a former lecturer and studio lead in social impact assessment and community engagement at the University of Queensland, and spent 15 years with global consulting firms like Arup. He shares his Future Street findings and vision for next-gen cities in a smarter, more sustainable world. What can we learn from Future Street? Future Street exceeded our …

  • 31 oct 2017
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Win A Smart Watch

Thank you to everyone who entered! See the winner of the smart watch, and the battle of the brands, in this StreetChat article. Equip yourself for a smart city with a smart watch. Get ready to go hands-free and enhance your smartphone with a clever wearable. The technology is maturing fast, with new apps and upgrades appearing all the time. Benefits include checking notifications in meetings without taking out your phone. Track your fitness and health. Play music. Pay on the go. Use navigation apps on foot, hands-free. Set a smart alarm to wake you up in light sleep. Tell the time. Oh, and look cool. One lucky StreetChat subscriber will receive a smart watch, your choice of Apple or Android, valued at up to $600. Will it be the Apple Watch Series 3, …

  • 17 jan 2017
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Smart Furniture Project Launches with Georges River Council

Georges River Council with University of New South Wales (UNSW) has launched the Smart Social Spaces Project, an investigation into smart furniture, communities and urban management. Street Furniture Australia is the industry partner for this project. The $658,000 project will see smart furniture installed in a busy plaza, Memorial Square in Hurstville, and a green community space, Olds Park in Penhurst. Sensors on the furniture will monitor how the space is used, providing data on how it may better serve the community. The project is an opportunity, says Georges River Council Mayor Kevin Greene, to lead the exploration of smart public spaces that directly benefit the community. “Council is keen to explore the role technology can play in connecting the community to public spaces, how it can help us to …

  • 14 mar 2018
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Smart Social Spaces on Radio

ABC Radio Sydney’s Richard Glover chats with Georges River Council Mayor Kevin Greene and Dr Nancy Marshall from UNSW about the Smart Social Spaces project. The following is a transcript of the program, which aired on April 10, 2018. RG. A new policy of embedding sensors in everything from barbeques to park benches. Fans say it helps Councils know what’s needed, but how do the public feel? How often does someone sit on the bench in your local park? How often is the playground equipment used? How often does a family turn up and use the barbeque to have a picnic on a Saturday afternoon? The Georges River Council is working to find out the answer to all those questions with academics from the University of NSW, to place sensors …

  • 13 apr 2018
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