In 1950 only 30% of people lived in urban areas, now over 56% of people live in increasingly crowded cities – and that is expected to rise to 66% by 2050 as an additional 2.5 billion people join the global urban population. Urbanization creates numerous issues for citizens, including congestion, pollution, and poverty, but our crowded cities also create problems for the wider world. Cities currently consume 78% of the world’s energy and produce more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions, but account for less than 2% of the Earth’s surface.  In response, we have seen ‘green city’ and ‘smart city’ initiatives emerge to tackle traffic issues by encouraging green transport and disincentivizing fossil-fueled vehicles. We have seen air quality monitoring systems designed to understand and address air pollution, video surveillance has increased to improve safety on the street, and broad data collection has inspired an array of urban design enhancements. However, the green and smart city movements […]