how can resilience thinking unlock the complexity …...the future of cities. by engaging with...

1How can resilience thinking unlock the complexity of cities? |

How can resilience thinking unlock the complexity of cities?

2 | How can resilience thinking unlock the complexity of cities?

In the pursuit of better citiesOver the last 200 years, the world’s urban population has grown from 3% to more than 50%. This figure is expected to rise to 70% by 2050. Cities today account for more than 80% of global gross domestic product and have contributed to global growth through increased productivity and rates of innovation. Urbanisation has helped lift countries out of poverty, provided millions of people with access to opportunities and life-changing services, and nurtured their creativity and imagination.

But cities also reveal the worst aspects of humanity by amplifying our tendencies towards greed, violence and discrimination. Cities may be the engines driving the global economy, but they are also the source of and setting for a multitude of seemingly intractable societal problems. As Geoffrey West of the Santa Fe Institute, a leading science and technology think tank, observes: “From global warming to homelessness, from debt crises to energy shortages, from insufficient water to outbreaks of disease, name any problem that concerns humanity and the city is the crucible where you will find it bubbling away”¹.

The desire to mitigate urban problems like disease, poverty, crime and congestion has been a primary motivator for urban policy-making, as has the desire to make cities more attractive, more efficient and more equitable. But by all measures, traditional urban policy interventions have been found wanting. People living in cities are becoming less healthy, crime is increasing, transport systems are clogging up, and economic and social divisions are becoming more pronounced.

“From global warming to homelessness, from debt crises to energy shortages, from insufficient water to outbreaks of disease, name any problem that concerns humanity and the city is the crucible where you will find it bubbling away.”

1 West, G. (2014) The Growing Importance of Megacities, Huffington Post, 27 March.

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

-

World rural population

1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

2035

2040

2045

2050

World urban population

$40,000

$35,000

$30,000

$25,000

$20,000

$15,000

$10,000

$5,000

$-0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-100%

Med

ian

per c

apita

GDP

(PPP

,201

5)

Proportion of national population living in urban areas

Geoffrey West, Santa Fe Institute

Figure 1: By 2050, nearly 70 per cent of the global population will live in cities.

Source: United Nations Population Division


To create better cities, we must improve our understanding of their complex and dynamic nature, and the vital role that they play as social incubators. But this is a far cry from prevailing urban practices, which tend to conceive of cities as complicated machines comprising infrastructure, buildings, transport systems, utility networks, land uses and populations that can be individually managed and controlled. This belief that tinkering with the parts in order to change the whole conveys a deep misunderstanding about the true nature of cities.

The stakes for change could not be higher. Based on historical rates, growth in global urbanisation will be largely over in a few decades. How that plays out is of profound consequence to the future of humanity and the planet, but many cities are grossly unprepared for the overwhelming number of challenges associated with this process.

City leaders urgently need to address these challenges, but to do so they must first confront a more fundamental one — how to overcome persistent misconceptions about the nature of cities so that they are able to better deal with the problems of cities.

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

-

World rural population

1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

2035

2040

2045

2050

World urban population

$40,000

$35,000

$30,000

$25,000

$20,000

$15,000

$10,000

$5,000

$-0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-100%

Med

ian

per c

apita

GDP

(PPP

,201

5)

Proportion of national population living in urban areas

Figure 2: National incomes of highly urbanised countries are more than eight times that of the least urbanised

Source: CIA World Factbook

Rethinking citiesOur assumptions about the nature of cities and how they function go to the very heart of our capacity to confront the growing number of urban problems we face today.

A shared systems-view of cities, seen through the lens of resilience, can help us better address urban challenges, optimise the performance of cities and make them less prone to disruption.


Cities as complex adaptive systems Over the past few years, new insights coming from the study of complex systems have begun to shed light on the nature of cities. Researchers at institutions like the Santa Fe Institute have been shedding light on some of the key attributes of cities, which has important implications for decision-makers.

A growing body of empirical work shows that cities are complex adaptive systems with very unique characteristics and dynamics. Cities have a networked, unbounded and emergent quality, where things are always in a state of flux and where an understanding of the individual parts does not convey an understanding of the whole. This dynamic nature of cities tends to make many of the policy problems that governments are tackling today resistant to simplified analysis and, more importantly, to resolution. Cities respond to events and interventions in ways that are unpredictable and surprising.

The journalist, author and activist Jane Jacobs observed this dilemma more than fifty years ago in her seminal work, Death and Life of Great American Cities. She saw urban problems as complex problems involving multiple elements that are “interrelated into an organic whole” and that cannot be dealt with through top-down mechanical control. Jacobs urged city leaders to understand the real “kind of problem a city is”.

That advice is as relevant today as it was then. If we are to create cities that encourage the full potential of human creativity in a sustainable way, then we need a new paradigm that draws upon the lessons learned from the emerging science of cities – one that acknowledges and responds to the complex and highly adaptive nature of cities.

“Cities have a networked, unbounded and emergent quality, where things are always in a state of flux and where an understanding of the individual parts does not convey an understanding of the whole. ”



Seeing complexity through the lens of resilience“Resilience” is a term that emerged from the field of ecology in the 1970s to describe the capacity of natural ecosystems — prototypical examples of complex adaptive systems — to maintain or recover functionality in the event of disruption or disturbance. Because cities are complex systems that are constantly adapting to changing circumstances, resilience is equally applicable to how we manage them.

100 Resilient Cities (100RC) - pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation - describes urban resilience as “the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience”. Cities begin to lose their resilience when the multiple networked and interacting elements necessary to their functioning do not keep up with growth and change, such as those that deliver energy and information. If these networks are diminished or broken, it will lead to sub-optimal performance of the system or system failure.

Improving urban resilience involves keeping the flows and interactions of a city functioning by building redundancy into networks – by adding more and more links so that it becomes harder to disrupt them. This way, if some links break down, others will come into effect. A good practical example of this is a city that incorporates flexibility in travel patterns across its transportation network to account for sudden increases in demand, or failure, in one or more parts of the network.

We see modern cities as comprising three primary networks: citizens, technology and institutions. Resilience is achieved by integrating, maintaining and expanding these networks so that cities are less prone to disruption and can realise their full potential.

“Resilience in the context of cities refers to the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience. ”



CitizensCities are first and foremost massive social networks that enable humans as a social species to be incredibly creative and productive. Expanding social connectivity in cities increases opportunities for civic participation, the coordination of labour, and the creation of new forms of social and economic organisation. Human interactions and the decisions and actions that arise from them produce effects that are familiar to economists, sociologists and policy makers. These include demand for goods and services and a range of positive and negative impacts, such as innovation, crime and public health.

In the language of complex adaptive systems, cities are, at their simplest, collections of individual agents that separately and collectively influence system dynamics. According to Professor Michael Batty of University College London, cities “… evolve through millions of individual decisions which combine to produce emergent patterns”². Because policy making is largely centralised and top down, and cities evolve from the bottom up, there is an inherent conflict and tension between the two. The challenge for city leaders is to provide an integrated view and policy response.

2 Batty, M. (2014) The New Science of Cities, MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts.


What citizens want in their cities EY sees citizens as a huge and engaged asset that can be tapped to help shape the future of cities. By engaging with citizens, decision makers can gain access to new, rich and diverse thinking — that will help them grow a city while retaining the essence of what makes it great.

New Australian research by EY Sweeney has found that more than three-quarters of citizens surveyed are proud of the city in which they live. The study identified six qualities that establish a sense of belonging, community and genuine connection with a city:

Citizens who are most positive about their city have a strong emotional connection to it. They don’t just speak of the physical environment, but rather the qualities that make them feel part of the city. They have a pronounced sense of belonging to their community and the city at large.

But they also talk about their mounting frustrations with issues such as housing affordability and public transport. They fear that some new developments aren’t being accompanied by the infrastructure needed to keep their cities liveable. If these problems are not addressed, the strengths of citizen loyalty and pride, which currently give city leaders a cache of goodwill, will be undermined.

Affordability Agility Amenity Safety Spaces Opportunity

1 2 3 4 5 6

The lifestyle a city offers citizens as they weigh up actual costs and the broader opportunity presented.

Seamless integration of services, systems and information so citizens can fully and spontaneously participate in the city experience without wasting time.

Access to essential services, healthy environments and social activity to support whole of life well-being, community growth and learning.

To support citizens’ desire to be active in their communities at any time of the day.

A rich array of purposeful spaces that reflect different moods and occasions to demonstrate the abundance of the city experience.

The economic, social and cultural opportunities that allow citizens to live the life they want.



TechnologyTechnology plays a central role in enabling social interactions to form and persist. Technology increases social connectivity and allows cities to develop in ways that are productive and sustainable. Technology comes in many forms: from the infrastructure networks that support the delivery of mobility services, like transport, to the information networks that allow us to access the human dynamics of cities by analysing the ‘data exhaust’ of its citizens and industries.

The nature of urbanisation means that every aspect of people’s lives is dependent on a city’s infrastructure networks to sustain health, security, economic opportunity and social well-being. Although there are many factors that threaten urban infrastructure networks — such as natural hazards, aging and failing materials, and inadequate maintenance — the greatest challenges that cities face are due most often to the complexity of highly sophisticated and networked transportation, power, water, telecommunication and information systems.


The convergence of information and communication technologies offers new ways in which to understand cities and the challenges they face. Smart city technologies allow city leaders to better monitor, analyse and plan cities so that they can manage resources and infrastructure in a sustainable way, create opportunities for growth and improve quality of life for citizens.

At EY, we have developed a digital tool for comparing cities along four “smart” dimensions. Resilience, Citizens, Ecosystem and Technology. The tool allows decision-makers to assess and compare a city’s smartness potential, identify key players, and to learn from the global community. It covers a broad range of application areas, from digital services to sustainable development, from mobility services to broadband.

Our approach examines cities from a variety of angles, to give decision-makers a complete picture of the unique challenges to tackle, and the assets and opportunities upon which their cities can capitalise. Using advanced data gathering and qualitative and quantitative analysis, cities are evaluated against international best practices and peer cities. City leaders are given a 360 degree perspective of their situation so that they can uncover the real imperatives for urban growth and change management, identify gaps and scope out opportunities.

How smart is your city?



InstitutionsCities rely upon networks of multiple, interdependent people-based organisations that all have a role to play in city development and management. Optimising these networks so that the full institutional capacity of cities can be unleashed in an integrated and coordinated way is key to resolving highly complex urban and broader societal problems.

Current forms of governance have not evolved sufficiently alongside the complex networks of interdependent actors that shape and reshape cities — from private citizens and industries to institutions and civil society. Intractable problems are best addressed by planning, funding and deploying solutions that are integrated and coordinated between public and private actors, and that respond to society’s preferences and needs.

In this sense, governance in the context of urban resilience is not so much about what governments do, but rather the outcomes of interactions between all organisations operating in the public sphere.


The Power of Three for smarter, more resilient citiesHow well entrepreneurs, corporations and governments work together will determine how effectively cities can transform to build a better working urban world.

At EY, we call this the “Power of Three”. For government and business to collaborate successfully on smart, sustainable solutions to urban development, the citizen must be at the centre. Cities, after all, are the cumulative expression of their citizens and cannot grow and thrive without them. Citizens should feel connected to their city — through infrastructure and digital delivery, physical and social interaction, and emotional engagement.

The impact of the Power of Three for smarter and more resilient cities will rest on co-developing innovative initiatives to deliver long-term prosperity to citizens and the cities they inhabit. In these collaborations, government, business and entrepreneurs each have their own burning considerations, but — in exploring these different dimensions of smart and resilient cities — their common focus should be on outcomes for residents, including improving and facilitating their connection to their city. These dimensions cut across the physical, digital and community elements of the challenges facing cities today, and they provide a common playbook for investment and collaboration in the years to come.

Government Business Entrepreneurs

• Data and agility

• Institutional settings

• Real time and granular data

• Smart assets

• Planning rules to drive resilience

• Major investment and financial incentives

• Emerging trends• Early start

resilience ventures• Emerging technologies



Principles for a new urban paradigmIf those involved in the development and management of cities are to effect change, there needs to be a shift away from seeing the individual parts towards seeing the whole. The challenge is to transition from a reductionist perspective of cities to one that cuts through to the counterintuitive reality of the city — of the patterns of networks and flows that connect seemingly disparate people and things.

According to the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100RC, “building urban resilience requires looking at a city holistically: understanding the systems that make up the city and the interdependencies and risks they may face”. Taking a whole-of-system approach to city planning and management by understanding the citizen, technology and institutional networks of a city will lead to improved diagnosis of urban problems, enable the development of coherent policies and plans to address them, and improve urban resilience. Resilience is about building human-centred capacity within the urban system to deal with unexpected change. This builds on a central learning from emergency and disaster management and recovery: the most resilient communities are the most empowered to manage their own situations.

The following five principles provide a framework and reference point for city leaders that acknowledge the complex dynamics that create and enhance the resilience of cities.

“Building urban resilience requires looking at a city holistically: understanding the systems that make up the city and the interdependencies and risks they may face.”

Rethinking Cities in an age of Complexity

Better Questions

1 | Maintain diversityMultiple components performing similar functions can allow some components to compensate for the loss or failure of others

2 | Optimise networksOptimised networks can safeguard cities against shocks either by enabling recovery or by preventing impacts from spreading

4 | Engage in broad collaborationA diversity of perspectives can expand depth of knowledge, help detect and interpret disruptions, and improve the legitimacy of solutions

3 | Foster systems thinkingAccepting that within cities there are multiple connections occurring at the same time on different levels is a key step towards resilience action

5 | Learn through disruptionDisruptions and chronic stresses should be seen as opportunities to enhance knowledge and to build a better understanding of the nature of cities

How can we exploit data to identify the networks and flows that matter most within cities?

How do we maximise efficiency while also providing the back-ups, alternatives and spare capacity needed to improve the resilience of city systems?

Are there better ways to make decisions that aligns with the emergent and unpredictable nature of cities?

What forms of networked governance involving many different actors across the city will lead to better urban outcomes?

How can we build a strong culture of knowledge and learning from past events to improve our ability to respond to recurring shocks on disruptions?



Maintain diversity

Evidence from ecology suggests that systems with many components are more resilient than those with fewer components. The presence of multiple components performing similar functions can provide redundancy within a system by allowing some components to compensate for the loss or failure of others. In cities, resilience is enhanced through diversity of multiple subsystems — multiple industries, businesses, transport modes, housing types, ecological species, water sources, energy sources, institutions and social groups.

For example, economic diversity in cities — expressed through industry, enterprise and occupational diversity — offers resilience in the face of economic change. Economic diversity provides cities with insurance against major economic shocks, shifting global value chains and the impacts of natural and technological change. An extreme example of economic homogeneity is the city of Detroit, in the U.S. state of Michigan, which suffered severely because of its all-eggs-in-one-basket focus on the car industry. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization says that “more diversified economies are less volatile in terms of outputs, and lower output volatility is associated with higher economic growth”³.

Optimise networks

Networks and connectivity can influence the resilience of systems in a range of ways. They can safeguard cities against shocks either by enabling recovery or by preventing the impacts from spreading. But connectivity can also be a double edged sword. While high levels of connectivity can facilitate recovery after a disruption, highly connected systems can also spread disruption faster, as is the case with highly communicable diseases.

In human social networks, high levels of connectivity between individuals and groups can accelerate innovation and the spread of ideas, and help to build trust and reciprocity. High levels of connectivity can lead to disruption of social cohesion – as seen in current notions of ‘fake news’ and ‘echo chambers’, which highlight declining levels of trust in institutions and pluralist views about society.

At the level of urban infrastructure, evidence of system impacts can be seen when things go wrong in parts of a city’s infrastructure network. When a power outage occurs or when a water main breaks, the vulnerability of the vast and interconnected urban infrastructure system becomes apparent, as citizens seek to adjust and cope with darkness, cold and immobility.

Foster systems thinking

Embedded in many of the analytic tools used by policy makers are three key assumptions that simply do not hold true for complex systems like cities. The first is that phenomena are truly independent; the second is that it is possible to extrapolate observations to entire populations; and the third is that linear predictions can be made based on past knowledge. The reality is that events and things can interact in ways that are unexpected, that extrapolations can obscure wide variations contained in complex systems, and that basing decisions on historical data is basically betting on the future based on the past.

Thinking of cities as complex adaptive systems means stepping away from this kind of reductionism and accepting that within the urban system there are multiple connections occurring at the same time on different levels. It means accepting unpredictability and uncertainty, and acknowledging that that there can be no one-size-fits-all solution to a problem.

In the wider quest of understanding cities, new forms of modelling are giving decision-makers insights into city systems and the ways in which the various elements interact. Meanwhile, real-options strategies, which provide a framework for dealing with uncertainty, are helping policy makers improve decision making, minimise costs and reduce the risk of failure in the face of uncertainty.

1 2

3 Kaulich, F. (2012) Diversification vs. specialization as alternative strategies for economic development: Can we settle a debate by looking at the empirical evidence? United Nations Industrial Development Organisation: Vienna.

3


Engage in broad collaboration

In order to better understand and engage with complex urban issues, decision-makers need to be able to examine the whole city — as it truly is — through a panoramic lens. To do this, a much more comprehensive set of perspectives is needed to galvanise ideas about how cities emerge, evolve and are structured. Although in its infancy, a new “science of cities” is emerging that draws upon theoretical physics, biology and complexity science and data analytics. This new science is calling into question the old ideas of order, equilibrium and control, which remain stubbornly embedded in many policy settings.

Involving a diversity of perspectives and stakeholders in urban management can build resilience by expanding the depth and diversity of knowledge, helping to detect and interpret disruptions, and improving the legitimacy of solutions. Connecting citizens with data and problem solving opportunities is an emerging trend in cities that provides for a broader and more responsive suite of solutions to traditional city problems, such as improving public safety. Again, the introduction of ambiguity and the “messiness” of unpredictable human interactions should be seen as an opportunity rather than a risk in planning and supporting resilient cities and communities.

Learn through disruption

Resilience is all about adapting and transforming in response to change. Learning how urban systems work is crucial to developing responsive mitigation and adaptation strategies when shocks occur. Disruptions and chronic stresses should be seen as opportunities to enhance knowledge and to build a better understanding the nature of cities. As we have seen, urban systems are emergent and unpredictable, so knowledge will always be partial and incomplete.

Learning in this context occurs through experimentation and experience — by taking risks, testing out alternative responses to shocks, and constantly revising and changing strategies. Improving responses to shocks and disruptions in cities is only possible when decision-makers seek out and can access information about the effectiveness of their actions. Feedback loops give information about the functioning of cities that can then be used to improve subsequent policy responses.

Even though seemingly improvised and experimental, this iterative and dynamic process should not be seen as a deficiency, but rather the mark of a learning process that is commensurate with the complex nature of cities.

4 5

“Thinking of cities as complex adaptive systems means stepping away from … reductionism and accepting that within the urban system there are multiple connections occurring at the same time on different levels.”


Actions for city leadersWhen considering these principles, it is essential that city leaders understand their resilience objectives in terms of where resilience efforts should be focused (e.g., economy, infrastructure, communities), and in response to what (e.g., shifting global value chains, natural hazards, disease). In the absence of focus, making the status quo more resilient can reinforce and entrench existing urban problems, such as social inequities, unemployment, isolation and crime in cities.

Because cities are dynamic and their context ever changing, resilience efforts are almost always provisional and require ongoing adjustment. It is imperative, therefore, that city leaders respond to change and uncertainty by remaining adaptable and flexible. This means constantly rethinking and reworking practices, exploring ways to better prepare for uncertainties, and providing flexibility in “solutions”. One of the key challenges for city leaders is having the courage to embrace and learn through experimentation and disruption, and bringing citizens and voters on that journey.

City leaders also need to be aware of possible trade-offs in urban resilience. For example, working on low carbon solutions in order to take action on climate change may come at a cost in terms of decoupling consumption-based CO2 emissions from economic growth. Knowing that the resilience of one thing or at one time may be achieved at the expense of other things and at other times is a key consideration when assessing and managing resilience.

And finally, to keep cities functioning optimally, city leaders must increase their understanding of the way in which different social and physical networks relate and are formed and how they fracture and split. Resilience strategies should focus on mimimising things that hinder social networks and social processes, like crime or distance, and enabling those that facilitate connections.

With these thoughts in mind, the five principles provide a framework for thinking about and working with the complex nature of cities so that they can become more resilient and better sustain and support the well-being of their people. Although cities might be the source and setting of some of the world’s most pressing challenges, they also have the capacity to innovate and to harness resources and human ingenuity to meet these challenges.

The following pages provide some examples of ways in which city leaders are embracing a city systems approach and experimenting with new ways to address a wide range of resilience challenges.

“Although cities might be the source and setting of some of the world’s most pressing challenges, they also have the capacity to innovate and to harness resources and human ingenuity to meet these challenges. ”

Creating new forms of networked and collaborative governance

Enhanced resilience benefits from multi-level forms of governance that involve collective action from the public, private and not for profit sectors, and from more deliberative forms of democracy at the level of the city. Cities like Vancouver in Canada are coordinating policies and resources between national, provincial and local‐regional governments to ensure its major capital programs align with goals at all levels. The introduction of City Deals in Australia is bringing together local, state and federal governments, the community and private interests to create place-based partnerships to improve urban outcomes. New digital applications like ‘Unlimited Cities’ developed by French architect Alain Renk allow citizens to share their vision of the city to help guide the choices of policy-makers. These are examples of an emerging paradigm shift away from paternalistic forms of governance to one that is more networked from the bottom up.

• Optimise networks• Engage in broad collaboration

Building economic resilience in the face of uncertainty

The 2007–08 global financial crisis highlighted the fact that shocks to complex systems can result in very large economic losses. The principal lesson to be drawn from this is that policymakers ought to focus more on building resilience in order to avoid catastrophic economic outcomes rather than chasing high levels of growth. The City of Surrey in British Columbia, Canada, recognises the need to enhance economic resilience through a diverse range of industries and skills and a strong business community. In 2016, the City launched its Economic Diversification Strategy, which sets out how it will collaborate with businesses, universities and not-for-profits to identify and encourage investment in a wider range of economic activities, train its workforce in the skills of the future, and develop the innovative capacity of local businesses.

• Maintain diversity• Engage in broad collaboration

Using data and smart tools to better understand the workings of cities

Every day, city leaders make policy, planning and investment decisions that have wide-ranging implications for citizens. Data and smart city technologies provide tools for improving our understanding of the complex nature of cities and the possibility of generating high-quality inputs to decision processes. In the densely populated island city-state of Singapore, a data-enriched virtual representation of the city is being created to help policy makers map networks and connections, monitor trends, and model future scenarios. The technology synthesises demographic, infrastructure, environmental, economic, property and a host of other data, providing a glimpse into how all the systems within the city interact with and impact each other.

• Optimise networks• Foster systems thinking• Learn through disruption



Applying systems thinking to help tackle persistent urban problems

Bringing science, technology and data together with networks of practitioners and policy makers can help city leaders get closer to solving their most persistent urban problems. In the United States, officials from the City of Santa Fe are collaborating with the Santa Fe Institute to use complex systems thinking to better understood and respond to critical challenges for the city. By analysing real-world data to identify previously hidden relationships and interactions, they are looking for innovative ways to address complex and persistent problems relating to sustainability and carbon neutrality, public health, and low education attainment and high crime rates among youth.

• Optimise networks• Engage in broad collaboration• Foster systems thinking

Leveraging social networks in times of crisis

The strength of social networks within cities is central to minimising human vulnerability and maximising recovery after disasters. The ability for cities to recover from shocks — natural or human made — depends not just upon physical infrastructure or government assistance, but also upon the quality of connections that citizens have with one another. Cities that are vulnerable to natural hazards — including Wellington, San Francisco and Tokyo — are setting aside funds to encourage connections among neighbors so that communities are better able handle the emotional, financial and logistical challenges thrown up by such shocks. In Australia, the Red Cross has published a manual for first responders training them in how to leverage personal, family and community networks in emergency planning, preparation and response.


Using data to optimise and learn from urban transport networks

One of the many challenges for cities is how to manage urban transportation networks to enhance production and trade, delivery of goods, the formation of social networks and the spread of ideas. In London, data from payment and travel smart cards — which log where people enter the system, where they leave it and which mode they choose — are being used to help optimise the city’s public transport network. Such data are extremely useful for not only estimating transport demand relating to these networks, but also for understanding the spatial extent of some social and economic networks and for working out how enhancements or disruptions to the system might affect them.

• Optimise networks• Foster systems thinking• Learn through disruption


Building redundancy into energy networks

Energy systems are so interconnected with other urban systems that the loss of power for any length of time can cause widespread disruption. Yet the energy sector is where traditional engineering-based approaches to networks have consistently failed to pre-empt and resolve issues associated with complex interconnected systems. One example of a city working towards reducing the vulnerability of its energy networks is New York in the United States, where a microgrid project is being piloted in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Microgrid is a community-powered energy grid that can operate independently from the larger grid during power outages, providing the neighbourhood with a resilient grid that can serve as an alternative source of energy in case of emergencies.

• Optimise networks• Learn through disruption

Taking collective action to overcome fiscal distress

The capacity for cities to accommodate growth and change and meet the needs of their citizens is becoming increasingly difficult in the face of diminishing fiscal autonomy. Cities that are unable to balance their budgets and fund debts and liabilities are unable to build and maintain infrastructure or provide essential services, which in turn impacts the well-being of citizens and the competitiveness of industries. The “Grand Bargain” that enabled the city of Detroit’s swift exit from the United States’ largest municipal bankruptcy could provide a model for other cities facing fiscal crises. To minimise the wider economic impacts of the city’s $20 billion bankruptcy filing, a consortium of locally connected businesses and foundations collectively pledged $366 million to help Detroit successfully implement its plan of adjustment.


Putting citizens at the centre of government service planning and delivery

In many instances, city services are a complex patchwork of different local, regional and national approaches that operate alongside each other, are designed from the “top down” and that mirror the structures of government more than the needs and priorities of citizens. To help prevent individuals “falling through the cracks”, forward-thinking governments are designing bottom up systems-level changes that put people at the centre of service planning and delivery. One example of this can be found in the Australian state of New South Wales, where cities and towns will soon benefit from a combination of smart technology and citizen-centred service design to improve child protection. Developed by the Family and Community Services agency, these reforms will improve complex case management and support of at-risk children in out-of-home care by focusing on the child’s full experience: from needing help to receiving help.

• Optimise networks• Engage in broad collaboration• Foster systems thinking


Smart and resilient cities at EY Resilient cities are a critical enabler for economic growth and competitiveness and community well-being. At EY, we operate across economic, physical, social and environmental dimensions to advise on smart and resilient city projects in diverse settings. We work with government, industry and institutions to address the pressures of growth and change so that cities and their regions can grow stronger, more prosperous and more sustainable.

EY is a highly integrated professional services organisation — in our mindset, actions and structure. We have built services that can support the efficient, effective and economic delivery of smart and resilient city programs around the world. Our aim is to help city leaders find new ways to deal with the complexity of cities and position them for the 21st century.


Smart transport Asset information and digital Smart homeAdvice and support on developing and providing multi-modal, multi-operator urban transport strategies

Smart transport infrastructure is a critical enabler for economic growth and competitiveness and should be the backbone of any effective smart city strategy. EY works with the public and private sector across the whole project life cycle, from planning and procurement to services, operations and exit, to help provide the largest and most complex smart transport projects.

Driving value from data within the built environment and across infrastructure

Digital information is transforming the built environment, providing substantial economic, social, safety and performance benefits. Infrastructure intelligence enables significant outcomes for citizens, transport, construction and infrastructure management organisations. This is done through better generation, collection, management and exploitation of information to support technology-enabled transformation.

Advice on smart homes — the automation of energy efficiency and comfort in the home

A three-stage approach to develop and assist implementing a strategy for smart homes: building aspirational customer segmentation, investigating and evaluating innovative services, and mapping the ecosystem, assessing and assist with determining the best models.

Smart metering and smart grid Cybersecurity Innovative funding and financeAdvice and support on smart meter rollouts in many different markets

Smart transformation presents major strategic, operational and technical challenges for clients. EY’s multidisciplinary approach encompasses strategy and business case management; project financing; regulatory control; supply chain and procurement; complex IT strategy definition and deployment; and customer management.

Addressing the challenges of information and cybersecurity risks to business operations

EY works with clients in the following key areas: transforming information security programs; identifying and responding to cyberthreats; advising on identity and access; reducing the risk of information loss; and addressing privacy regulations.

Advising cities on designing, building, financing and operating infrastructure

EY provides robust financial advice to cities on major capital infrastructure projects. This includes capital transformation — valuations and business modeling; lead advisory; transaction integration; restructuring; transaction support; and transaction tax.

Digital Emergency planning Economic developmentSupporting clients as they address the challenges and opportunities that digital creates

EY advises clients in a range of areas, from digital growth to optimisation and protection. Services include digital enterprise strategies; incubation and innovation; customer support supply chain and operations support and digital risk, cyber, governance and audit confidence. This includes advising on business models and operating models that are fit for purpose in a digital world, along with clear road maps and benefits cases.

Supporting cities as they recover financially after disasters

Supporting cities as they recover financially after disasters through insurance claims and federal disaster grant programs. This also includes advice on other funding sources and insurance policy reviews to identify gaps prior to a loss event. EY provides technical knowhow, from accounting services and claim preparation to consulting advice addressing current needs.

Advice and provision of investment strategies, growth projects and innovation drivers

EY advises organisations and local and central governments on innovation, growth and entrepreneurism to help them plan for the future and provide sustainable economic development in an increasingly competitive environment. Our four key services are competitiveness and attractiveness strategies; sector studies and comparative analysis; organisation performance and governance; and urban projects, feasibility and financing.

E-government and government services

Job creation and inclusive growth

Climate change and sustainability services

End-to-end help with designing and providing e-government systems

EY advises city governments on strategy development; target group identification and expectation gathering; blueprint creation; process re-engineering; information technology development; and audit and implementation.

Advice and support on driving job creation and economic growth

EY has created a framework to help governments harness private sector development. The framework helps federal and provincial governments, donor agencies, and international economic development agencies and not-for-profit organizations to drive inclusive growth through job creation. It is designed to encourage entrepreneurial activity in organizations of all sizes and attract domestic and international investment.

Demystifying the highly complex world of sustainability to help identify competitive advantages, increase operational efficiency and limit risk

EY advises clients on assessing and understanding environmental and social metrics that are material to managing their operations. We help them make better business decisions by bringing sustainability into strategic risk, supply chain, marketing, product development, finance and internal audit. We also assist them in managing compliance and operational changes using a pragmatic business approach focusing on cost-effective approaches to material risks.



EY | Assurance | Tax | Transactions | Advisory

About EYEY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

© 2018 Ernst & Young, Australia.All Rights Reserved.

SCORE no. AU00003288ED None. PH1731112

This communication provides general information which is current at the time of production. The information contained in this communication does not constitute advice and should not be relied on as such. Professional advice should be sought prior to any action being taken in reliance on any of the information. Ernst & Young disclaims all responsibility and liability (including, without limitation, for any direct or indirect or consequential costs, loss or damage or loss of profits) arising from anything done or omitted to be done by any party in reliance, whether wholly or partially, on any of the information. Any party that relies on the information does so at its own risk. The views expressed in this article are the views of the author, not Ernst & Young. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

ey.com/au

ContactsAdam Fennessy PSM EY Oceania Future Cities Leader +61 3 9288 8000 [email protected]

Sarah Phillips EY Oceania Infrastructure Advisory Partner +61 2 6267 3888 [email protected]

Matthew Palmen Associate Director, EY Oceania Infrastructure & Future Cities +61 3 9288 8000 [email protected]

Bill Banks EY Global Infrastructure Leader +61 2 9248 4522 [email protected]

George Atalla EY Global Government & Public Sector Leader +1 703 747 1548 [email protected]

how can resilience thinking unlock the complexity …...the future of cities. by engaging with...

Documents