How can intelligent technology and scenario-based operations transform urban neighborhoods into smart, future-ready environments?

The current development of future cities is showing an accelerated trend of competitive dynamics, with the frequent emergence of “black swan” events such as pandemics, wars, and socio-economic crises. Although the development of future cities is accompanied by complex uncertainties in terms of society, economy, and environment, the continuous advancement of intelligent technology is a crucial determinant, which will lead to the emergence of a series of innovative intelligent services, products, technologies, and applications, driving the “intelligent evolution and iteration” of future cities.

As future cities expand rapidly, urban neighborhoods are undergoing network layout and spatial reconstruction with information technologies and technological innovation in addition to boosting its spatial carrying capacity. “Smart neighborhood” is a new type of neighborhoods transformed from existing city blocks by utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) intelligent sensing devices and fundamental networks, and characterized by advanced infrastructure, efficient management services, intelligent and user-friendly environment, and distinct future-oriented attributes.

This article entitled “The Pathway of “Intelligent Construction + Scenario Operation” for Smart Neighborhoods of Future City”, which was published on the journal of Landscape Architecture Frontiers, and addresses the needs of future urban neighborhoods in terms of living, transportation, safety, and ecological construction. Focusing on the topic of “how to use innovative methods to meet the demands of the renewal and development of future neighborhood scenarios,” this article explores the pathway of “intelligent construction + scenario operation” that traditional urban construction can assimilate insights from futurology and artificial intelligence, so as to delve into a technological framework that simulates and extrapolates the future of cities.

This pathway of “intelligent construction + scenario operation” for smart neighborhood construction proposed in the article highlights its innovative introduction of intelligent technology into the process of urban design, neighborhood renewal, and scenario operation, with the steps as “city sensing—spatial assessment—intelligent construction + scenario operation—intervention tool selection—pathway verification” .

The rationality of the pathway of “intelligent construction + scenario operation” needs to be verified through the full-process application of forward-looking projects. This article takes the case of Shanghai Vanke Future City (NEXUS) Project (“Future City Project” hereafter) for demonstration. After preliminary scheming by the Shanghai Municipal Government and joint technical demonstrations with enterprises, the project has gradually established a hierarchical technical module system at city, unit, and scenario levels. The city-level technical modules, based on digital twin technology, integrate and upgrade existing urban infrastructure including transportation, energy, water resources, waste, and blue-green networks. The unit-level technical modules are developed upon the “10-minute community life circle” to create a distinctive, highly integrated networked governance unit. The scenario-level technical modules can effectively incorporate technological innovations into diverse daily scenarios such as transportation, life services, security, and ecology. In the Future City Project, the “intelligent construction + scenario operation” pathway is mainly demonstrated in scenarios of “intelligent transportation,” “convenient living,” “inclusiveness and security,” and “environmental governance”.

The project becomes the model of combining production, ecology, and living together under Shanghai’s new city strategy, and has gained positive social impacts. It verifies that the pathway is conducive to improving the design, construction, and operation qualities of future urban neighborhoods, providing a reference for China’s smart neighborhood construction in the future.