The Joburg smart city approach

Smart cities have a variety of definitions and interpretations. To the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), a smart city is citizen-centric, innovative and inclusive, where all citizens have access to services and information, which enhances socioeconomic development and service delivery. It is a safe, sustainable, convenient, prosperous and resilient city.

CoJ’s smart city approach seeks to address the legacy of apartheid and underdevelopment of townships by repairing and rebuilding broken parts of the city and laying solid foundations for a smart city that is globally competitive,” explains Lawrence Boya, director: Smart City Programme, CoJ.

The effects of apartheid on Johannesburg

In any city, there is typically the centre – called the central business district (CBD) – which is flanked by different industries. People usually also live within the CBD or close to it.

“With apartheid, black people could not live within the city centre; they had to live further away from the CBD in terms of the Group Areas Act. To this day, there is still a legacy where people travel far distances from their homes (such as from Soweto, Orange Farm, Diepsloot, Ivory Park) to places of work. This needs to be corrected. We need to bring work and amenities closer to where people live,” says Boya.

He adds that technology is a great enabler in this respect, where people can now access goods and services through online platforms. “Rolling out broadband and Wi-Fi in public spaces is a great equaliser because then people do not have to travel to access goods and services, and can work from their homes. Making CoJ a smart city helps in incrementally chipping away at inequalities created by apartheid.”

A digital environment

Using smart technology and processes can provide better quality and efficient services to the residents, businesses, investors and visitors of CoJ. “Connectivity should be seen as a basic service; however, CoJ cannot be viewed as a smart city if it is not providing water, electricity and waste management to its citizens,” states Boya. The aim is for CoJ to be connected digitally wall to wall, where Wi-Fi and 5G are available in all public areas and every home can be fibre connected. “People should be able to transact, look for a job, order goods or study online wherever they are, at any time of the day and any day of the week through the city’s digital infrastructure,” he adds.

Fortunately, private companies are installing infrastructure in places like Soweto, making it easier to create a lastmile connection.

A city of convenience

“In a smart city, services and products needed by citizens should be easy to access. We are looking at a 15-minute city, where everything is in close proximity and there is not a constant need to drive everywhere. Children can cycle to schools; people can walk to the shops,” adds Boya.

Queues can be eliminated by offering more services online and digitalising all paper-based and manual functions and services. This will further reduce the need to drive or travel long distances to access services and will shorten the associated timeframes.

“Anyone who owns a smartphone should be able to access government services. The Smart City Programme is driving the digitalisation of all municipal departments.

Smart City Programme

“Just after the 2010 [FIFA] World Cup, CoJ created a dedicated Smart City office.

This office shapes the agenda of the City and long-term development strategy in terms of smart cities. We evaluate global trends and find ways to infuse smart city ideas into the CoJ’s plans. We work together with all departments within the municipality to drive a smart city agenda,” explains Boya.

The Joburg Smart City Strategy has eight pillars: 1) Smart citizen 2) Digitally connected and intelligent city 3) Safe city 4) Smart institution 5) Smart governance 6) Sustainable, liveable and resilient city 7) Smart services 8) Digital/smart economy.

Barriers to smart cities

“Besides the obvious need for digital infrastructure, South Africa must have enabling legislation at a national level. We have a Smart Cities Framework that has been developed by CoGTA but we need to legislate smart cities. Smart cities should be part of government’s National Development Plan. Furthermore, South Africa needs its own smart city standards that will serve as a form of standardisation and for benchmarking. We have looked at the global smart city standards and used best practices and global benchmarks to compare our performance, but there are cases where they are not all applicable to South Africa,” says Boya.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE SMART CITY PROGRAMME

• The expansion of the City’s broadband network and the rollout of free

Wi-Fi hotspots to identified townships, hostels, flats, student villages and old age homes. • The implementation of public library IT hubs, library e-learning programmes and the Jozi Digital Ambassadors programme that develops skills for the Fourth

Industrial Revolution. • Reducing paperwork and bringing services online via digital platforms such as Zenzele e-Joburg portal, e-patient record (e-Health), e-Billing, rollout of smart electricity meters, introduction of the e-Services portal through Project

Tlhabologo, including other online services such as e-Valuations and e-Recruitment. • To improve safety, an Intelligent Integrated Operations Centre has been developed, and will be expanded to be the hub of all City operations; an intelligent smart traffic system is in place; and the CCTV footprint in the city is being expanded. This integrates all municipal data on a single platform in a bid to improve decision-making on critical service delivery issues, using technology. • CoJ has held a Smart City Innovation Challenge in collaboration with Wits

University’s Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct. The aim is to find and develop digital technology solutions that respond to urban and community challenges and then pilot these solutions around the city. • There are also plans to develop a unified data and information portal. A draft data strategy is being developed and City data portals are under construction. • Going forward, any social housing must be built with new building considerations such as the installation of alternative energy solutions, rainwater harvesting systems, and/or rooftop gardens. A waste-to-energy plant is under planning for a public-private partnership. • Using digital geoinformatics for resource and infrastructure inventory, street name provision and street address management, as well as land-use management, zoning and town planning. Other geoinformatics applications used include digital mapping systems for public data provision, healthcare planning and monitoring of public health risks, City service proximity analysis, and transportation planning and service routing. • The CoJ has also rolled out a number of smart mobility initiatives such as cashless ticketing systems, traffic signal boards, a mobile app and digital route tracking. CoJ is currently reviewing its policies and by-laws to ensure that they encourage smart city practices everywhere. The municipality is also including smart city KPIs in all its departmental budgets and plans.

“It is also important to mobilise society and include them into the smart city conversation. What is their vision of a smart city? A smart city mindset is important, and we need to include CoJ citizens wherever possible,” concludes Boya.