This paper answers six question on the concpet of smart cities i.e. the urban structural plan. The paper specifically focuses on the Living PlanIT and PlanIT Valley Project.
Smart Cities
Summarize the case in one page, in points
Living PlanIT was initiated in May 2008
The Living PlanIT is a company that is founded on the promotion and implementation of sustainable urban environments
The Living PlanIT engaged first in partnerships and alliances with high-profile business like the McLaren Electronic Systems, CISCO, Buro Happold, Aconex and Accenture
The second year of the company saw extended partnering contracts with other platinum and gold partners
The Living PlanIT had no tangible or official headquarters to work out of The Living PlanIT was the follow-up of the DestiNY project -- it replaced the supply chain management model for builders with the process of identifying the suppliers and partners that could help sustain construction activities and the inclusion of modern technologies in the industry
The overall funding and team of the Living PlanIT was limited and small (respectively) initially
The company was given the Potential National Importance (PIN) stature by September 2009 by the Portuguese Government; it was rewarded to the Living PlanIT due to its potential of bringing together and developing the small-sized and medium-sized companies through joint financial investments; it was rewarded to also potentially increase international investments and global expansions; The PIN stature was granted with preset instructions of attaining certain goals within the six-month period; it stature resulted in increasing benefits for Living PlanIT in the shape of land rezoning, expropriation to eradicate assumptions, tax benefits as well as increase of government support
In 2010, Living PlanIT managed to secure its initial financing structures through partnering with Matrix to kick-start the Living PlanIT valley -- its first project
2. Do you like the Living PlanIT business model? Why or why not?
The Living PlanIT business model is based around networks and the relations they share. Once the network deteriorates, so does the business. Hence, the business model can said to be only as strong as it weakest relation. This also shows that the shareholder and employee relations are the top priority for the success of the business. This is perhaps the only downside of the business model, considering only the fact the importance on networking that this business model places. In my opinion, the Living PlanIT Business Model is a very efficient one, especially in the modern corporate structures. IT relies on good employee relations, good supplier relations and good manufacturing relations to conduct positive business. These three components are extremely important when dealing with longevity of any business structure. Furthermore, when dealing specifically with a project like urbanized construction, it is the most feasible, time and cost-saving method i.e. To build partnerships and use those partnerships to instigate funds and relevant technologies into the model. The use of modern technologies is another reason why the business model is a very efficient one as the new millennium requires serious technological investments in all industries to attain sustainability and to retain target market.
3. From an urban design point-of-view, do you like the PlanIT Valley master plan? Why or why not?
From the point-of-view of what the city, PlanIT Valley, would represent seemed to be a great collaborative and learning environment. On paper, it seems to represent exactly what a city is supposed to represent -- a network of connections and cooperation amongst all participants in the city. Furthermore, the plan was designed to make sure that the monuments and buildings in the city were designed to fulfill the purpose of the development of company-specific and shared Intellectual Property (IP) and hence included the construction of monuments like high-tech corporations as well as large R&D structures across different centers in the city. There was also large investment made into the creation of a technically advanced data center with the purpose of storing all relevant data and provide a secure data storage facility for all research work collected. Even though I like the idea of an entire city being a network of small corporations working collaboratively together for similar goals, the one aspect that is most obvious here is that the PlanIT Valley appears more to be one major corporation spread over a large piece of land as opposed to a city where you would want to go and raise a family. That is perhaps the only 'urban' aspect that works against the overall PlanIT Valley master plan.
4. What is your assessment of the economics of the PlanIT Valley project?
The economics of the PlanIT Valley are feasible on paper, however whether the implementation would be as feasible as they seem on paper is another question. The biggest economic feasibility of this project is that it claims that it will produce nearly 150% of the energy it needs to survive and then will sell the extra levels of energy produced to the neighboring areas bringing in profits without investing increased input. Furthermore, the strength of their economic feasibility lies in the interest and aim to employ the use of renewable energy sources that did not hamper the environmental structure. The engineers in the city aimed to make use of the energy sources like the solar energy, the wind, bio-fuels as well as plasma to generate all energy required. The concept of recycling all waste into energy is also a great economically-efficient driven tactic. This will ensure that all liabilities are converted into raw materials for profits and hence the minimal levels of wastages would be produced in the short and long-run. Another great economic strategy they aimed to employ was the efficient us e of water resources through using integrated and recycling plants. Again, it has to be mentioned here that on paper these ideas are great; their implementation, however, will not be the easiest feat. Nevertheless, the fact that the structure of a city is based on the forethought of using renewable energy sources is a great initiative.
5. Consider the other infrastructure types and implementation issues we have discussed to date. What are the key similarities and differences with the proposed IT infrastructure and "urban operating system?"
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