ZIMBABWEANS have been urged to embrace the concept of smart cities to help fight climate change.
The call was made by the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZNGSA) during a Financing Smart Cities and Rural Connect conference in Bulawayo yesterday.
A smart city is a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient using digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and business.
A smart city goes beyond the use of digital technologies for better resource use and less emissions.
According to climate change experts, the use of new applications, shared electric vehicles and sustainable urban mobility management contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions.
ZNGSA representative Munyaradzi Shekede said the agency was promoting sustainable development practices to fulfil the ever-growing demands of citizens.
“Drones provide highly accurate data to support urban planning at lower cost in a fraction of time,” Shekede said.
“The basis of smart cities is data, information communication technology and to increase operational efficiency, improve the quality of services and citizen welfare, develop, deploy and promote sustainable development practices to fulfil the ever-growing demands of citizens.”
In 2021, a team led by Local Government and Public Works minister July Moyo went to the United Arab Emirates to study how best the smart city concept can be fully implemented in Zimbabwe.
At the time, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the idea was to build climate-resilient structures and create settlements free of carbon emissions in Zimbabwe.