ASEAN cities are evolving technologically to improve quality of life and ease of doing business.

The United Nations has reported that 55% of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas and that the number is expected to rise to 68% by 2050.

In Asia, India’s urban population is expected to grow by 416 million and China’s is seen to grow by 255 million during that period.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), expects 90 million people will move into urban environments by 2030.

This expected population growth in urban areas around the world has prompted a staggering number of governments to declare their intention to make their capital and major cities “smart”.

JLL, one of the leading property advisors in the Philippines, defines a “smart city” as an urban area that uses a set of policies and strategies using technology and data to deliver initiatives that improve inclusiveness, services and quality of life for the people who live there.

A smart city is one that drives efficiency, sustainability and improved decision-making for government, while creating a transparent, efficient and competitive environment for businesses.

More than 1,000 cities worldwide have begun deploying smart city initiatives, according to real estate data.

In the Philippines, the urban setting is likewise starting to make cities “smarter”.

Makati is making its first steps to become a smart city. It has several initiatives lined up including the Makatizen Card, an all-purpose card that consolidates all benefits for residents;

the Makatizen App, which allows users to report crimes and emergencies; the Makati Subway; and the free Makati Public Wi-Fi System.

Pasig is also making waves after its public safety project has been named one of the most outstanding smart city projects by the IDC Asia/Pacific (International Data Corporation).

The project includes a system that allows real-time sending of incident reports, a transport network for better traffic flow, a flood awareness simulation tool, and solar-powered sirens aided

Caloocan City has partnered with IvedaAI, a worldwide enabler of cloud-based video surveillance, data management and artificial intelligence-based video analytics, to improve its

The partnership includes capabilities such as license plate recognition and vehicle wrong direction functions in major intersections and roads, as well as facial recognition, people counting and intrusion detection capabilities in the city hall’s entry and exit points, street markets and crowded areas.

Moreover, megacities Manila, Cebu and Davao were among the 26 cities in the Southeast Asian region chosen to serve as pilot cities for the ASEAN Smart Cities Network.

According to market intelligence firm IDC, cities spent US$81 billion in 2018 on their smart city initiatives, and this figure will nearly double to US$158 billion by 2022.

Amidst the complexity of building smart cities, one of the often-overlooked aspects is real estate. It includes homes, offices and public places. Although it has been viewed as a technology laggard, the real estate industry is catching up fast.

Based on “Growing Influence of Proptech”, a collaborative report by JLL and technology news website Tech in Asia, 179 proptech start-ups in the Asia Pacific region raised about US$4.8 billion of the US$7.8 billion invested globally from 2013 to 2017.

The increasing prominence of proptech-covering technology hardware, software and services has a bearing on the investment, construction, management and sale or lease phases of a building’s life cycle.

These impacts are being felt from the time of a building’s construction to how a building and its utilities are managed and its spaces optimized.

Proptech in real estate also offers tools to better track, collect and analyze data; drives sustainability—especially those of cities which manage large real estate portfolios, including government buildings, industrial parks and public

It can also improve inclusivity, services and quality of life for people and can redefine cities through economic growth.