As one of the most trusted spaces and sources of information, libraries are playing an increasingly important role in smart city initiatives.  

Whether it's embedded sensors or autonomous robots, cities are going to get a whole lot smarter in the 2020s. But some super ambitious developments are leading the way by building whole new city developments built around the latest tech. Here are 5 such projects to keep an eye on.

Unique vehicle-counting sensors will be placed in 1,500 homes across Europe.

Imagine your smartphone knew everything about the city – but the city didn’t know anything about you. Wouldn’t that be truly ‘smart’?

I’m over government “innovation.” Not because innovation isn’t conceptually important, but because of the term carries a sense of ownership relegated to a chosen few in any given organization.

Boosted by big sustainability wins, Mayor Anne Hidalgo is pitching bold plans to make the city center “100 percent bicycle” and turn office space into housing.

There’s a secret weapon available to communities that want to modernize their zoning codes and help make smarter growth the norm. FBCI’s Codes for Communities is a wide-ranging technical assistance program at Smart Growth America that covers all kinds of zoning reform and guidance on form-based codes. In just two years, the program has had tremendous …

Making data work for social good requires bolder approaches to managing government data as a critical, open public asset. 

Online and digital technologies that provide a link between the government and the governed are increasing everywhere around the world. These technologies have the potential to build government…

Carmaker plans sustainable city that runs on hydrogen fuel cells, initially houses 2,000 people and uses internet technology in virtually all aspects of life

In urban regions worldwide, collaborative approaches to city-making flourish. This has traditionally been a top-down exercise but is now increasingly also bottom-up.

We asked five leaders in the gov tech market what they expected to happen in the past five years that did — or did not — come to pass. Their answers offer insight into what ground was gained and where there’s room to grow.

Get in shape. Get organized. Read more. Most New Year’s resolutions are focused on personal improvement. These are important, but what if this year we resolved to improve our places too?

Opportunity Zones are creating "offshore tax havens" inside the United States, one researcher says. But some funds are trying to think different.

Civic engagement trends are on the rise and cities around the globe are realizing they need to go beyond traditional tools for new kinds of civic engagement. That’s because City Halls have discovered a plain and simple fact: once residents are engaged, they are a powerful force that can significantly improve the quality of life in a city.

Mayors across the world say we all need to consider how urban planning and climate intersect with well-being.

Superblocks is a radical plan to reclaim the streets from the noise and pollution of traffic.

Learn from some of these incredible city innovators as we head into the next decade and beyond.

This literature review distillation on civic engagement material focuses on the general themes, recommendations and challenges gleaned from academic journals, media articles and nonprofit briefs from literature reviews collected this year.

A look back at the biggest stories and themes from the world of urban planning in the decade that was the 2010s.

As we build more houses with lawns, we deprive ourselves of natural signposts

At this time of year, most of us are thinking hard about New Year's resolutions to make our personal, family and professional lives better. But before we finalize the list of losing weight, balancing our household finances, or cleaning out that back closet, what if we picked a few that could improve our lives, while ALSO improving our cities, towns and communities?

From St. Louis’s equity analysis to studying bell hooks in prison to free childcare at city meetings, a look back at the stories that inspired us this year.

Will digital technologies, both those that are already widespread and those that are still emerging, have substantial impacts on the way citizens engage and the ways through which power is sought, used, or contested?

The census holds power to bring visibility, resources and political agency to our communities. It's up to us to share the facts and mobilize each other around the upcoming census, so that our communities receive equitable resources and representation in the coming decade.