Smart city responses to COVID-19: the role of governance

Pandemics are not new to mankind, and cities have battled several of them time and again. This time around, we have a new tool in our arsenal – digital technologies that are helping smart cities to detect, diagnose, monitor, and respond to the COVID-19 virus.

In the second FCL podcast episode of a three-part series on 'Smart City Responses to COVID-19 pandemic' from the perspective of technology, governance and planning, Dr Devisari Tunas and Fabien Clavier from FCL explore the role of governance in the successful adoption of smart city solutions during COVID-19.

In ASEAN, governance arrangements have traditionally supported the implementation of smart city initiatives, including ad-hoc steering committees at the local level, innovative partnerships with research labs, introduction of civic technologies or policy, and regulation experimentations. Such governance arrangements equip cities with the necessary support and tools that can be adapted and tweaked to respond to various future challenges, such as pandemic crises.

This three-part series is jointly presented by the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) and the UNDP Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development.

Dr Devisari Tunas is the Scenario Coordinator for the Archipelago Cities at the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) of the Singapore-​ETH Centre. Devisari is currently co-​leading several ADB and SECO-​funded research projects in Indonesia. The projects focus on the development of smart systems and a planning tool which aims to help decision makers to make better informed, integrated and inclusive planning decisions on the city and metropolitan level.

Fabien Clavier was the former project coordinator of the Big Data Informed Urban Design and Governance team at the FCL programme. Fabien was also co-principal investigator of the "Translating Smart Cities and Urban Governance: Improving Knowledge exchange for sustainable city development in ASEAN" project, with a focus on Indonesia.