State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Beneath the Smart City

Data-Smart City Solutions: It’s five minutes into your morning commute, and whether you’re driving, biking, or walking, you can see them in the distance: orange cones, cordoning off large sections of a busy city street. Within their perimeter are jackhammer-wielding construction crews tearing up the roadway’s surface, snarling traffic for blocks around them.

Sound familiar? For many, the sight is often met with grumbles over a delayed commute or complaints over what seems like never-ending construction. Yet there’s a reason crews are hitting city streets so frequently: under the asphalt lurks a complex maze of water, gas, electric, and telecommunications lines, among other things, that need regular maintenance, repair, and upgrades.

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