As cities around the world face growing pressure—from rising populations to tighter resources and more complex service demands—smart city strategies are becoming an essential tool for today’s urban leaders and policymakers. A smart city is not just about high-tech solutions; it’s about using digital tools like big data, AI, and connected devices to make city management more efficient, responsive, and forward-looking.

In this issue of IN FOCUS, we take a closer look at how cities are using smart technologies to improve urban governance. Drawing from standout cases recognized by the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation, we highlight practical solutions from around the world—showing how digital tools and policy innovation can go hand in hand to shape better cities for the future.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Promoting Urban Development 3D Tool (Ciudad 3D)

Ciudad 3D is a digital platform providing a 3D visualization of community construction in Buenos Aires. It offers information on block layouts, building plans, construction progress, potential impacts, and land use per plot to ensure flexible application of Urban Code regulations. Ciudad 3D also calculates the capital gains tax for each construction project based on building type, purpose, future modifications, and relevant plot certificates and review procedures.

Ciudad 3D reduces construction approval times and optimizes resource allocation. It can also empower both citizens and architects and enhance democratic processes by facilitating public services and information access, laying the groundwork for a future “metaverse” city.

São Paulo, Brazil

Legal Support Program

São Paulo's "Legal Support Program” aims to help individuals engaged in informal economic activities in public spaces and streets obtain commercial and service operation permits by streamlining and expediting approval procedures.

The program is implemented primarily through an electronic information system funded and operated by the City of São Paulo, designed to formalize livelihoods for citizens currently engaged in unregulated and unsecured street work. Residents can use the platform to apply for permits, update registration details, or pay municipal fees online, while government staff can instantly access permit and authorization records digitally, significantly streamlining approvals.

This initiative provides lawful employment opportunities for individuals excluded from the formal job market while stimulating their entrepreneurial drive. Concurrently, it enhances governmental transparency and operational efficiency, upgrades GIS location tracking systems, and reduces corruption through electronic payment controls.

Kampala, Uganda

Innovating Public Health Services via GIS Application

Kampala, Uganda’s capital, has an estimated population of 1.74 million residents, yet daily population exceeds 4 million as people commute for work and business. This strain is compounded by sanitation infrastructure gaps: over 60% of inhabitants live in informal settlements where only 10%-15% of areas connect to formal sewage systems. 

Consequently, 90% rely on on-site sanitation, creating critical demand for waste removal services. However, traditional access required in-person applications through an inefficient first-come-first-served system, while unregulated dumping by service providers further contaminated the environment.

Against this backdrop, the “Weyonje” (“Clean Yourself”) application was developed. Residents can use the app on their mobile phones to order waste removal services. The service is monitored until fecal sludge is successfully transported to designated treatment plants. Citizens without smartphones—particularly impoverished residents in informal settlements—can seek assistance from Village Health Teams (VHTs), who will place service orders for them using the dedicated “Weyonje VHT” application.

The application ensures the safe transportation of fecal sludge to treatment plants and its compliant processing. Furthermore, the relevant data collected by the app is uploaded to the city’s centralized data platform, enabling personnel to track the progress and identify gaps in public health services.

São José dos Pinhais, Brazil

Yellow Fever Priority Monitoring

In 2017, Brazil experienced its most severe yellow fever outbreak in 80 years. With low vaccination coverage, authorities urgently needed to identify priority intervention zones.

Research revealed that non-human primates (NHPs) die earlier than humans when infected, making their monitoring an effective early-warning system. São José dos Pinhais municipality demonstrated this through the SISS-Geo platform, whose real-time NHP surveillance generated strategic data enabling health authorities to pinpoint vaccination priorities two months earlier than conventional methods, potentially saving thousands of lives.

SISS-Geo integrates photo capture, geolocation, and data collection. Information is instantly published for government action while remaining accessible to researchers and policymakers. In addition to data collected via smartphones, the platform leverages machine learning to analyze complex relationships and build computational models identifying yellow fever risk factors.

In southern Brazil’s Paraná state, preemptive vaccinations based on SISS-Geo data achieved zero deaths despite confirmed cases between July 2019 and June 2020. Citizen participation improved public health policies and sustainability. The lightweight system operates across all smartphone versions, ensuring nationwide digital access.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Smart System for Infrastructure & Utilities Lands Services

Dubai Municipality receives hundreds of infrastructure-related requests each year, including applications for utility land allocations. Previously, these approvals were processed manually, taking up to 30 days and requiring extensive human resources and interdepartmental coordination. To address this, the municipality developed a smart system that enables relevant government entities to submit projects and obtain approvals efficiently through a centralized digital platform.

Designed in line with the latest engineering protocols, the system allows all participating government departments to upload project details, instantly access related land data, and approve or adjust designs based on interactive, real-time information. As a result, approvals now require minimal human input, freeing staff to focus on tasks that demand creativity and advanced system development.

This system has fundamentally transformed the approval and land allocation process. By integrating with Dubai Municipality’s cadastral system, government entities can upload project boundaries and immediately access critical information about affected plots or requested land areas.

Since its launch, the system has significantly streamlined procedures, reduced processing times, and accelerated the implementation of new infrastructure projects—thereby supporting urban development and stimulating economic growth.