Urbanized Cities 2.0.docVIP

Urbanized Cities 2.0 　　Unmanned cars automatically avoid traffic jams， air temperatures and pollution particles at construction sites are monitored in real-time， and firefighters can see video footage of fires from the scene， before setting out to tackle the flames. 　　That’s not a dream world， but a real prospect for smart cities， which became a hot topic and one of the proposals put forward at a recent APEC forum on urbanization. 　　Themed on urbanization and inclusive growth， the First APEC High-level Urbanization Forum was convened in Ningbo， a coastal city in east China’s Zhejiang Province， from June 2 to 3， attracting more than 200 government officials， scholars and enterprises from 21 countries and regions. 　　Currently， a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial reform is gaining momentum， and urbanization is accelerating throughout the world. In the next three or four decades， there will be tremendous opportunities for APEC members to collaborate on urbanization projects， said Xu Shaoshi， Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission（NDRC）， at the opening ceremony. 　　In 2014， the urban population of APEC member economies hit 1.77 billion， 61 percent of their combined population. According to estimates by the World Bank， those urban populations are expected to reach 2.38 billion in 2050， 77 percent of the APEC member economies’ total. 　　At the forum， APEC economies jointly released the Ningbo Initiative， acknowledging that urbanization is a necessary path toward modernization and a major engine for sustainable development. 　　The Asia-Pacific economies are in different urbanization stages yet share potential for complementary development and cooperation. Therefore， urbanization has been recognized as a frontier for regional cooperation， according to the Ningbo Initiative. 　　 Intelligent cities 　　“Smart cities are a strategic path leading toward urbanization， and it’s also an important feature of urbanizati