08: Locating Sust(AI)nability in the Smart City

Amidst rapid urbanisation, Asia’s urban centres are increasingly turning to smart solutions as they grapple with worsening air pollution, rising emissions, and erratic weather patterns. What role can data and AI play in shaping more sustainable urban futures? In this episode, ChengHe Guan and Raj Cherubal discuss the future of digital urban transformation, with a focus on smart and sustainable city initiatives in China and India. ChengHe explores how urban sensing techniques and fine-grained data analysis can shed light on pathways to more responsible and inclusive cityscapes. Raj draws on his experience as former CEO of India’s flagship Smart City project in Chennai, revealing the ground-level complexities at the intersection of city systems and climate resilience, as well as the potentials of AI and digital tools for institutional capacity and urban planning. Together, they emphasise that while data and AI are potentially valuable tools, they must be guided by thoughtful policy and inclusive design. They call for the consideration of societal behaviour in planning, stronger global partnerships and cross-disciplinary knowledge sharing to avoid redundant efforts and co-create cities that are equitable, safe, and accessible for all.

You can read the transcript for this episode ⁠here.

Speakers

ChengHe Guan

Director of the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Urban Design and Urban Science, Assistant Professor of Urban Science and Policy, NYU Shanghai; Global Network Assistant Professor, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, NYU ChengHe Guan is an Assistant Professor of Urban Science and Policy at NYU Shanghai, Global Network Assistant Professor, and PhD Advisor at NYU Wagner and is the founding co-director of the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Urban Design and Urban Science. He is affiliated with the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, the School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at East China Normal University, and NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Additionally, he serves as a senior research consultant to the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Oxford.

Raj Cherubal

Raj was CEO of Chennai Smart City Ltd. for six years, the flagship initiative of the Government of India to improve city infrastructure and services. Earlier, he was Director-Projects at Chennai City Connect, a platform for industry associations and civic organisations. He has a background in computational physics, visualisation, telecom and finance. He has worked on projects in sustainable transportation, urban planning and integrated, multi-modal public transportation, solid waste management, urban water body restoration, sustainable financing of urban infrastructure, and redevelopment of business districts and regional planning. He has worked to promote decentralisation and good urban governance, as well as economic freedom for entrepreneurs in the informal sector. He holds a M.S. in Physics from the University of Louisville and a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 

Show Notes

India Smart Cities Guidelines

Urban Metabolism Theory

Fumihiko Maki

The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology