Global Scans · Cities · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Smart cities are the talk of the town right now and so they should be to cope when over 60% of us will live in cities by 2030. E-bikes, Driverless- connected vehicles, buildings that talk to each other will help but many cities are susceptible to climate change and pandemics. Explore the issues faced by cities and the new ideas that will change the way urban dwellers live in the 21st century.

• [New] Starting in fall 2026, high school students in Alexandria could ride DASH buses for free under a new plan by city and school staff. FOX 5 DC
• [New] When Beijing and Shanghai are 90 minutes apart, or Los Angeles to San Francisco is just 43 minutes, the boundaries between cities will dissolve, giving rise to seamless mega-regions. International Defense Security & Technology
• [New] China's Sponge Cities, which incorporate permeable surfaces and green spaces that capture, filter, and store water, reducing flood risks and promoting water reuse, are an excellent example of how Green Cities can improve climate resilience. Future Cities - Africa Green Building Summit 2025
• [New] The number of people living in the world's cities is expected to increase by half (from 4.5bn to 6.7bn) by 2050. Future Cities - Africa Green Building Summit 2025
• [New] As cities push for greener transportation, expect to see more people swapping cars for e-bikes in 2025. Velosock Bike Covers
• [New] Expect widespread disruption to local transportation as well - metro lines, buses, and trams in cities such as Lisbon and Porto will run greatly reduced services, if at all. The Traveler
• [New] Singapore has been ranked 6th in Resonance Consultancy's World's Best Cities List for 2026, standing out among 270 global cities across 34 indicators. BestCities Global Alliance
• [New] Increasingly autonomous vehicles are expected to hit the roads in 2025, with the first robotaxis using level 4 autonomous driving systems (highly automated, but with the option of human control) now in use in several US cities. DE-CIX - we make interconnection easy. Anywhere.
• [New] Researchers at IIT-Indore have developed an Urban Flood Risk Monitoring Application aimed at improving the flood resilience of Indian smart cities. The Times Of India
• [New] Rapid urbanization, economic opportunity, and demographic momentum continue to reshape the world's largest metropolitan regions. Aviation a2z
• [New] Build4Asia 2026 will introduce two new dedicated sectors - Asian PropTech and Asian Office Tech - as part of its expanded focus on smart-city development. Construction World Magazine
• [New] Looking Ahead: Urban Living in 2030 By 2030, Indian cities could feature homes that automatically optimize lighting and temperature, generate solar power efficiently, manage waste, and support renewable-energy-powered mobility. realtyplusmag
• [New] The UAE has advanced smart-city initiatives and digital governance, backed by NCEMA, the 2019 National DRR Strategy, the National Strategy for Food Security 2051, and the Dubai Resilience Center, to sustain momentum and service reliability under We the UAE 2031 and UAE Net Zero 2050. Middle East Business News and Information - mid-east.in
• [New] Instead of a team of artists manually designing every building in a virtual city, an AI could generate an entire planet's worth of diverse landscapes and structures, making exploration endlessly fascinating. INAIRSPACE
• [New] The rail network will establish direct connections between Dubai and other major UAE cities, fundamentally altering travel patterns and residential preferences. Dubai Realty Trends
• [New] Ceding territory where at least a quarter of a million Ukrainians live - the Donetsk fortress belt cities of Slovyansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka - will not be acceptable to most Ukrainians. BBC News
• [New] Waymo's rapid US expansion continues: the Alphabet-owned robotaxi firm will now bring robotaxi operations to Minneapolis, Tampa and New Orleans in the coming days, adding three cities to the five markets announced earlier in November. Automotive World
• [New] Scoot, the low-cost subsidiary of national carrier Singapore Airlines, will progressively add new routes to four Indonesian cities - Labuan Bajo, Medan, Palembang and Semarang - from December to February. ST
• [New] By 2027, China expects measurable progress in digital governance, streamlined services, and the rise of over fifty model digital cities. The RegTech
• [New] Asia Pacific is expected to grow the fastest during the forecast period, driven by fast urbanization, digital initiatives by governments, and aggressive investments in 5G and smart infrastructure. SNS Insider pvt ltd
• [New] RTA was steadily progressing towards the commercial launch of the aerial taxi service in 2026, solidifying Dubai's position as the city of the future and a global hub for innovative and sustainable urban mobility solutions, combining efficient infrastructure with high quality of life. tradearabia

Last updated: 06 December 2025