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The Topic: Future cities utILIty WeeK | 6th - 12th February 2015 | 15 Visualising future cities Future cities will be complex systems involving myriad demand and requirements that inter- lace and interact. Planning how to harmonise and manage these different elements is a major challenge, but one which has recently become more feasible thanks to advances in simulation and modelling technologies. 3D modelling and "experience" platforms like those supplied by technology company Dassault Systems, for example, can not only create visibility across huge amounts of previ- ously siloed data associated with different ele- ments of city infrastructure, but also represent that data in an accessible way. "unifying and co-ordinating systems around a 3D digital model encourages fresh ideas sparked by collaboration and the new vision that the model provides. People can more fully understand the impact of their decisions and, by having access to appropriate layers of information, reach and communicate them universally," says Stephen Chadwick, managing director, euroNorth at Dassault Systems. 3D modelling enables the architects of future city systems to understand the conse- quences of changes to different pieces of city infrastructure – the consequences of altering the dynamics of the way city facilities are used. Software available today, say providers, can seamlessly link data relating to transport net- works and hubs, public services, utility provision and security along with the location and opera- tion of everything in the city. a further link from this combined city model to financial software would also allow city authorities – and potentially partners such as utility providers – to achieve budgetary predict- ability. Read more about 3D modelling for utilities and cities in next week's issue What barriers lie before the realisation of future cities? Citizen resistance: a significant blocker to progress with future cities programmes could come from city citizens who have concerns about data security and privacy. Failure to make innovation "busi- ness as usual": while there are multiple future and smart city demonstrators around the world, relatively few have tangible plans for wider mobilisation or integration of projects. this is a particular problem for utilities, which generally strug- gle with the change management needed when transforming in- novation into business as usual. Force of com- petition will not materialise: it is often said that the threat of competition from third parties, particularly large retail or internet service brands, will force utilities to create new service and busi- ness models based on smart technology. however, there are some who question whether this pres- sure will material- ise. Delegates at a recent Utility Week roundtable asked if such firms had the necessary appetite for risk associated with becoming a utility supplier, and a youGov survey conducted late last year for It testing group SQS found the public ambivalent about big retail brands in the utility space. it'll neVer happen Environment Waste Transport + Environment 4/30 cities Waste + Energy 6/30 cities Environment + Health & social care 10/30 cities Energy + Local economy 10/30 cities Energy + Transport 12/30 cities Energy + Buildings 6/30 cities Local economy + Education 8/30 cities Health and social care + Education 3/30 cities Environment Energy Local economy Health & social care Education Buildings integratiOn Of city systems hOw tO tackle city transpOrt trOuBles If visions of the future have one thing in common, it's high-tech transport. Our expectations of future cities are synonymous with visions of high-tech transport. In science- fiction films, from Metropolis in the late 1920s to Back to the Fu- ture II (when Doc Brown brought Marty McFly forward to 2015), films have reflected our fascina- tion with transport utopia. Today, many electric trans- port enthusiasts say large-scale uptake of electric cars and the appearance of autonomous ve- hicles is just around the corner. In 2014 a splurge of firsts from high-tech manufacturers and new market entrants like Google suggest that they may be right – and cities are likely to be the first places we see these technologies take hold. But is the electricity system ready? Chiltern Power director John Scott frames a potential problem: "It's conceivable that a high penetration of smart and new technologies could pro- voke high risk herd behaviours. "For example, imagine just 2 per cent of smart meter custom- ers having electric vehicles with time-of-use charging capabil- ity. If those vehicles responded to a shi from a highly priced half hour, when none of them were charging, to the next half hour where the price nose dives – which is eminently conceiv- able – this could be a 3GW step change of load that would crash the GB grid as it is currently operated." This is a fundamental exam- ple of why a system architect – a party having whole-system accountability – is required, he says. Diagram shows the most common forms of project integration across Innovate UK's future cities. Source: Solutions for Cities, Technology Strategy Board and Arup, 2013