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] Fastest-growing Region: Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow fastest, driven by accelerating urbanization metrics, expanding middle-class purchasing power, and proactive government health initiatives. Persistence Market Research
• [New] AB 2074 will accelerate the recovery of dense, urban neighborhoods in California's largest cities by streamlining the construction of high-rise, residential developments near regional transit hubs. California YIMBY
• [New] Next-generation PropTech platforms will incorporate real-time city data, transportation patterns, and environmental monitoring to optimize building performance dynamically. BUSINESS 2.0 NEWS
• [New] Initial air taxi routes in London will focus on high-demand corridors such as Heathrow Airport to Central London (24 km, 12 min); London City Airport to Canary Wharf (5 km, 4 min). eVTOL.Travel
• [New] South Korea will demonstrate its tech prowess under an initiative that will see it utilize artificial intelligence - based smart city technologies to support six metropolises in Southeast Asia in tackling urban problems that have been plaguing administrations for decades. Coingeek
• [New] Over in the Philippines, the city of Bacoor will be the testbed for an AI-based smart traffic management platform, which aims to analyze traffic conditions in real-time and implement signal optimization. Coingeek
• [New] In Brunei, MOLIT, with support from local authorities in the oil-rich country, will leverage AI in developing a smart city integrated platform to help with water management and disaster response. Coingeek
• [New] The federal government's 2026-27 departmental plan points to investments in critical infrastructure to support housing and growth, while the high-speed rail project between Toronto and Quebec City remains one of the biggest transportation bets Canada has seen in decades. Yahoo Finance Canada
• [New] Yandex plans to launch more than a thousand self-driving taxis on the roads of Russian cities by 2030. www1.ru
• [New] Tier-1 cities in China are expected to reach break-even by 2026, assuming 21 trips per day, an average fare of $2.8, and a vehicle price of $21,000. 115771908788438436647
• [New] Uber has stated its intention to be the world's largest facilitator of AV trips by 2029, targeting autonomous service in 15 cities by year-end. G2 Insights
• [New] Solar District Heating systems, well-established across Europe, hold significant further potential to defossilise heat at community and city scale. EREF
• [New] The pace of urbanization worldwide is predicted to increase from 56.2% in 2021 to 70% by 2050. Science Publishing Group
• [New] Expansion into emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific and Latin America presents significant growth opportunities due to rising urbanization and changing dietary preferences. HTF MI
• [New] Asia Pacific is growing at a compounding annual growth rate of 5.84% during the predicted timeframe, owing to increasing urbanization, a strong pharmaceutical base, rising disposable incomes, and a growing geriatric population, which contributes to a surge in demand for muscle relaxants. Precedence Research
• [New] Invasive mosquitoes: Anopheles stephensi, an urban-dwelling, insecticide-resistant mosquito, is expanding its range in Africa, posing a new threat to cities. Australian Society for Parasitology
• [New] Median house prices will increase in most capital cities, putting further pressure on borrowers. SBS News
• [New] Northeastern U.S. states will see a minor partial eclipse that day, with New York City experiencing 10% obscuration, Boston 16%, and Bar Harbour, Maine, 24%. Grand Pinnacle Tribune
• [New] At least one additional World Cup host city will likely publicly disclose similar counter-UAS readiness gaps, as the FEMA funding timeline and FBI training bottleneck described in Maryland are structural constraints affecting all 11 host cities equally. Drone Warfare
• [New] House prices in two cities will lift by more than $50,000 by the end of 2026 despite rate hikes putting a handbrake on borrowing power. Sky News Australia

Last updated: 25 April 2026