Page 14 - Building digital public infrastructure for cities and communities

1 The rise of digital public infrastructure

In an era characterized by two significant transitions, namely vast urbanization and technological
progress, our cities are facing complex urban challenges related to inclusivity, sustainability and the
responsible use of technologies (UN-Habitat, 2024). Digital technologies are transforming urban life
globally, offering great opportunities to enhance how cities and human settlements are designed,
planned, managed and governed. Through improved urban planning, and the provisioning of data-
centric systems and services for a data-driven policy rule-making (ITU, 2025), digital technologies
do, indeed, have a profound influence in the way our cities are governed (UN-Habitat, 2025).

Urbanization has been one of the most significant trends shaping the built environment in
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The shift towards an increasingly urbanized world is a
transformative force that can and should be harnessed to ensure sustainable development. In
urban settings, addressing development challenges with effective interventions can have wide-
ranging cumulative impacts (United Nations, 2018). However, if unplanned and poorly managed,
urbanization has the potential to exacerbate many of the problems it claims to solve, leading
to economic instability, congestion and environmental degradation. Furthermore, inefficient
sprawl due to inadequate land-use planning and management remains a major concern, pushing
residential areas away from resources and public services (UN-Habitat, 2024).

Housing remains inadequate and unaffordable for many, with unchecked development encroaching
on arterials and right of ways, posing problems for the development of public services. Rapid
expansion often degrades natural features, necessitating integrated environmental planning
processes to better manage urbanization and its effects on the natural environment. Poorly planned
urbanization can result in congestion, inconsistent densities and social exclusion, particularly
affecting poor households. Congestion and inadequate investment in infrastructure further
exacerbate these challenges, calling for better planning and investment to ensure sustainable
and inclusive urban growth.

It is evident that cities are increasingly leveraging innovation and management processes,
information and communications technology (ICT), and data-centric solutions to improve quality
of life, efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness, while ensuring that it meets
the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental and
cultural aspects. By adopting ICT, digital systems and data-centric solutions, cities are able to
deliver better services for residents and address critical global urban challenges, including climate
change, poverty, social and economic inequality, unemployment, environmental degradation, food
scarcity and sustainable economic resilience. However, given the scale of these global urban-related
challenges – for example, 2.8 billion people lacking access to adequate housing (UN-Habitat, 2022),
2.6 billion people still lacking affordable access to the Internet (ITU, 2024), and 39 per cent of the
global population still not using the Internet, despite having access to it – with adoption gaps
especially pronounced in rural areas, low-income countries, and among women (UN-Habitat, 2024),
it is evident that a holistic, sustainable and people-centred ICT-based smart city design approach
that adopts digital transformation at scale, is needed. In such an approach, digital technologies

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