NewCitiesBringsSmartColumbusCaseStudytoLifeforGrowingCities

“We always say we're looking to find the intersection between the public sector, the private sector, the community and academic partners. Really the only mandate we have is to make life better for residents. NewCities is aiming to find the intersection of all of these forces,” says Michael Woodbridge, manager of research programs for NewCities, a global nonprofit of 55 organizations in the technology, mobility, academic and sustainability industries, which focuses on strategies that help cities become smarter and healthier.

Smart Columbus joined NewCities as an associate member in September 2019, after hosting its first New Urban Champions Learning Expedition in October 2018. With more than 30 organizations and city representatives in attendance, the goal of the Learning Expedition was to kick off a forum for small and medium-size cities to showcase successes, solve challenges and collaborate on potential solutions. New Urban Champions is an initiative launched by NewCities that brings cities together to showcase successes, problem solve challenges, and collaborate on potential solutions through events, research projects, and creative content pieces from influential contributors.

“One of our mandates from the $10 million Paul G. Allen Family Foundation grant awarded to Columbus as the winner of the Smart City Challenge is to share our learnings and best practices with cities around the globe. Partnering with NewCities for the Learning Exchange last year, and now participating as a member, aligns with that mission to help other cities take what we learn from the implementation of the Challenge grants and apply it to their communities,” says Jordan Davis, director of smart cities for the Columbus Partnership and Smart Columbus.

Woodbridge says that it was important for NewCities to bring the concept of a case study to life, by providing a learning expedition to cities that are looking for replicable, data-driven solutions to their challenges. Through research on midsized cities, Woodbridge says he learned that these leaders want to convene and get support to improve operations, just like larger cities receive.

“The learnings from Columbus are more replicable than from New York City or Los Angeles, especially within North America,” Woodbridge says. “There are 50 to 60 other cities that can accelerate the learnings from Columbus, and we saw that as a niche.”

Looking forward, Smart Columbus will continue to collaborate with NewCities to share smart city best practices through speaking engagements, events and content. Smart Columbus is also partnering with NewsCities to produce a podcast series that will highlight key learnings from the Smart Columbus electrification plan with city leaders. The series will be hosted by Greg Lindsay, senior fellow of mobility for NewCities, and will debut in early 2020.