As Asia experiences rapid urbanization – home to over half of the world’s megacities and projected to account for 40% of global smart city investment by 2025 – governments and businesses are increasingly turning to smart city solutions to manage growth. These technologies offer opportunities to improve urban services but also raise important concerns, including risks of surveillance, digital exclusion, and deepening inequality.
To help ensure that smart cities are inclusive, rights-respecting, and people-centered, UNDP and the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) have developed the Building Responsible Smart Cities toolkit. The toolkit provides practical guidance for governments and companies to ensure that the design, implementation, and management of smart city initiatives are grounded in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Join us for the launch of the toolkit, hosted by UNDP, in collaboration with IHRB and the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC) at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. This half-day session will introduce the toolkit and accompanying report, with a focus on practical use across the smart city lifecycle. The event is designed for policymakers, urban planners, businesses, and civil society actors involved in urban development and digital governance.
Launch Event: Building Responsible Smart Cities
🗓 Friday, 11 July 2025
🕚 9:00AM – 1:00PM
📍 InterContinental, Singapore (google map)
Event is free of charge. Lunch will be provided.
Click here to register.