2011 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM + WORKSHOP ON UBIQUITOUS CITIES (U-CITIES)

Planning and urban development in Australia has recently shifted from an old paradigm of conventional integrated planning, to a new paradigm of an intelligent, setting-based, approach. This new approach is being applied to chronic urban problems in infrastructure provision and management in regional and peri-urban areas. The most influential intelligent settings based approach to planning and urban development has been the Ubiquitous City Initiative (u-City). u-City acknowledges that human activity occurs within places and that urban infrastructure provision (rather than physical construction) must enter the smart system, digital networking, logistic process and e-policy dialogue that shapes those places. Based on a combination of urban infrastructure, information and communication technologies, mobile and wireless digital sensor networks, the u-City will digitise the built environment using broadband enabled technologies. u-City will provide tools and technical infrastructure for sustainable development, planning and support networks, urban service delivery, and integrated planning across the region.

The 2011 International Symposium and Workshop on Ubiquitous Cities will bring together people from different sectors to discuss important issues regarding the capacity of digital interventions to create local connections that sustain urban development, at a time when affordable strategies are imperative.