Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
At the thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Shanghai showcased its comprehensive smart city initiatives through a “Unified Management with One Network” platform. This system integrates transportation, infrastructure, emergency response, and public services using big data and artificial intelligence.
Residents can access more than 3,500 services online via the city's “One-stop Government Service” portal, demonstrating efforts to reduce the digital divide. The Shanghai Metro, with over 800 kilometres of track and more than 400 stations, uses AI-driven monitoring, 5G communications, and predictive weather control to enhance safety and minimize disruptions. Several lines now operate fully automated, driverless trains.
AI systems also monitor metro tunnels for structural vulnerabilities and analyze passenger data in real time to prevent service interruptions. The Lingang Starry Sky Sponge Park exemplifies advanced flood management, combining permeable pavements, underground filtration, and smart drainage systems to absorb, clean, and recycle up to 15,000 cubic metres of rainwater daily across a 54-hectare area.
Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, which co-hosted the forum, emphasized that despite technological advances, smart cities must stay people-centered, prioritizing human rights, inclusion, and equity amid ongoing urban challenges such as housing shortages, climate impacts, and inequality.