The Pathway of "Intelligent Construction + Scenario Operation" for Smart Neighborhoods of Future City

Abstract

Faced with the future decentralization trends of intelligent agent distribution in urban neighborhoods, this article proposes a new, integrated pathway of “intelligent construction + scenario operation.” Its innovativeness lies in incorporating intelligent technology into processes of urban design, neighborhood renewal, and scenario operation. The pathway is tested through the empirical research on the case of the Shanghai Vanke Future City (NEXUS) project. In this project, the “intelligent construction + scenario operation” pathway is mainly demonstrated in scenarios of “intelligent transportation,” “convenient living,” “inclusiveness and security,” and “environmental governance.” The project becomes the model of combining production, ecology, and living together under Shanghai’s new city strategy, and has gained positive social impacts. It verifies that the pathway is conducive to improving the design, construction, and operation qualities of future urban neighborhoods, providing a reference for China’s smart neighborhood construction in the future.

● Proposes a pathway of "intelligent construction + scenario operation" for smart neighborhoods of future city

● Incorporates intelligent technology into processes of urban design, neighborhood renewal, and scenario operation

● The pathway is domonstrated through the building Shanghai's first community-level CIM platform project led by enterprise

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Smart Neighborhood / Urban Renewal / Intelligent Construction / Scenario Operation / Future City / Intelligent Technology / Neighborhood Design

1 Future City and Smart Neighborhood

The current development of future cities is showing an accelerated trend of competitive dynamics, with the frequent emergence of "black swan" events such as pandemics, wars, and socio-economic crises. Although the development of future cities is accompanied by complex uncertainties in terms of society, economy, and environment, the continuous advancement of intelligent technology is a crucial determinant, which will lead to the emergence of a series of innovative intelligent services, products, technologies, and applications, driving the "intelligent evolution and iteration" of future cities^{[1] [2]}.

As future cities expand rapidly, urban neighborhoods are undergoing network layout and spatial reconstruction with information technologies and technological innovation in addition to boosting its spatial carrying capacity. The future cityscape is envisioned as one composed of networked governance units, and urban services will be organized upon smart community networks^[3]. Here, "networked governance" refers to an organizational structure or operational platform that brings together diverse stakeholders such as governments, enterprises, social organizations, and citizens, to achieve collective governance goals by sharing resources and information^[4]. In terms of administrative divisions, a neighborhood often covers a larger area than a community and more specific elements in spatial design. "Smart neighborhood" is a new type of neighborhoods transformed from existing city blocks by utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) intelligent sensing devices and fundamental networks, and characterized by advanced infrastructure, efficient management services, intelligent and user-friendly environment, and distinct future-oriented attributes^[2]. However, the linear-reasoning-based and subjective approaches used in traditional urban spatial design have obscured a clear understanding of the developmental characteristics of future urban neighborhoods. This has led to deviations in spatial decision-making and practical operation^[5], manifesting in issues such as lack of sensing, assessment deviation, construction delay, operational inefficiency, and inadequate intervention^[6].

Simultaneously, in response to the uncertainties in the development of future cities, intelligent technology can devise and evaluate strategies and solutions by leveraging its advantage in vast data processing, autonomous learning, and predictive extrapolation. It formulates a suite of analysis and decision-making methods encompassing goal setting, object sensing, problem diagnosis, and path selection, all rooted in the predictive analytical methodology of "Foreseeing metropolitan future"^[1]. In light of the mixed demand for urban renewal and infrastructure upgrading, the intelligent exploration of urban neighborhoods must prioritize the significance of "scenario operation." However, the current scenario research merely centers on technical analysis or product demonstrations^[7], making it difficult to coordinate the multi-element spatial design of neighborhood scenarios and the multi-system collaboration mechanisms of cities, either establishing a systematic theory or operational technical system for intelligent scenario design^[8].

This article addresses the needs of future urban neighborhoods in terms of living, transportation, safety, and ecological construction. Focusing on the topic of "how to use innovative methods to meet the demands of the renewal and development of future neighborhood scenarios," this article explores the pathway of "intelligent construction + scenario operation" that traditional urban construction can assimilate insights from futurology^①[9^] and artificial intelligence, so as to delve into a technological framework that simulates and extrapolates the future of cities.

① Futurology is an interdisciplinary science. It aims to explore the possibilities of future lifestyles and work patterns, as well as the influence of social and technological advancements on human society through systematic, interdisciplinary, and holistic research methods (source: Ref. [9]).

2 The Pathway of "Intelligent Construction + Scenario Operation" for Smart Neighborhood Construction

While intelligent technology will undoubtedly serve as a significant driving force for the development and progress of future cities, and even society at large, future urban research must avoid overstating the sole impact of technology. Instead, it should prioritize the integration of technology with cultural, ecological, and humanity needs, contributing to the holistic construction and scenario exploration of future cities^[10]. Smart neighborhood involves not only the linear spatial design of streets, but also encompasses the overall construction and operation of communities^[11]. Therefore, it is essential to combine the analytical decision-making method of "intelligent construction" with the strategies for "scenario operation."

The analytical decision-making method of intelligent construction derives from the idea of "Smart Neighborhood Service Platform," which integrates urban construction, product services, and public participation to form an open collaborative mechanism^[2]. Adopting the concept of "urban form-flow"^②[12^], it introduces intelligent technology into fields such as socio-economic forecasting, human settlement improvement, and spatial form optimization, covering the entire workflow from design to construction and operation (Fig.1). This model not only provides a basis for neighborhood planning but also responds to the practical needs of urban renewal, maximally satisfying the demands of various stakeholders and elevating the standards of urban construction, management, and operation.

Fig.1 An example demonstrating the process of generating plans for a smart neighborhood of future cities.

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② Different urban forms can lead to disparities in the distribution, intensity, and direction of traffic flow. "Urban form-flow" refers to the interactions and dynamic relations between urban forms and traffic flows (source: Ref. [12]).

On the level of scenario operation, American communication scholar Joshua Meyrowitz argues that scenarios encompass multiple dimensions (including design and development, construction and operation, and application and iteration) and involve specific spatio-temporal environment, behavioral and psychology components, and perceptual ranges, where the virtual information environment shaped by media is equally crucial as the natural environment. Therefore, when defining the boundaries of a scenario, information must be considered a pivotal factor^[13]. Scenario operation centers on human needs, aiming to enhance user experience and augment spatial functions by creating and optimizing daily scenarios, e.g., transportation, living, safety, environment.

This pathway of "intelligent construction + scenario operation" for smart neighborhood construction proposed in the article highlights its innovative introduction of intelligent technology into the process of urban design, neighborhood renewal, and scenario operation, with the steps as "city sensing—spatial assessment—intelligent construction + scenario operation—intervention tool selection—pathway verification" (Fig.2). Specifically, the role of sensing and assessment is to enable real-time analysis of urban data, identify future development trends, and thereby enhance the operational efficiency of neighborhood scenarios. The role of construction and operation is to systematize the intricate extrapolative process of neighborhood spaces, where products and applications are combined with spatial design via intelligent construction, while scenario operation encompasses functional organization and project implementation.

Fig.2 The pathway of "intelligent construction + scenario operation".

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In the pathway, intervention tools include the "technical dictionary for intelligent construction" and the "pluggable module system for scenario operation." The first aims to improve residents' living quality and to ensure economic and operational sustainability by providing calibration benchmarks at each implementation stage to guarantee the effectiveness of application. Its content includes spatial positioning, scheme description, resource inventory, and key implementation points, as a reference for subsequent projects in technique selection and decision-making. The second is envisioned as a highland for the application of digital transformation technologies and scenario demonstrations in future cities, fully demonstrating the technical value, application scenarios, costs, benefits, etc. through collaborations with enterprises. This system introduces experimental modules in aspects of smart transportation, convenient living, inclusiveness and safety, and environmental governance, and supports flexible pluggable products at scenario interfaces, along with provisioning experimental platforms and iterative spaces beforehand^[14].

3 Pathway Verification: The Shanghai Vanke Future City (NEXUS) Project

The rationality of the pathway of "intelligent construction + scenario operation" needs to be verified through the full-process application of forward-looking projects. This article takes the case of Shanghai Vanke Future City (NEXUS) Project ("Future City Project" hereafter) for demonstration. The project is located in the core area of Jiading New Town, covering an area of nearly 15 hm², with a total building area of 578,000 m². Representing the smallest spatial unit of future cities, the project is envisioned as a highly complex urban space for living, working, learning, recreation, and ecology within a 10-minute walking radius. The project, initiated in 2019, has been continuously tracked and studied by Vanke 2049 Future City Laboratory. After preliminary scheming by the Shanghai Municipal Government and joint technical demonstrations with enterprises, the project has gradually established a hierarchical technical module system at city, unit, and scenario levels. The city-level technical modules, based on digital twin technology, integrate and upgrade existing urban infrastructure including transportation, energy, water resources, waste, and blue-green networks. The unit-level technical modules are developed upon the "10-minute community life circle" to create a distinctive, highly integrated networked governance unit. The scenario-level technical modules can effectively incorporate technological innovations into diverse daily scenarios such as transportation, life services, security, and ecology. In the Future City Project, the "intelligent construction + scenario operation" pathway is mainly demonstrated in scenarios of "intelligent transportation," "convenient living," "inclusiveness and security," and "environmental governance"^[2].

3.1 Scenario of Intelligent Transportation

In the construction of this scenario, residents will configure their transportation modes according to their travel needs. The traffic control platform is fully connected with Internet of Vehicles (IoV), shifting the basis of traffic regulation from fluctuating data to real-time, all-spatio-temporal traffic data^[15][16]. The coverage mode of intelligent devices on the street segments in smart neighborhoods is determined according to the product penetration rate of smart vehicles and related engineering requirements; roadside sensing devices together with edge computing devices, communication facilities, and cloud service platforms are used to identify and locate traffic conditions, supporting intelligent traffic management and assisting vehicle autonomous driving, so as to ensure traffic safety^[17]. The green-wave road^③[18^] traffic system for vehicles can take active control measures during congestion, accidents, construction, and other incidents, improving traffic efficiency. Smart crossings will coordinate roads, vehicles, and pedestrians by real-time monitoring traffic flow data while recommending vehicle routes or provide warnings for pedestrians. At the same time, based on the needs of specific usage scenarios, roads can be switched from motor lanes to slow pedestrian lanes; the information dissemination system combined with surrounding service facilities, can send announcements (e.g., parking space, restroom, charging pile, road conditions) to nearby vehicles, thereby enhancing traffic supply-demand dynamics. Devices such as smart poles will actively detect the physical data of pedestrians crossing the street, predict the passing time and adjust the green light time (Fig.3).

Fig.3 Scenario of intelligent transportation: schematic diagram of the smart crossing.

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③ Green-wave road is an advanced traffic signal control technology designed to coordinate the timing of a series of adjacent traffic signals allowing vehicles to pass through multiple crossings continuously, thus reducing the number of stops and delays and improving road traffic efficiency (source: Ref. [18]).

Scenario operations of the roads should also be flexible to respond to diverse needs. Spatial design should adopt a curved style as much as possible^[17]. Street-front buildings should be set back to save room for time-sharing mixed use for pedestrians and vehicles^[19]—prioritizing sidewalks, followed by bicycle lanes, to ensure the safety and connectivity of pedestrians' routes. Meanwhile, continuous, open, and functional composite interfaces are formed in the smart neighborhood, where ground pedestrian spaces, second-floor corridors, and slow neighborhoods are also created to build a slow-traffic network.

3.2 Scenario of Convenient Living

In the construction of the convenient living scenario, residents' needs drive innovation and also stimulate industrial opportunities. With the help of 5G communication technology and the IoT, flexible home space can be used for customized experiential products on demand. The sharing economy promotes the flexible use of office spaces and the transformation of shared workspaces among companies, homes, and coffee shops (Fig.4). The scenario operation aims for establishing a 10-minute community life circle, where each block shares a "community living room" for socializing, working, exercising, and other activities. Considering the population aging reality in Shanghai^[20], age-friendly community living scenarios were created to cater to both the elderly and the young. Operational costs are comprehensively assessed, including infrastructures, community services, and related expenses; the neighborhood also develops market-driven operational models that support micro home senior-care services (Fig.5) with clear responsibilities and profitability for multiple parties^[21].

Fig.4 Scenario of convenient living: schematic diagram of changeable residence.

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Fig.5 Scenario of convenient living: schematic diagram of Time Bank. Time Bank, as one of the senior-care services in the neighborhood, allows community members to use their free time to help the elderly and get service time that can be provided by others in future in the form of virtual currency, when they can withdraw the service time and get senior-care services by other community members.

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3.3 Scenario of Inclusiveness and Safety

In constructing this scenario, daily service guarantees cover the entire neighborhood and entire life cycles of residents of all ages. People's health and safety can be promoted through innovative products such as sterilization chambers and fresh-air green walls, which can form effective sanitary barriers (Fig.6). By employing intelligent video detecting technology (Fig.7), the security system can achieve proactive event extraction, defense alarms, and 24/7 responds to incidents. Integrating residents, communities, and city information service system^[22], visions such as "zero supervision for the elderly and children" and "no blind spot for safety hazards" can be realized. The project service team coordinates with the government operation center to build the basic CIM (City Information Modeling) platform that provides unified management and services for the neighborhood and the surrounding communities through Property City^④[23^]. By cooperating with relevant government departments, on the basis of city smart service responses, residents' health records are linked with the city's public health system, connecting telemedicine resources and improving health management services for residents.

Fig.6 Scenario Inclusiveness and safety: schematic diagram of sterilization chamber and fresh-air green wall.

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Fig.7 Scenario Inclusiveness and safety: schematic diagram of intelligent video detecting system.

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④ Property City is an innovative model of modern urban governance that regards the city as a large-scale entity of property management. By introducing market-oriented and social mechanisms, it achieves the specialization, refinement, and intelligence of urban governance (source: Ref. [23]).

3.4 Scenario of Environmental Governance

In the construction of this scenario, a green micro-energy network^⑤[24^]will consist of energy infrastructure with stronger resilience, and intelligent photovoltaic and battery storage solutions make the network affordable. Measures in resilient water environment, sponge city construction, and scientific efficient stormwater management will enhance the site's capability of urban environment to withstand risks (Fig.8). The use of smart technologies such as Smart Parasols and Cloud Forests will help real-time environmental management and enhance ecological benefits (Fig.9). The use of passive energy-saving operations is prioritized, supplemented by energy-efficient systems and new energy technologies, to minimize the reliance on electrical equipment.

Fig.8 Scenario of environmental governance: schematic diagram of sponge city and rain garden. Digital systems and sensing devices can enhance the monitoring of rainwater and promote the neighborhood's capability to absorb, store, and reuse rainwater.

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Fig.9 Scenario of environmental governance: schematic diagram of Smart Parasol and Cloud Forests. These devices can automatically open or close by sensing the changes of light, temperature, and humidity during the day and night, adjusting microclimate and improving users' comfort.

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⑤ Green micro-energy network is an intelligent network for comprehensive energy utilization of a given region. As a fundamental component of the Energy Internet, it is crucial for the construction of a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient energy system, contributing to the city's energy revolution and green development (source: Ref. [24]).

To build a low carbon neighborhood, it is necessary to both upgrade construction and equipment technology but also promote sustainable lifestyles. The scenario operation of environmental management sets goals of "overall low-carbon (reducing carbon emissions by 40%) and locally zero-carbon (reducing carbon emissions by 20%)", which requires integrating proven technologies and pilots of cutting-edge technologies in energy, water, and waste management, to achieve multi-dimensional, full-cycle carbon reduction for the project.

4 Conclusion and Outlook

As a model for the integration of production, ecology, and living under Shanghai's new city strategy, the Future City Project meets the needs for highly mixed community functions, convenient public services, and integrated operational development. It reserves technological redundancy in the fields of green and low-carbon development, ecological and environmental protection, healthy living, and smart inclusiveness. The project is rooted in the practices of local urban renewal, community governance, and neighborhood unit construction, and focuses on the full-process from preliminary planning to implementation and operational management. Smart neighborhoods, as a highly complex integration of new resources, new scenarios, and new technologies, inherently face more complexities and challenges in operational management than the construction itself. Therefore, the project holds the demonstrative value for the whole industry. The Future City Project has been approved by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources in 2022, and included in the preparation of regulatory detailed planning documents^⑥, as Shanghai's first community-level CIM platform led by enterprise (Fig.10 ~ Fig.12) and the first application of a PEDF (Photovoltaic, Energy storage, Direct current, and Flexibility) microgrid system in a neighborhood project led by Chinese enterprises.

Fig.10 Diagram of intelligent scenarios established in the smart neighborhood. Connected with urban operating systems, this smart neighborhood project achieves intelligent logistics, life services, digital twin, and other operational scenarios.

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Fig.11 Current construction status of the demonstration section of the Future City Project (taken in May, 2024).

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Fig.12 Planned vision of the Future City Project.

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⑥ The Future City Project now is incorporated into Unit JDC1-1901 of Jiading New City, Malu Town, Jiading District, Shanghai.

With the changes and reforms in the construction and operation of future cities and related industries, the pathway of "intelligent construction + scenario operation" proposed in this article will help support the iterative upgrading of smart neighborhood construction and operation models, and improve the spatial design, construction, and operation quality of future cities. The research team will also continue to track the performance of authentic application projects and accumulate empirical experience for relevant theoretical and practical research.

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Acknowledgements

Seed Project of "A Simulative and Extrapolative Technological Framework of the Future of Cities Through Urban Planning Schemes," China Intelligent Urbanization Co-creation Center for High Density Region (No. 2014-898675)

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