Imagine living in a city where sensors monitor traffic and weather conditions to inform you in a timely manner which routes to avoid and whether you’d need to bundle up or dress lighter for the day ahead.

Imagine as well being able to consult your doctor or attending a yoga class without having to leave the house, as a two-way video screen allows you to do both in the comfort of home.

It may sound like a scenario from a city of the future, but it’s the reality in Songdo. The South Korean city was conceived from the start to be a center of technology and invention, where both are maximized to enhance every aspect of the residents’ daily lives, from employment opportunities to lifestyle services and daily conveniences.

Songdo is one of the most popular smart cities in the world for obvious reasons, but it’s far from being the only one. But lest we start looking for similar, progressively futuristic zip codes to migrate to, a smart city doesn’t always mean it’s highly technologically advanced.

“Technology is part of the ‘secret sauce,’ but cultural preservation is also important when it comes to creating a successful smart city,” says Singapore-based eco-architect Jason Pomeroy. Pomeroy has explored different kinds of smart cities all over the world, a number of them surprising given the idea that places such as Songdo and the city-state of Singapore have given us about what a smart city should be: clean, orderly, and completely urban.

“Culture, along with tradition and heritage, help foster a sense of community, identity, and belonging among groups of people,” he continues. “Modern technology can be incredibly beneficial, but it generally ignores culture. An iPhone is the same the world over so cultural preservation is key.”

As much as technology is a sign of progress, progress doesn’t happen in a vacuum but is rather built on the groundwork laid down by history. “Without [knowledge of our roots], we lose an important part of who we are. We would not see progress in our development and quality of life, neither of which are desirable. A city’s value goes beyond simply allowing businessmen to get to work on time or [people to have] a seamless shopping experience.”

If these concepts were to be applied to Manila, how would we fare?

Technology: Slow-as-fuck internet speeds, a highly unreliable train system, a distinct lack of public infrastructure to serve the citizenry’s tech needs. Final grade: F

Cultural preservation: There are still pockets around the city where old homes and structures are maintained, and there has been renewed interest in the past decade in the revival of some of Old Manila’s treasures, though demolition of heritage buildings continues. Final grade: C 

Our collective grade looks bleak, but Manila isn’t completely hopeless yet, especially with these five unexpected smart cities from all over the world showing us the way.

Bandung, Indonesia

This city still suffers from the usual urban issues that also plague Manila: overcrowding, pollution, traffic congestion. Yet Bandung has been deemed a smart city because of its use of social media and smart apps in fostering a wider discussion among citizens about possible solutions to their urban issues—in short, collective problem-solving through crowdsourcing, which is something that frequently-online Filipinos are already familiar with. “Planners need to think about why they are incorporating new technologies, and what the end result will be. Will these new technologies actually improve the lives of the citizens?” Pomeroy posits.

Shenzhen, China

Pomeroy cites Shenzhen, China as another example of the result of a citizen-driven movement. Home to Huawei, DJI, and WeChat, Shenzhen has gained the reputation of being the “factory floor of the world.” Yet despite the connotations of the word “factory,” “the entrepreneurial spirit fostered here is infectious,” Pomeroy says. “Everyone migrates to this living laboratory to test new innovations and ideas. But even if the ideas become global successes, the city’s livability does not depend on becoming influenced by or embracing such ideas.” The needs of its residents are considered first before the tech innovations born in its startups get applied to the city.

Higashimatsushima, Japan

Sometimes, a smart city can rise out of total destruction. After Higashimatsushima got devastated by an earthquake then a tsunami in 2011, 65% of the city went underwater, leaving 1,100 people dead and approximately 10,000 residents homeless. “Parts of the city went without power for a further three months, exacerbating an already devastating situation,” Pomeroy says. “From then on, the city’s governors vowed to never be as reliant on the national grid again and to create a resilient and self-sustainaing society for the remaining 40,000 residents.”

They developed the 2022 Net Zero Energy City plan, which aims to supply the entire city with locally produced energy from solar power sites that have been built on high ground. “The first micro-grid community, called Higashimatsushima Disaster-Prepared Smart Eco-Town, provides back-up power for itself and the surrounding community. The city’s entire grid infrastructure is smarter, leaner, and more efficient, helping the city along its transition into a zero-carbon smart city.” With Metro Manila similarly prone to typhoons and with two fault lines running through it, he advises that we take a page from Higashimatsushima as a measure for disaster preparedness.

Ahmedabad, India

Given its incredible rate of growth and urbanization, India’s urban capitals need to get smarter for the country to reach the status of a developed nation. One of these capitals is Ahmedabad, which has a goal to develop 700 ha. of its land, including its 8,000 slum dwellings. Under its proposed Economically Weaker Section (EWS) housing scheme, the slum areas on both sides of Ahmedabad’s Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and on the western bank of the Sabarmati river will be replaced with affordable homes, with a 60 ha. park to be developed nearby. In October 2016, the city received the first installment of its funding for its smart city project.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

With water making up 50% of the city, Amsterdam has come to rely on smart and strategic water management, using autonomous boats, establishing floating communities, and even recycling rainwater for use in beer production, says Pomeroy. With a high level of civic consciousness among the Dutch, helped by a liberal government, a mobilized private sector, and an active academic community, Amsterdam has also found ways to leverage data analytics and “translate” this data into actionable information to manage the incredible complexity that being a leading global city and trade hub brings.

The common thread running through these smart cities is how innovation was born from necessity. “Every single one became ‘smart’ because there was a greater goal that it was gunning for or an issue that had to be dealt with in a clever and innovative way,” Pomeroy explains. With world population projected to swell to 9.7 billion by 2050, smart cities that can provide not just adequate housing but also sustainable means of employment and lifestyle measures may be the necessary way for the future.

Pomeroy notes, though, that a smart city becomes successful if its development is an organic movement. “It will only be accepted by its inhabitants if it is formed from the bottom up, with solutions not imposed upon them from the elites. There are examples of smart cities that have been built out of nowhere, filled with sensors, monitors, gadgets and other technologies, but have failed to deliver.”

Indeed, it all boils down to a city’s culture and heritage, and how the preservation of both is crucial in determining the way forward. “It’s important to understand that [a place’s] heritage buildings, habits, customs, and traditions of their forefathers have evolved over hundreds, if not thousands of years for very good social, economic, or environmental reasons. Define yourself by your culture and traditions, and the city will naturally get smarter.

“It’s okay for cities to be a bit chaotic and unplanned; smart cities do not have to be ruthlessly clean, soulless concrete jungles,” Pomeroy concludes. “The best cities in the world are cultural melting pots where citizens from all around the globe rub up alongside each other. Working with this reality in mind, planners should seek to make life safer and easier without losing that element of excitement that these cities bring.”

A version of this story was published in June 2017 on the Garage Magazine website. Sketches courtesy of Pomeroy Studio.